~ Mom and Daughter on the Camino de Santiago ~
A number of people responded to my request to take prayers and intentions along the way. Before we left St. Jean Pied-de-Port, it seemed fitting to head into the small church by the pilgrim archway and light a candle for everyone on my list. If you are on my list, please know that I think of you every day.
In St. Jean Pied-de-Port, we also got our Pilgrim Passports. We keep these with us and they get stamped at hostels, restaurants, museums and cathedrals to show our progress. We walked around the town, saw beautiful wildflowers and went back to our wee hotel to get ready for our start the next morning.
Uphill and uphill some more we climbed. We left on September 9th and walked up. Then up some more. We had an elevation gain of 2,000 feet in about four miles. We stayed the night at a hostel in Orisson up in the Pyrenees and it was GORGEOUS. Here’s the sunrise the following morning.
Our second day was a more gradual climb with the most amazing vistas, sweet animals, friendly pilgrims and breeze all along the way. There was even a food truck where we stopped for a coffee! After 14 beautiful miles, we landed in a big Pilgrim Hostel in Roncesvalles. We slept in a room with about 40 other people. It was actually super nice, great volunteers ran the show and the food was simple but good.
To Zubiri
This was a 13 mile day with ups and downs all along the way. We had rain and hail and sun. We had mountains and valleys, forests, rivers and fields. The day started with a most beautiful double rainbow.
We found the BEST gazpacho along the way and had a lovey lunch. Zubiri is a cute little town nestled in the hills alongside a cold river. Of course we had to dunk in it and it felt amazing after a long hike. Here’s Emilia at lunch and Emilia hiking.
Emilia flies from Pamplona Friday so we decided to hang out. We got a sweet little Airbnb apartment right in the center of the action. We’ve settled in for a few lovely days. Yesterday (when I’m writing this) we found the corral where the bulls are kept before they are let loose on the city. We went to the Museo de Navarre with it’s collections of Paleolithic artifacts all the way through to more modern art.
My knee was bugging me so the rest here feels good. I’m icing and stretching and doing all the things. It’s gonna be fine.
Today we decided to take the bus up to the Bay of Biscay to hang out on the beach. I’ll finish up this post by adding some photos later today.
Tomorrow Emilia heads to the airport and I’ll start my walk to Uterga. I decided to take it easy tomorrow and see how my knee feels. I’m even letting a service transport my backpack for me. All is well on the Camino. The week with Emilia has been wonderful and I’m sending loads of love your way.
