I´ve lost track of the days, I thought it was Thursday and was just told it was Saturday!! Days and hours are meaningless on the camino. Yesterday was a bid day again about 30 km and a lot of it downhill. The little villages and larger towns of Navarra are spotlessly clean and the houses are lovely - all are two storey with the first usually of stone and the second storey always whitewashed a brilliant white. The doorways and windows are framed with large square cut stone and flanked by wooden shutters. Not a rusty car body anywhere - all this without a tidy town scheme!
Stopped at a little town (Varla) for a couple of cafes con leche and a rest before walking into Pamplona. Spent a few hours in Pamplona, got off the beaten track and went to the Plaza Castillana (and old local took us there personally and we had a good chat on the way - great for my Spanish which gets better every day). We had drinks and lunch at the Rincon de Hemingway (Hemingways corner - he spent a lot of time here) Patatas al aleoli, calamares renellos en su tinta (exquisite) and bocadillo de lomo all washed down with too many Mahou beers!! (we got a bit lost after this but eventually found our way back to the route and to an albergue at Cruz Menur. This albergue was run by the Knights of Malta (Templars ?). Our host was a German that spoke fluent Spanish, English, French and Italian. He puffed cigars, drank wine, cursed well in Spanish and sang Kenny Rogers and Chris Kristopherson- a nice guy (Ray grabbed a guitar and put on a show with him). Shared a room with Lyn from Cairns (in fact with Ray and I their were 4 aussies in the hostel that night), a Spaniard and a young Japanese guy, Hiro, (he has legs like tree trunks and fitness to match) who was walking because he need time to think about his future.
Left C M at 6am heading for Puerte de la Reina. Stopped after Monte de Perdon for breakie at a wonderfull private albergue/cafe where we had 1ft boccadillos filled with bacon and fried green peppers and spanish omellete washed down with a couple of great coffees. The 3 more km to the hostel. It´s the nicest hostel yet and only 5 euros. HERE, I´M GOING TO SAY IT ¨JOE WAS RIGHT¨´ You can get cheaper food and drink if you get off the beaten path (that was painfull). Not able to put any photos on here.
Stopped at a little town (Varla) for a couple of cafes con leche and a rest before walking into Pamplona. Spent a few hours in Pamplona, got off the beaten track and went to the Plaza Castillana (and old local took us there personally and we had a good chat on the way - great for my Spanish which gets better every day). We had drinks and lunch at the Rincon de Hemingway (Hemingways corner - he spent a lot of time here) Patatas al aleoli, calamares renellos en su tinta (exquisite) and bocadillo de lomo all washed down with too many Mahou beers!! (we got a bit lost after this but eventually found our way back to the route and to an albergue at Cruz Menur. This albergue was run by the Knights of Malta (Templars ?). Our host was a German that spoke fluent Spanish, English, French and Italian. He puffed cigars, drank wine, cursed well in Spanish and sang Kenny Rogers and Chris Kristopherson- a nice guy (Ray grabbed a guitar and put on a show with him). Shared a room with Lyn from Cairns (in fact with Ray and I their were 4 aussies in the hostel that night), a Spaniard and a young Japanese guy, Hiro, (he has legs like tree trunks and fitness to match) who was walking because he need time to think about his future.
Left C M at 6am heading for Puerte de la Reina. Stopped after Monte de Perdon for breakie at a wonderfull private albergue/cafe where we had 1ft boccadillos filled with bacon and fried green peppers and spanish omellete washed down with a couple of great coffees. The 3 more km to the hostel. It´s the nicest hostel yet and only 5 euros. HERE, I´M GOING TO SAY IT ¨JOE WAS RIGHT¨´ You can get cheaper food and drink if you get off the beaten path (that was painfull). Not able to put any photos on here.
Awesom!.my stomach is rumbling with those food descriptions first thing in the morning.
ReplyDeleteWhy no photos?