Day 5 Pamplona to Puente La Reina

Not much sleep last night as they only turned the lights off at midnight and then on again at 6am. 


I thought that I might as well get moving as there were a lot of pilgrims in the hostel with one bathroom. 

So I was up and out by 6:40 and it was still dark walking through the city streets. They have these steel plates set into the pavement, breadcrumb style, which I used to find my way out of the city, which was just stirring for the new day.

Once I had cleared the suburbs and early morning commuter traffic, I could see the hill ahead (Alto del Perdon) which was on my route. This hill has the sculpture in thick steel, of pilgrims making their way to Santiago. This is the photo on the home page of my blog. I had been really looking forward to seeing it close up.


I met a guy from London (Steve) on the route, one of the very few pilgrims I have met from the UK, apart from the two Scots on my first day. We walked together for a couple of hours, which was nice.

We stopped at a shop on the way to get some breakfast. In the shop, I met a Croatia guy who I had met as we entered Pamplona. He was buying half a baguette, ham and cheese so I asked him if he wanted to share. He said yes, so I bought a baguette too with a couple of bananas, an apple and a sticky bun (not just for breakfast!). Outside the shop we set about filling the baguettes with the ham and cheese. When I asked him how much I owed him, he shrugged and said ‘nothing’.

Nearing out destination for the day, I decided to follow a detour route from my guidebook to see an octagonal church, a ‘gem’ of the Camino. A sign looked like it said it was open so I decided to go for it. It was an extra 5km and it was quite hot and sunny by now. Half way there I wavered and almost turned back. When I got to the church, I couldn’t believe it, as the gates were locked shut! I took a couple of photos of it, turned around and walked back to my original route. I was still so mad about it later, that I deleted the photos!

Two firsts today,  I got my first blister and my walking shoe started to fall apart. I bought some glue in this town so I will have to see how well it holds up. I'm not too hopeful to be honest.

 I visited the local church Puente la Reina, and found the very unusual Y shaped crucifix from the 14th century. Apparently, it was brought here by some pilgrims from Germany.

Comments

  1. Lyn15 September 2021 at 21:04

    We want to see the octagonal church now! :D
    Love the mule!
    Shall I send new shoes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MartinV15 September 2021 at 21:15

      I could look in my deleted photos if you are interested.
      I may have to buy some shoes out here. Hopefuly they will get me to a big town or city

      Delete
  2. Barbara15 September 2021 at 22:45

    Sounds like it’s quite tough going - it would be better if you could get a good night’s sleep! Hope tomorrow goes better xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MartinV17 September 2021 at 15:43

      Last night was really good as I managed to avoid the self confessed snorers. It was a close shave as I could still hear them from the other room!

      Delete

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