Wow what a five days it has been. Plus the two days traveling to Saint Jean Pied de Port. Let the adventure begin…

Netherlands to Belgium to Spain and spending the night in Pamplona. Spain to SJPdP France to start the adventure. This actually went very smoothly some minor delays but really quite smoothly.

On Tuesday we ran errands and had lunch and then made our way to the bus station. We got on the bus and all was fine until we were passing into France and a girl said, “I thought this bus was going to San Sebastián, Spain.” Nope. So she was distressed trying to figure out what to do. She figured it out without the help of all the pilgrims tryptophan solve her problem.

In SJPdP we found our accommodations and went to the pilgrim office for our credentials. Then showered and went exploring. The challenge was we wanted to eat early and no restaurant was open before 7:30. So we found a wine cave with tapas. Good enough. Afterwards we went back to our albergue and had a glass of wine with other pilgrims and enjoyed the company.

We made it the next day from SJPdP to Roncesvalles in about 9 hours. 1420meters and 27kms. I threw up and struggled but the next day felt great.

Day 2 from Roncesvalles to Larrasoaña (28 kms) was all down. Some slippery and scary but we made it without a fall. my first camino I went down hard once the slippery stones. We stopped in zubiri to get a photo from where we met and then headed out. We got stopped at a house by a man who photographs pilgrims. He said the next time we come that we have a beer with him. Cheers 🍻

Our lives got a bit complicated when we didn’t hear from the albergue in Zuriain. I was trying to find WiFi for a couple of coaching appointments so we stopped at a market in Larrasoaña. The owner was very accommodating. And we ended up staying across the street at anytime albergue. We had a great dinner at the market. All fresh and yummy. And I met another pilgrim with an amazing story. More to come on this.

We got started super early the next morning so we could make it to our booked accommodations. It would not have been so far from Zuriain but we had to make due. We walked 41.15 kms. Not quite a marathon. When we arrived in Puente la Reina is was almost 6 pm. We walked 12 hours. At the end of the day we met Linda from California. We walked with her and forgot our pain. We showered. Dressed. Had dinner. And I fell asleep immediately afterwards. 😂😴

From Puente la Reina to Estella was an easier day. We felt good. Only 23 kms. Which is a perfect day. I had a coaching session and then we had dinner at El Mundo run by two Dutch women,, sisters. Awesome!! We got back to our albergue and realized that we had left our earphones. So we hopped, skipped, and ran our way back before they closed only to find out they didn’t close so early. And the earphones were there. Whew!!

Today. Was. Hard. I don’t like walking in the heat. Add a backpack and forget it. Today was long stretches with no villages. That’s fine. But in the heat and no shade well it takes it’s toll. At the end as we are arriving to the town we are staying I started sobbing, “I just want shadows, give me shade” at first Noël thought I was being silly and then realized I was in a full out sob.

Well we made it to our place fir the night. We showered. I was probably dehydrated. But we had a nice dinner and can go to sleep and await tomorrow’s adventures. Buen Camino!!

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