Day 3 - Akerreta to Pamplona

The day dawned sunny and bright once again, with cool temperatures, great for walking.  The Hotel Akerreta where we stayed was a real gem, a heritage restored limestone and wooden beams building that had once had animals on the main floor and people above.  On our floor there was a curious concrete dome we couldn't figure out until we went to the floor below and found flagstones on the floor.  Flagstones were where they built a cooking fire and the dome was the chimney to catch the smoke.  Excellent accomodations, good food and great fellow perigrino company. Interestingly, there was no knob on the front door, you had to ring the inn keeper by intercom and wait for him to open the door for you.

Once again we were following Martin Sheen as the balcony scene in "The Way", where the owner was playing bullfighter, was filmed there.

Most of the walk today was in lovely forested areas, following the Rio Agra.  Plenty of trout in the water. The guide said the route was flat, which in this case meant you climbed a hill then descended the hill, repeatedly. Over the course of the walk, it evened out.

Funny how common place things cause little moments of joy when you have gone without.  There was almost a cheer when we rounded a corner and there was a public toilet.  Spain, at least rural, doesn't have the Tim's you can dash in for a pit stop. After that, however, a careful look at the guide proved that public WC's , rare though they might be, were indeed indicated.

The one thing we noticed was that many houses are surrounded by a fence, with locked gates.  Row houses have their doors tightly closed and shutters down.  We even saw a house with a steel door, wth a very obvious viewing slit.  No unannounced visits there.  As mentioned above, even the front door of the hotel in Akerreta had no handle on the outside, admittance by permission only. This may be a carry over from the Spanish civil war that wnded in 1976.

It was a lovely day for a walk, and an easy walk. One thing about the camino so far has certainly been that as hiking goes, this is a beautiful hike. The Hawaiian fellow we keep crossing paths with told us he is doing the camino because it is a beautiful hike with unparalleled support services for hikers (ie., a series of conveniently located alberques all along the route with inexpensive peregrino meals).

Both of us are glad it is a short distance today and looking forward to the day off we have in Pamplona tomorrow.  Our feet are not quite used to walking these long distances on a daily basis yet. On the walk through Pamplona to our hotel this morning Lynn bought a mineral effervescent bath bomb and planned a long soak when we reached the hotel. Later when the shops re-opened she went to a pharmacia and pointed at the horrible heat rash on her feet and the pharmacist offered some cortison cream. Let's hope that works. We did some sightseeing in Pamplona today - which is a university town filled with young people and plan to do some city walks tomorrow.

Distance to date: 70.5 km
Today: 15.5 km

Summary - The walk is going very well, the countryside is beautiful, people friendly, food good and fellow walkers fantastic.  The mind is starting to empty of all those trivial goings on that clutter our lives.