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 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 do 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![\"Camino](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8111\/8615191738_ed7a88365d.jpg\")
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![\"20130416-180105.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/20130416-180105.jpg\")
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