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Published: September 24th 2016
Today we started a little later at about 7.15. Wearing sandels, I am enjoying more freedom in my feet than yesterday and may continue in them tomorrow . We ate breakfast at the alburgue and it was yoghurt , toast with jam and coffee; pretty good.
Today we walked with a Japanese language teacher, Masa and Irena, a self described 'crazy Croation' . However, she is really quite nice. Masa has become our ninja and John is his intern ninja. While Masa bestows us with insightful wisdom, the best Irana had to offer was ' never stay at the Jesus and Mary Alburgue at Pamplona and never accept advice from an elderly English couple who have done the Camino 7 times. The last bit of advice relates directly to the alburgue advice.
The walk out of Puente la Reina is a long steep climb through a lovely scented spruce forest and I generally switch off and count the steps in groups of ten just to get to the top. It's a bit of a mantra in a way. At the top the cyclone fence is adorned with the many wooden crosses created by pilgrims passing by.
We then
passed through many vineyards, and the villages of Mañeru, Ciraqui, and Lorca, before stopping at Villatuerta for a snack and a much needed coffee. Along the way you cross an old roman bridge and walk along an original Roman road before crossing a lovely gothic bridge leading into Lorca .
On arriving in Estella, it was clear the move to sandels was a success and will be used again. The last time I entered Estella I could barely walk and had to buy sandals to continue. We went to our new alburgue , opened in 2015, and it is located in an old Capuccin monastery and next to its 11the century chapel. The rooms are great and with 3 of us in one room the lights will be on at 5.30am for a 6 o'clock start. We had dinner in a very popular square where spaniards turn out in droves to celebrate life. It's an early night tonight so after dinner it was back to the rooms for a tidy up and preparation for tomorrows walk to Los Arcos. Breakfast will be at the 10 kilometres mark in Villamayor de Monjardín so here we go again.
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Wizard
non-member comment
Enjoying reading the bulletins , good to hear the sandals are working and go the Bulldogs for premiers. Keep up the good work. Buen Camino !