Day 5 – Sept 10, 2022 – La Trinidad de Arre to Pamplona (4.5 km)
We arrived in Pamplona for a much needed rest day. We booked a private room in a hostal so we could reorganize and refresh. We will be here Saturday and Sunday and head back out Monday morning.
After checking in and immediately taking a couple of wonderfully long showers, we took a couple hours to book our next few beds in advance to avoid this week’s no-bed-breakdown. Then we headed out to explore old town Pamplona. We did a pintxo’s (tapas/appetizers) crawl for dinner, stopping in several bars and for tapas and drinks. On Calle San Nicholas, all the bars served gourmet pintxos. We ate our way through a couple of places before calling it quits.
Once we had our fill, we headed to the market on our way back to our hostel and picked up a bottle of wine for 1,99€ (not Two Buck Carlos either). It was delicious. After watching part of a movie, we crashed. It was nice to not stay n a dorm with 6-10 other people.
Day 6 – Sept 11, 2022 – Pamplona (0 km) Rest Day
After this week, we desperately needed to drop pack weight, so we cleaned out our 20+ lb portable closets onto the bed and reassessed what we’ve been carrying.
I was able to drop 2.5 lbs from my pack and Rex lost about 1.5 lbs. We plan to to ship the items back home, donate some to hiker boxes, and simply throw other items away. Hopefully shedding this extra weight will help. It certainly can’t hurt.
After searching for a correos (post office), we learned they close on Saturday at noon and don’t open again until Monday at 8:30a. Oh no! It is going to be a hot one Monday and we planned to leave before dawn since we have a 17.5 km walk to our now RESERVED beds. It looks like we will need to carry this extra weight a bit longer to avoid walking in the afternoon.
After a week of simple hand washing in the sink, we wanted to give our clothes and bed liners a deep cleaning, so we went in search of a launderia (laundromat). We asked our hostel host where to find one and he gave us access to his apartment complex’s laundry facilities. We were excited to find the washer and dryer were free. Yippee!
When we were here before the start of our Camino, the energy was off for some reason. For example, at a cafe the waiter choose not to bring us a menu even though we requested one in Spanish twice and others around us were already eating. When he finally did bring the menu (after our coffee and tea was finished), he brought us a very expensive dinner menu which lacked all the small meals others were eating.
We didn’t feel the love from Pamplona on our initial visit, but after learning about the dining culture, we determined it was our own lack of knowledge that was the problem, not the waiter nor the cafe. So we decided to give the same restaurant (and Pamplona) a second chance. This time, before taking our seats outside we walked in, greeted the servers, ordered the items we wanted from the counter, then took our seats. This was definitely the right order. The restaurant was fantastic and attentive. Now that we’re starting to figure out the process, everything works so much better.
There was a Basque festival in the town square with music, carnival rides, and craft booths. It definitely drew a crowd. The “pony” rides cracked me up.
We headed off to the bull fighting ring for a tour. But it’s Sunday. They stopped tours at 2:00p. We arrived at 2:15p. Oh well, we will just need to come when the bulls are running. For now, we’ll settle for this…
It was a fun couple days of rest in Pamplona, but it is time to hit the trail once again. It will be an early morning again to beat the afternoon heat.
Hasta mañana…
Love your pics and commentary!
Very interesting about the 1st and 2nd visit to the same restaurant!! Wow!!
I can’t imagine carrying 20 lbs, I’m walking 20 miles 3 days in a row in San Diego and have water, bathroom, and snacks every 3 miles. I’m feeling spoiled!