It felt awesome to be walking again on a Camino. Walking in the morning to train, six times around the neighborhood in Singapore is boring. Walking in one direction, with a goal in mind, challenges along the way, fantastic views and the ability to speak with people from all over the world – that’s just awesome.

To Camino veterans who may be reading this, you already know what I was just talking about. I am pretty sure you are still stuck thinking that there is no way in Hades that there is 18km between Pamplona and Zariquiegue. You are right but let me explain. Of the 6km of walking yesterday to buy forgotten or replacement gear, I have added to today’s actual walking total 1.7km that we walked yesterday from the Cathedral to our hotel. Also, after we arrived in Zariquiegue, we had to walk 2km to get to the bus to bring us back to Pamplona.  Then we walked another 2.7km back to the hotel.  That should all count, right?

Why were we only walking a half day anyway and coming back to Pamplona?  We are still pretty jet lagged and we were not able to do any training during the last month so we are starting our first two days of the walk very gently. Zariquiegue has some lovely albergues and we stayed in one there on our first Camino but part of the “gentle start” precludes us trying to sleep with a dozen other guys in the room and snoring, farting and running to the bathroom throughout the night.

There were certainly fewer pilgrims on the trail than we are used to but we normally walk starting in early April or at the end of August. We did get to speak with a young couple from Taiwan, a flaming redhead from the US and a recent retiree from Potomac, Maryland – my home state.  We probably only saw a total of 30 or 40 pilgrims on the trail.  The Taiwan kids told us about their harrowing experience crossing the Pyrenees in fog and rain. That’s what we also had on both of our other Camino Francés so I assume everyone has bad weather there, right?  Its all part of the adventure. 

Today’s walk was a piece of cake by comparison.  There were a few places that got our heart rate up but our total ascent was only 340m between our hotel and Zariquiegue.  As we started walking before sunrise the temperature was a nippy 7ºC/44ºF. We stopped for our only breakfast today (it was an odd day) to thaw out a bit and grab a great croissant and juice/coffee. Stepping out of the cafe at dawn was when we bumped into the Taiwanese youngsters. That warmed us up even more.

For me, the best part of the Camino day is hard to describe but it usually involves either taking off the walking boots in the afternoon, putting the boots on in the morning, meeting a lovely fellow pilgrim, a particularly breathtaking view, a simple gift of sharing something along the way with a stranger or just holding Melanie’s hand. Today was different and unexpected. We walked a different route than previous from the bus depot in Pamplona back to our hotel. At one point, I saw in the distance a statue in a park.  I immediately recognized it as depicting St Ignatius de Loyola after being hit by a cannonball while he was defending Pamplona from the invading French in 1521.  Just across the street was the church of St. Ignatius so we went in to say a few prayers. You have to understand, I love St. Ignatius. I had 8 years of Jesuit education, the same as my father. My brothers and son all went to the same high school. I have walked the pilgrimage that recreates Ignatius’s journey from his home to the monastery at Monserrat. I have visited the place of his birth and the room where he recovered from his injuries and decided to serve the Lord.  I have visited the house where he died. I have been to the locations where many of his important life events occurred such as the cave in Manresa where he wrote the Spiritual Exercises. I always counted my walks through Pamplona as being where he was injured but as we left the church today, we walked next to a plaque marking the exact spot where he was injured.  That was really cool but Melanie was most impressed by the coincidence that Ignatius happened to be injured right next to a church that was named after him. Miss Smartypants!

One last story from yesterday… at dinner we had something like a pilgrim’s meal – cheap plentiful food. I don’t remember what Melanie ate but I had the pechuga de pollo con patatas fritas , un huevo frita, una croqueta y ensalada. For you mere mortals who don’t speak Spanish, that would be chicken breast (which was pan fried), french fries, a fried egg., a croquette (a deep-fried ball of mashed potato) and a salad (a tiny pile of pees inside a mound of mayonnaise).  Healthy, right?  The guy who took our order was not the person who brought us the food. That person was a rather buxom woman and she carried the first plate, not knowing whose dish it was. I saw her hesitance so I quickly said “I am having the pechuga”. More politely, I should have said “I am having the pollo”. It would have saved her from blushing beet red and running back to the kitchen with her arms folded over her pechugas.  

Other than some lovely pintxos for lunch and a trip to the laundromat, I don’t have much else to say about today. For anyone reading posts from last years blogs, you may recall that my son reads the blogs to my grandsons, George and Leo, as bedtimes stories. He says they fall asleep very quickly for some reason when they hear my stories. That is why I always sign off now, saying goodnight to them.  This year though, you’ll see another name, Stella, my beautiful granddaughter. Since she sleeps most of the times already, she doesn’t have to get bored in order to sleep but I’m addressing her too.  So, good night George, Leo and Stella.  Grumps and Nana love you very much.

To everyone else, Peace y’all!