The next morning we got off to a late start because Rosa had our laundry hanging in her locked conservatory. When she comes in, wearing a new house coat from yesterday, she is smiling from ear to ear and tells us that Olaf has gotten up very early to leave. She knew, as we did, that he was most likely too embarrassed to face us after his behavior the night before. We are certain that everyone in the pensione could hear him as the walls are very thin. Before we leave we ask her to take pictures with us & she is bashful but obliging.
We start off looking for a post box to drop our cards in and find one on the way. As we are walking along we feel as if our packs are heavier, and our bodies & feet more sore than before our rest day. This makes no sense at all, especially since I've mailed half my pack contents away.
As we head out of town, I am very eager for a cafe con leche. In an unbelievable twist of fate, I find a place where I can get a cup to go. It may be the only one in the Basque Country. We have searched many times before with no luck.
Jenny & I have decided to have shirts printed for our Camino walk. Mine will read, "Will walk for cafe con leche" and hers, "Will walk for paella" these are good examples of the silly thoughts that sometimes come to mind while walking for hours everyday.
Within a few kilometers it begins to sprinkle so we must stop to put our rain gear on. As we are doing so a group of Spanish school children pass by with their teacher leading and it's obvious that they are fascinated by us.
As we walk down and out of Pamplona, we cross the University Campus, which is just beautiful. We both decide that studying in Pamplona would be very nice. Cafe con leche each morning & Paella each night, molten hot chocolate on occasion.
My little toe on my right foot seems to have decided to join the Basques. I am not sure why, all of a sudden, it cannot live in peace & harmony with the rest of my body, but it's clearly angry & wants immediate independence. It's amazing how much pain can radiate from such a small part of your body. It makes each and every step that I take absolute torture for the entire day. Multiple stops to check things and to change bandages and socks are no help. Throughout the day it just continues to get worse for no apparent reason.
Shortly after leaving the city we come upon a group of 28 Irish people doing a guided tour. Their bags are shuttled from one hotel to the next for them while they amble about on the Camino for two weeks. They are quite a lot of fun & very curious about us. One of the ladies insists upon giving us sweets. They ask several questions about why we are out here, and even ask to carry our packs for a bit. We politely decline, but immediately fall in love with one couple named John & Edna. They are just the sweetest couple and John sings some Irish songs to help us get up a hill & to keep us entertained for a bit.
It's not long before we run into our long lost friend Lynette. We are so happy to see her again & spend the next hour catching each other up on current events.
There are also two older men from the Netherlands who we play leap frog with all day. They are kind and smiling each time we see them even though we can't really communicate other than with gestures. They ask if we will take photos of them and they do for us as well. Then we ask for photos with them and they get a big kick out of it!
The vistas on this part of the Camino are breathtaking, and it helps to distract us from the climb and me from the angry little Basque toe. As we crest Alto del Perdon, and see the sculpture of pilgrims trekking in a line we all have tears & goose bumps.
We stay on for a bit talking with other pilgrims and taking photos.
After a bit we begin the steep treacherous descent on loose rocks that roll beneath our feet. Jenny & I decide to take it slowly but Lynnette takes off like a rocket saying she'll see us at the bottom.
As we make our way down we discuss how surprised and relieved we are not to have run into Olaf today. We decide that he must be far ahead after his early start & that it would certainly be awkward if we would have had to walk along with him today.
At the bottom of the hill we pass an albergue with a bar and see Lynette & several others sitting in the sun. We stop for a juice & Lynette tries to talk us into booking the last private room available for 50 euro....my Basque toe hurts so badly that I was considering it, then Olaf walked up very timidly to say hello to Jenny. As much as we would like to be done for the day, we don't want to spend that amount of money so soon after our pensione in Pamplona & now that we know Olaf is here there is no way. We have our juice & say our goodbyes, then start off on very sore feet. The nearest town, Obanos, is another 5K/3miles. We have heard rumors that the albergue there is also full. If that's the case then we will have another 2 miles to walk beyond that. We have already walked for 7 hours today and we are both struggling at this point.
Jenny has such a good sense of humor. Somehow we manage to laugh our way through the 3 miles and with loads of luck on our side, we get two beds for the night for 7 euros each. We arrive in Obanos at 4pm. By pilgrim standards, that's very late and really pushing it. We are exhausted but elated to have beds.
The albergue is a beautiful old perfectly restored building with 35 stacked beds in one room. All the people staying are festive & friendly, there is a very good feeling of community here. We are too late for washing laundry or booking a pilgrim dinner, so we shower quickly & head to the supermacado to buy fruit, French rolls & ham. We then make 4 sandwiches each from our French rolls, eating one for dinner & packing the others for tomorrow.
There is a beautiful fourteen year old French girl, Marianna, in the bunk next to us with her grandmother. We have fun taking pictures with her, or trying to. She wants to photograph us but won't allow us to take one of her. This instigates a sort of photograph tag game for the last few minutes before bed. There are also 8 teenage German boys traveling together & staying in the albergue, so we all go to sleep fearing the possibilities.
Once the lights go out all is quiet & peaceful. It was a great night.
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