Blogs from Navarre, Spain, Europe - page 20

Last weekend I went on my first excursion to the Pyrenees and had a great time hiking. And assuming only my family reads this, I'm sorry to anyone I may have just given a heart attack but yes, I enjoyed hiking. It was also my first time in a car in two months and we drove over two hours to Selva de Irrati, or at least I think that's what it's called. Being my first hiking adventure, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was more or less a five hour walk through the foothills of the Pyrenees. We saw some beautiful landscapes and hiked around the lake. We stopped for lunch on a ledge over looking the lake and ate mandarinas and drank wine out of a leather pouch. After lunch the menfolk decided ... read more

After visiting the Erro homestead, Paulina, Javier and I took off to head to France. Yes, we are that close! From Ureta we drove through the colorful hills that were blossoming with fall colors. There were horses in the fields (the big, worker horses that are thick and full of muscle!), cows every which way, including in the roads! No joke, as we were driving, a herd of cows without any person leading them, came trotting down the road. We were forced to stop the car because these huge animals were coming straight on! It was definitely an experience...And the cows here are "real" cows. They are big and not living in small confined places, no, no, they are eating the grass and being jolly. We arrived to the top of a mountain and Paulina said ... read more

Up early again this morning. We had breakfast at the Refugio this morning. What a treat! It was wonderful, we got served and the food was great! Such a change from eating on the road. We left Pamplona about 7, it was still dark and we headed out by the Citadel, it was beautiful. Me and Armando fell behind everyone else quite early on, which was perfect as I wasn't really that keen on walking with a big loud group. It was a perfect day, we just walked and talked. It was mostly through beautiful Spanish countryside to start, then we started the uphill trek. At the top we met the others and they told us they had booked a Refugio at Puenta la Reina with a swimming pool and then they carried on walking. At ... read more

This isn't a list of complaints or anything like that. some of the things are actually really nice. I just wanted to write something a little different. I'm also attaching pictures of life in Pamplona. 1. Cars stop. Like, if you're walking down the street, and there's a crosswalk with white blocks but no little stop sign thing, you can just keep on walking, cars just stop. It's like the whole country has invisible, super speedy patrols. It's like magic. 2. Free time. I actually have loads and loads of free time here. I have no job, school is easy, and I just don't know what do do with myself. Its a little scary actually. 3. Everyone smokes. In the U.S I think smoking is one of those things people don't freely admit to, or its ... read more

Farewell Pamplona and San Fermin, weré off to hike a 100kms of the pilgrims walk, from Pamplona to Logrono. The Pilgrims way to Santiago is a thousand year old route that goes in total over 800kms and we are about to walk 100 of that. Santiago was one of Jesus Christs 12 Apostles who according to tradition preached in Hispania before being decapitated in Jerusalem in 44 AD. Legend has it that his body was taken in a boat to the end of the Western world where he was buried. 8 centuries later 812 a hermit saw miraculous shining lights found a cemetry with his tomb in what today is a Compostella de Santiago at the most western point of Spain. Within a few years the Compostella became a pilgrimage site as important as Rome and ... read more