Well, four days in to my trek and over 100km of walking, I am begining to make some really good friends along the way. I met Elizabeth (California), Isabelle (Holland), Tenneth (South Africa), Gary (Australia), and Suzy and Chris (Alaska), in St. Jean Pied de Port. Our little group of seven have been walking together for the past four days. It feels like we have know each other for such a long time - maybe thats because we walk together for 8-10 hours a day and talk about everything! When I started my second day of walking, my shoulders and lower legs were fairly sore; but, I was really excited to start walking again and see what the day had in store for me. It was a much shorter day (I think it was only 7-8 hours) and we arrived in what we were all calling the ¨L¨ city because we couldn´t pronounce the name. The walk was mostly downhill and the views were spectacular! Walking through the forest felt like being in a fairytale, and frankly, it was hard to believe that I was actually in Spain!Along the walk I met Mora and Mary - a mother daughter duo from Washington DC. At the albergue in the ¨L¨ city, Mora, Mary, and I (along with other pilgrims) had a communal dinner which was unforgetable! The wine was constantly being poured and we were laughing the entire time! I love the pilgrim meals we have been having so far. i have met so many people from all over the world; it is nice to learn about what other people do in different countries, and I think it allows you to open your eyes and gain new perspectives about life. On my third day of walking, I was planning on walking to Pamplona which is where I was planning on resting for a full day (not including the day i arrived). Turns out, Pamplona was a really short walk from the ¨L¨ city.- We arrived by 11am!I was set on staying the night, but most of the group decided to walk futher. However, Gary and Elizabeth decided to stay the night with me as well. And what a night it was. After a stroll around the old town and a delicious lunch of pinxtos, we sat at Cafe Iruna (made famous by Hemmingway´s novel ¨The Sun Also Rises¨) and basically drank from 2pm until just after 10! It was a long night, but boy was it fun. We talked nonstop for hours on end about life, the camino, and random topics like swimming in a pool filled with caramel.Throughout the evening it hit me that this was probably going to be the last time I would see Gary and Elizabeth because I had originally planned to stay the following day in Pamplona. But on the camino, you learn that plans change. I couldn´t say bye to these guys after only three days! So, I decided to skip my rest day in Pamplona and I walked to Puente de Reina today with everyone. I´m glad that I decided to walk today because I was able to see Kathleen (Ireland) and Cheri, Judy, and David (Florida) again!i was so happy seeing all of their faces again, and although it would be nice to meet completely new people, It is comforting knowing that each night I will get to see my friends and share a bottle (or two...or three...maybe five bottles) of wine with them. So I have thrown my plans out the window. I am going to play it by ear, listen to what my body is telling me each night, and just enjoy the camino with my friends. If I finish earlier than expected, that just means I have more time to see the rest of this beautiful country!
But before I sign off tonight, I should talk about my walk today. I didnt leave Pamplona as early as I would have liked to, but i spend an amazing day walking with ELizabeth; we didn´t arrive until just before 3pm, mostly because we tooka detour to see a romanesque church which was well worth the hour or so climbing uphill in the heat! The views of the countryside are just amazing. Once we reached the highest point of our climb, words would not be able to describe the view of Pamplona and all of the surrounding hamlets. I was speachless.There is so much to talk about that I don´t know where to begin. So you will all have to wait to see my pictures. Then you will understand.
Tomorrow I am going to walk to Estella (about 21km away). Depending on how bad my feet are I might end up spending a rest day in Estella and meet up with the rest of my friends later. I have a few painful blisters right at the bottom of my toes (where they meet the foot) and it is painful to walk, or at least it was. I have a cream to use and some blister healing things from the pharmacy that I have been using and they seem to work.
Well, I am off to go get some sleep, rest my feet, maybe read a little, and get ready for another exciting day of walking! It is really so much fun, and I would highly reccomend it to anyone...although that may change when the heat gets to me and my feet fall off ;) Bye for now
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