{"id":56619,"date":"2013-04-03T12:48:07","date_gmt":"2013-04-03T19:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/pamplona\/"},"modified":"2013-04-12T19:41:43","modified_gmt":"2013-04-13T02:41:43","slug":"pamplona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/pamplona\/","title":{"rendered":"Pamplona!"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u00b4s funny, but the pilgrim hostels (“albergues”) either have wifi or a computer lab. With the lab, I can use a proper computer with a proper keyboard, but unfortunately I cannot upload my photos. <\/p>\n

So I\u00b4m here in Pamplona, after walking another 21.5km, staying at the Albergue Jesus y Maria, which is perhaps a block from the great Cathedral.<\/p>\n

Day two was more difficult than day one, but mostly due to my own lack of foresight. Yesterday I set out walking and had coffee and breakfast in the first big village I came to, so I thought I could do that today.<\/p>\n

This, my friends, was a tragic error. Oh, my friend Eamon and I went through village after village, but it wasn\u00b4t until 11am that we finally found a bar*.<\/p>\n

Confusing note of the day:<\/strong> in Spain, a cafe is a bar (i.e. alcohol), whereas a bar is a cafe (i.e. coffee).<\/p>\n

This was in the village of Irotz, and by this time we had walked about 11km. At the bar, I had the Best Cup of Coffee Ever<\/em>. I also had a bocadillo chorizo, which I can absolutely recommend as the perfect breakfast after a walk of 11 or so kilometers.<\/p>\n

One of the interesting things about the Camino is that people naturally form pods – usually called “Camino families”. They form and break up and re-form as the days progress. People get added and people fall away. There\u00b4s a metaphor there, but it\u00b4s now almost 10pm, and I can\u00b4t find it.<\/p>\n

Since I can\u00b4t upload any new photos today, I\u00b4ll just explain of the ones I uploaded last night.<\/p>\n

This is my current pod.<\/p>\n

\"Camino<\/p>\n

From left to right: Eamon <\/strong>from New Zealand, Allie <\/strong>from UK (currently living in the French Alps with her husband and twin 10-year old daughters), Cliff <\/strong>the retired firefighter from Massachusetts, Kristof <\/strong>the self-described “fat Belgian”, and yours truly.<\/p>\n

We left Kristof at Zubiri, where he had some communications he had to take care of with the meat-packing plant that he co-owns with his brother, and the remaining four of us walked on towards Pamplona.<\/p>\n

Allie quickly fell behind, and Cliff surged forward. He\u00b4s not very fast, but he never takes breaks, so there\u00b4s a bit of a rabbit and tortoise thing going there.<\/p>\n

Eamon and I have about the same pace, so we more or less stuck together through the day.<\/p>\n

The terrain today was more hills (up and down and up and down…) and mud. We walked through a fairly industial area, followed by more bucolic countryside with the occasional village, until we hit the town of Villava. This is a delightful medieval town, built up over the centuries. <\/p>\n

Villaga transitioned smoothly to the suburbs and then the city of Pamplona.<\/p>\n

In the “bucolic countryside portion”, Eamon and I took a detour to visit the fortified hill church of San Esteban in Zabaldika.<\/p>\n

It was a steep climb up the hill to the church, but the church itself was a spiritual gem. Photos will follow (I promise) whenever I get wifi. A deeply meditative place, where I felt the full weight of the centuries and of the communion of saints pressing upon me.<\/p>\n

The church was very tiny, but the interior altars and furnishings were absolutely exquisite.<\/p>\n

The nuns who run the place rather indulgently let me climb the steeple (obviously built for defense, with a tight sprial stair and arrow slits) and ring the bell, cast in the 14th century. <\/p>\n

And then Pamplona! Oh my goodness. Words cannot due it justice, though Hemmingway tried. I took perhaps a hundred photos which will give you some idea.<\/p>\n

Keep looking at the Flickr link on the left to see when I upload the photos for today!<\/p>\n

Tomorrow we will stay for the 9:30am Mass at the Cathedral and then press on, perhaps to Obanos or Puenta la Reina.<\/p>\n

So much to say, but my time on the computer is metered, so I will leave off and wish you all a blessed night.<\/p>\n

P.S. I must return to Pamplona. One day isn\u00b4t enough. I doubt a month would suffice to scratch the surface. It\u00b4s simply one of the most beautiful cities I\u00b4ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

P.P.S. Kristof arrived in Pamplona this evening to join us.<\/p>\n

P.P.P.S. This Spanish keyboard layout is making me crazy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u00b4s funny, but the pilgrim hostels (“albergues”) either have wifi or a computer lab. With the lab, I can use a proper computer with a proper keyboard, but unfortunately I cannot upload my photos. So I\u00b4m here in Pamplona, after walking another 21.5km, staying at the Albergue Jesus y Maria, which is perhaps a block from the great Cathedral. Day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-camino"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s1aGBK-pamplona","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":83909,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/one-year-ago-the-long-climb\/","url_meta":{"origin":56619,"position":0},"title":"One Year Ago: the Long Climb","author":"Thom","date":"04 April 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"(from my journal) Puente La Reina Easter Thursday \/ 7pm Arrived exhausted, physically, mentally, emotionally. 9pm Showered. Clothes washed. In a bar looking forward to food and wine. I\u2019m utterly wiped out. My feet are numb and my shoulders ache. This is the day my pilgrimage actually began. Fortified and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fortified and Ready to Start Walking!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8728147999_23c74025fe_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8728147999_23c74025fe_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8728147999_23c74025fe_b.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8728147999_23c74025fe_b.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56884,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-heights-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":56619,"position":1},"title":"The Heights","author":"Thom","date":"05 April 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We continue to be confounded by technological problems. Lack of wifi is not allowing me to upload the several hundred photos I\u00b4ve taken. I\u00b4m blogging from the Albergue Municipal in Estella at the end of day 4, but what I\u00b4d like to do is tell you a little bit about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Carving in Pamplona Cathedral","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Carving-in-Pamplona-Cathedral-240x321.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":83907,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/one-year-ago-pamplona\/","url_meta":{"origin":56619,"position":2},"title":"One Year Ago: Pamplona!","author":"Thom","date":"03 April 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"(from my journal \u2013 the day by day account continues!) Irotz Easter Wednesday \/ 11AM This morning about 8AM we left Kristof behind and set out for Pamplona! No coffee or breakfast until now. A Farewell to Zubiri Walking mostly with Eamon or by myself. Ali has lagged behind out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Farewell to Zubiri","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8625700472_12434d9ee4_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8625700472_12434d9ee4_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8625700472_12434d9ee4_b.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8625700472_12434d9ee4_b.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":87135,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/what-happened-to-my-rest-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":56619,"position":3},"title":"What Happened to my Rest Day?","author":"Thom","date":"02 April 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Today was meant to be a rest day in glorious Pamplona. We went to Lauds (chanted Latin) and Mass (first half Latin, second half Spanish) at the Cathedral. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Then, I took about 200 photos (see the link in the side bar \u2013 totally worth it). We visited\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87133,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/so-we-meet-at-last\/","url_meta":{"origin":56619,"position":4},"title":"So We Meet at Last","author":"Thom","date":"01 April 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Arrived in Pamplona about 3:30 PM, so it was a brisk day. The weather was beautiful \u2013 cool and mostly overcast. It was perfect walking weather. \u00a0 We set out from Zubiri at 7:40 after breakfast and a quick meet up with Billy, Becky, and Penny. They weren\u2019t going to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/img_6953.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/img_6953.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/img_6953.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/img_6953.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/img_6953.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/img_6953.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":86816,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/getting-to-the-camino-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":56619,"position":5},"title":"Getting to the Camino","author":"Thom","date":"15 February 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We hope to begin our 2016 Camino in the quaint French mountain village of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, a name that more or less means \u201cSaint John at the Foot of the Pass\u201d. 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