It is hard to get used to having 20 other people in your sleeping quarters. It is like the dormitory setting at camp. Lights are out at 10 pm but it takes a while for people to settle down. Last evening some one got up to use the washroom and turned on all the lights by accident which resulted in half of the room then using the restroom. It took a while before the room settled down again.

We were out the door at 7:30 am just as it was getting light. This Albergue did not offer breakfast so we headed to the nearest cafe for coffee. Thus fortified, we set off at 7:55 am.

Today seemed to be a harder day than the previous one and we traveled a distance of only 10 kms. Most of the journey was thru suburbs of Pamplona and we didn’t have a foot path until after Pamplona. The group enlarged by two. Gabriele from Germany and Tina from Brugge walked with Janet, Rogerio and myself. At various times during the course of the morning we would meet various people who had stayed at the previous Albergue.

We arrived in Cizur Menor which is 5 kms beyond Pamplona just as the Maribel Albergue was opening its doors at 12 noon. We took off the boots, had a shower and then took the bus back into Pamplona to site see. We walked mainly the old town. Saw a few haunts of Ernest Hemingway and the large arena where the famous running of the bulls takes place. We strolled the streets where the bulls charge up admiring the buildings and the shops. We stopped at the Cathedral de Santa Maria. It was built over the remains of a Romanesque church. The cloister was erected in 1492 and is one of the most beautiful in Europe. There was the old town hall and justice buildings. The old part is lovely with the old architecture and atmosphere.

There are a lot of people getting rid of extra objects that they have found are too large and not needed or they have one too many like four T shirts, or blue jeans. Anything that has a lot of weight is being sent back home or left at the Albergue for other pilgrims to use.

Tomorrow I will go as far as the feet will carry me heading toward Puente La Reina a total distance of 19 kms.

Rogerio, Gabriele and Tina reading about Ernest Hemingway at the bull arena.