Letters To

The next morning, we wake in darkness and begin to get ready for the day's journey. We know we have a walk ahead of us, over a "hill" called the Alto de Perdon. Our goal is Uterga on the other side. As you can see from the map, it will be quite a climb both up and down. Ingeborg, Rita, Doro, and I have had a good night at la Casa Paderborn, with the exception of Rita taking a tumble in the middle of the night when she got off the top bunk to go to the bathroom. I am feeling very guilty about that because she gave me the bottom bunk yesterday, and I was going to go into another room so we could all be on the bottom and they INSISTED that I stay there with them and Rita would take the top. She said he rides her horse in Germany every day, so is used to climbing, and she had put a chair by the bed to help her get down, and in the night, her footing slipped. I feel so awful that a 71 year old woman had to give ME the bottom bunk because I fear that I'll pull the whole be...

Here I am in Pamplona, with my walking companions Ingeborg (in red plaid) & Rita. I'm in the hat, and you can see the sunburn I got that first day walking up the mountain backwards. We left Trinidad de Arre in the morning, walking out from the church after eating our breakfast all together in the kitchen, and saying our good byes. Our walk was through city streets, as Trinidad is really almost a suburb of Pamplona. The ladies wanted to change out the SIM cards on their cell phones so that they could make calls in Spain without having to roam through Germany to do it, so we inquired at a few mobile phone stores until we found one that could do it. Our bartering arrangement of my better (though not by much) Spanish skills for use of their phones to make arrangements, etc. is working well. We have agreed to stay at a private alburgue in Pamplona, La Casa Paderborn, and have an easy, touristy day to recover from the longer day yesterday. It seems odd to be walking along sidewalks a...

Once back in the hostel, the first thing I want is a Coke, so I head to the vending machine and get one--cold and delicious. My companions are sitting in the lounge, so I join them on the couch and we discuss what to do next. I definitely want my shower, then to wash my clothes, and Ingeborg wants to see if there is a grocery store around, and I agree. Rita is pretty tired from the walk, so opts to rest before dinner. We all go back to the bunks, and start our rustling, unpacking, and re-arranging. The shower is wonderful, and then I'm off to the sink to wash clothes. I get done early enough to hang my wet clothes up in the sun, so there is an actual chance that they might be dry by the morning. WhileI am going about these chores, I notice that everyone in the place is being very quiet, there is no rowdiness or loud talk. I think that the spirit of this place has rubbed off on all of us. It's quite interesting to watch. Soon, Ingeborg and I head out of the doorway and into the ...

We knock on the heavy door, which, like most churches we encounter, is quite large, with another, smaller, average "door-sized" door put into it. The smaller door opens and a young woman, who looks very much like Sarah Jessica Parker, sticks her head out. "Hay camas por esta noche?" I enquire. Are there beds for tonight? I am thinking this woman is a "hospitalero" or one of the volunteers who help in the refugios. Turns out, she's a fellow Pilgrim, a Spanish woman who is walking with her boyfriend, who is German. She speaks both languages fluently, it seems to me. We follow her just to the left of the door into a small, narrow reception room. At the end of the room is an old man at a desk. He has the most wonderfully kind face, and he is waiting to check us into our place for the night. We hand over our Pilgrims' passports for stamping and sink gratefully into chairs. This gentleman speaks to each of us individually, first to me, asking ...