From Pamplona

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Thursday 9th September:
Woke up about 5.30am this morning. Tried to sleep, but awake is awake for me these days so I got up and started getting ready for the day ahead. I am mostly sleeping in the clothes I am going to wear the next day so getting ready is not too arduous.  Just the usual - cleaned my face and teeth, packed up my bag, and had a bite to eat.  Well had a few bites to eat of everyone else's food - Robert gave me a couple of biscuits and Marco gave me half of his croissant. Everyone is so lovely and sharing here. In that spirit I gave Tobias a pair of earplugs that I had spare because he didn't have any.  Amazing how awake and sharing we all are so early in the morning. 

The guys were a little slow getting ready so we didn't hit the road until about 7am. First sight was a magnesium factory, then the gorgeous spanish countryside, then a small village with a church over 1000 years old.  I really love all the beautiful old buildings we're passing. More walking. Then we passed some guys building a traditional style wall. Armando stopped to chat with them, and they told him they were from Ecuador. 

It was a fairly easy day today. Mostly flat and through gorgeous countryside. Still alot of kilometres and about 6-7 hours of walking. My feet were killing me by the end. Legs are ok, just feet that are a problem now - swollen and achy.

On arrival at Pamplona we booked into a German Refugio close to the river. €5 a night for accommodation and €2 for breakfast. It's a really lovely place - clean, quiet and only four in our room. Nice!  And we could get some clothes cleaned for just €1 - so good to get clothes cleaned in a machine rather than a quick hand wash. We all showered, sorted our aching bodies and then headed into the old part of Pamplona. We saw the bull fighting arena, the street where they do the running of the bulls, and the cathedral. We then went for a pilgrims meal at a local restaurant. Once again - yummy and cheap.  About €11 for a three course meal and a drink. Then we went to the supermarket to get food for the next day. Me and Armando spent a bit of time trying to decide what we needed. Then it was home to the Refugio to chill and sleep.

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