Blogs from Pamplona, Navarre, Spain, Europe - page 3

Woke up to a grey and rainy day. Decided that we would spend another night. We needed to put our bikes together and return the rental car. Our original plan was to take a bus to St. Jean Pied de Port, France but the forecast called for cool temperatures and thundershowers. Not exactly how we envisioned our ride. Staying another night gave us time to explore the city. It's rich in history and culture. First we asked if the was room at the hostel. Fortunately we were able to keep our same room. Next we needed food. Around the corner was a cafe and the cook spoke a little English. I spoke a little Spanish so it worked out just fine. We had tortilla (eggs with potatoes) and zumo del naranja (orange juice). Back at our ... read more

Blog for the 20thonwards Inexplicably the night had brought a moist start to the day, with my tent copping the brunt of the dew. Frustrating to say the least, ending up with a wet tent without having any rain. I certainly had a sense of nervous trepidation about the day. Hoping that I could get my bike fixed in good time, and get on the road to Pamplona. There was also the unknown that was the Pyrenees. I was unsure whether I would be able to ride on the only road leading there. I was definitely on edge. After having a quick, and reassuring word with Eb, I made the 5km walk with my broken bike over the border and into Irun. Stopping on the way I treated myself to a few last croissants on French ... read more

Hola!! After a LONG commute from Spokane, WA to Madrid, Spain that was described as pleasant, uneventful, and hitch-less our journey took a quick turn... After arriving in the Madrid airport we made the decision to continue immediately to Pamplona. Hungry, sleep deprived and out-of-sorts we got our tickets for a 6+ hour bus ride after a slight swindling from the ticket sellers. Yes...we've been had more than once since arriving in Spain. The people of Madrid rushed us constantly to make decisions and commit to their "deals"...it wasn't until halfway through our bumpy bus ride when a woman tried to cut in the bathroom line that we, literally, stood our ground. My foot firmly planted in front of the door she tried to shut on us we adamantly refused giving up our bathroom, which we ... read more

Heres what we have tasted or seen so far.. the food we have tasted so far has been incredible... read more

Walked with Dana and Renee from Texas, USA, and Doug and Libby from Tasmania today. We started in the dark and walked along a path in a wooded area where tree roots protruded and crisscrossed our path. It soon became obvious headlamps were required to do this safely so we muddled in the dark to correct this problem. A lesson learnt for next time: prepare for every possibility. We walked the few kilometres to the village of Burguete before stopping for breakfast and a coffee. We went to a very nice little bar and were lucky to be some of the first to arrive as it soon filled up and had a pile of backpacks parked outside. Usually the level ground is relatively smooth to walk on, changing to loose rocks and rubble in rain washed ... read more