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Published: June 12th 2015
Heading to Estella
Walking into a tunnel with great acoustics for Luzia's voice!Woke up around 7 a.m. to a grey day. The staff at Casa Magica, our alburgue, made sure we had a good breakfast of bread, boiled eggs, coffee and fruit. They are absolutely wonderful hosts and run a fantastic Alburgue - highly recommend it! Phil, Luzia and I travelled together again today - we seem to get on very well.
As has been the case everyday so far, our hikes consist of many ups and downs - especially as one enters and leaves towns and villages. The hike into Estella was a wet one as the skies opened. One man we met who was out gathering snails along the road to eat commented that it hasn't rained in over a month! At first, the rain was a welcome relief from the endless sun; however it did get rather chilly quite quickly and the roads (especially on the downside)were very slick. The soil is rich with red clay; however, and when it gets saturated, small "streams" run downhill and make hiking quite treacherous. I am so glad I listened to my hubby and brought his hiking poles - they have been a godsend!
We climbed up and out of Estella
Church of San Miguel
Beautiful ancient architecture! and found ourselves at Fuente de Vino - at the Monestario Irache. "Fuente de Vino " means "Fountain of Wine" and that is exactly what it is! You place your shell, flask, water bottle, whatever and drink up! The fountain is part of the Monestario Irache.
We continued on in the rain; however, when we reached Azqueta, we stopped to fill our water bottles in the public fountain and to pick some almost ripe pears from a public tree. We walked a few 100 meters more until we ran into Nathaniel, who in invited us in out of the rain. It turned out that we were in La Perla Negra, a private hostel, so we decided to stay.
There were only 7 of us there, so it was nice to enjoy a bit of privacy and quiet. One of the men, Thomas, began walking from Switzerland with everything he owns carried on his back. He has already walked over 2000 kilometres and will end in Jerusalem! One of the many things I am learning from the Camino is that everyone has their own story and reasons and that they are all pretty neat!
We enjoyed a wonderful
vegetarian dinner of beet, carrot and lettuce salad, bread, lentil soup and stewed vegetables, wine (of course!) and a fruit flan. Bueno! After dinner, we were entertained by some beautiful singing and the playing of 3 didgeridoos! Only on the Camino.....
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