Day 4 - Pamplona

Today we had a day off from the trail.  Instead of walking the Camino, we walked around Pamplona.

Last night we had a lovely meal at a restaurant along Estafeta, the main street of the running of the bulls.

The hotel, Hotel Eslava, is just off the Camino, and a bit of a challenge to find.  Lynn spotted the street sign completely by chance after we had gone past it when she turned around to look where we'd been while waiting at a street light. Lovely place with a closed in balcony overlooking the new city, with a university in the foreground and hills behind, which is a beautiful view.  Just below our balcony is a public courtyard with the walls of the old city between us and Rio Agra (the river we followed yesterday ).

After breakfast we went on a walk of the old city centre.  It is very obvious that the Europeans have a very different take on life.  At 0900, when we set out, the city was closed up tight with little movement, except perigrinos and other tourists.

We attended morning mass at the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Real, built during the 14th and 15th centuries, it's neoclassical facade hides a gothic interior.  It is almost impossible to describe the grandure inside.  The ceiling seems to reach for the sky.  The accoustics were incredible, and when the organist struck the first chord, it almost knocked you out of your pew. There were very few people at mass and we seemed to be the only pilgrims. The 5 priests conducting the service blessed the perigrino's and wished them well on the camino, which is really very special. There were however quite a few people touring the cathedral while we were there that didn't attend mass. A sign of the times?

We then returned to where we had entered the city the day before, exiting through the Portal de Francia, through which pilgrims from France have always been allowed entry to Pamplona for centuries.

Back to the Puenta de la Magdalena (the medieval bridge) entering Pamplona and the stone cross with the relief of St James, which stands sentinel greating pilgrims to the city.

After re-entering the city we went to the Archives, of Navarre, where a detailed model of Pamplona in 1212, 1512, and 2012 was on display.  The archives is built around an open courtyard with trees and paths.

A short walk got us to the Museum of Navarre, a world class museum showcasing art and artifacts from pre-roman times to the twentieth century. In particular they had a muslim ivory chest that was absolutely beautifully carved and many early mosiacs.

After siesta time, when we went out to explore some more in the afternoon, we encountered the Aussies we had met in St Jean.  They said that it took them 10 hours to cover the distance we had covered in 5:45  the first day.  We think the difference must have been that we had cool, foggy weather and they had sun and heat the next day.  A perigrino from Calgary they had walked with was stopping for a day or two as she had nasty blisters on both feet.

The afternoon was spent tracking down where Ernest Hemingway stayed while in Pamplona.  We found the hotel, very fancy, with a sign proclaiming he stayed in room 217. The room, no doubt, goes for a price.

We also found Paseo de Hemmingway, next to the Plaza del Toro, the street which was named for him.  There is a very imposing statue of Hemmingway in front of the bull fighting arena.

Off to supper, a paella, chock full of shrimp, clams and unidentifable items we didn't want to ask about.  An acquired taste but we can say we tried it.  This was followed by a much appreciated coffee frappicino.  The frappe was a great treat in the heat.  Oh yes, it was only 32 today.

And that was the day.  Off to the hotel for laundry duty.

Russ thought back to yesterday when we were unsure of the way.  All you had to do was look down at the hundreds of overlapping boot tracks.  You are not alone!

Summary - a welcome day off but we are anxious to get back to the camino tomorrow. The forecast is a mere 33. It is supposed to be a moderately difficult day, 22km.