"The truth is that we are so often focused on What we are doing, that we often lose sight of Where we are going."
On Sunday morning, I woke up to a very sore body and the sound of rain pelting hard on the rooftop of the alburgue. Stage 2 from Roncesvalles to Zubiri would end up costing me 21.9 kilometers, roughly 13.6 miles, and 30, 583 steps. Things leveled off quite a bit in stage 2. Much of the walk was through woodlands and shaded areas in the Arga River valley. I have to admit that I was not in the least bit excited about walking in the cold rain!! I had to check my attitude early in the day, and look on the bright side. It would give me a good chance early in my trip to test out my rainproof gear, and see how my pack would hold up in damp/rainy weather. It ended up pouring most of the day, but the walk was still very enjoyable. I spent my last few euros on a baguette and some water early on in the walk at a small cafe in the town of Burguete. The American writer Ernest Hemingway used to spend time in this village unwinding with his friends and fishing for trout in the local river. I passed by the hostal where he used to stay when he needed to escape the faster paced city of Pamplona during his frequent forays into Europe. The last 5 km of this leg of the Camino was especially tricky because of the slick conditions on the trail. I nearly fell 4-5 times, and did end up falling twice.... once skinning up my leg on the sharp rocks that line much of the trail on the final descent into Zubiri. I finally made it into Zubiri around 3pm, starving, thirsty, without any euros, and no place to stay. I washed my muddy and bloody leg off in the river, and then I proceeded to look for some lodging. I had no luck at the first 3 places I tried in town, so I decided to get hydrated and eat something before I resumed my search for lodging. I used my credit card in a market to purchase some drinks and snacks, and then I managed to find an alburgue heading out of town for 8 euros. With no euros in hand and the fact that alburgues don't generally have the ability to accept credit cards, I ended up convincing the young attendant to accept a 10 pound British note in exchange for a room. He realized the British note was worth more than 5 euros above the cost of the room, so he decided to go with it. I agreed to bring him euros in the morning once the bank opened and I was able to change money. I went out for dinner later in the evening for my first real meal on the Camino. Fortunately, I found a place that took credit cards. I sat with a fellow hiker named Henry from Denmark. Henry spoke very good English, as most Scandinavians do.... so we had a nice chat about life in general and our reasons for doing the Camino. As it turned out, Henry had been in the Danish Navy for 30 years, and one day just decided to quit. Henry said he'd had enough of bureaucracy, downsizing, budget cuts, etc... and it was time to be done with it. He said he wasn't a big spender in life, and he'd saved well over his 30 year career, so he intended to do a very "slow" Camino. After a bountiful dinner and some good conversation, I headed back to my alburgue for the best "cold shower" I've had in some time! Actually, I'd have preferred some hot or even warm water after the long day out in the cold rain, but I was just glad to get cleaned up and head back to the room to rest and prepare for the next day.
Here are some pics from Stage 2 of my journey.
Lights Out.
On Sunday morning, I woke up to a very sore body and the sound of rain pelting hard on the rooftop of the alburgue. Stage 2 from Roncesvalles to Zubiri would end up costing me 21.9 kilometers, roughly 13.6 miles, and 30, 583 steps. Things leveled off quite a bit in stage 2. Much of the walk was through woodlands and shaded areas in the Arga River valley. I have to admit that I was not in the least bit excited about walking in the cold rain!! I had to check my attitude early in the day, and look on the bright side. It would give me a good chance early in my trip to test out my rainproof gear, and see how my pack would hold up in damp/rainy weather. It ended up pouring most of the day, but the walk was still very enjoyable. I spent my last few euros on a baguette and some water early on in the walk at a small cafe in the town of Burguete. The American writer Ernest Hemingway used to spend time in this village unwinding with his friends and fishing for trout in the local river. I passed by the hostal where he used to stay when he needed to escape the faster paced city of Pamplona during his frequent forays into Europe. The last 5 km of this leg of the Camino was especially tricky because of the slick conditions on the trail. I nearly fell 4-5 times, and did end up falling twice.... once skinning up my leg on the sharp rocks that line much of the trail on the final descent into Zubiri. I finally made it into Zubiri around 3pm, starving, thirsty, without any euros, and no place to stay. I washed my muddy and bloody leg off in the river, and then I proceeded to look for some lodging. I had no luck at the first 3 places I tried in town, so I decided to get hydrated and eat something before I resumed my search for lodging. I used my credit card in a market to purchase some drinks and snacks, and then I managed to find an alburgue heading out of town for 8 euros. With no euros in hand and the fact that alburgues don't generally have the ability to accept credit cards, I ended up convincing the young attendant to accept a 10 pound British note in exchange for a room. He realized the British note was worth more than 5 euros above the cost of the room, so he decided to go with it. I agreed to bring him euros in the morning once the bank opened and I was able to change money. I went out for dinner later in the evening for my first real meal on the Camino. Fortunately, I found a place that took credit cards. I sat with a fellow hiker named Henry from Denmark. Henry spoke very good English, as most Scandinavians do.... so we had a nice chat about life in general and our reasons for doing the Camino. As it turned out, Henry had been in the Danish Navy for 30 years, and one day just decided to quit. Henry said he'd had enough of bureaucracy, downsizing, budget cuts, etc... and it was time to be done with it. He said he wasn't a big spender in life, and he'd saved well over his 30 year career, so he intended to do a very "slow" Camino. After a bountiful dinner and some good conversation, I headed back to my alburgue for the best "cold shower" I've had in some time! Actually, I'd have preferred some hot or even warm water after the long day out in the cold rain, but I was just glad to get cleaned up and head back to the room to rest and prepare for the next day.
Here are some pics from Stage 2 of my journey.
Lights Out.
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