Camino Day 3 - Larrasoaña to Cizur Menor

Woke up to cloudy, threatening skies but not raining yet. Set off about 6:30 while it was still dark and had to use the flashlight to make sure we found the signs and kept on the Camino trail. It was light in about 20 minutes but starting to drizzle. Not enough for rain ponchos but not nice after the last 2 days of perfect weather.
After about an hour we found a place where an enterprising homeowner had set up a breakfast stall outside his house next to the Camino and out in the country. We stopped for coffee and bread. Before we were back on the track it started to rain harder and did not really stop for the rest of the day. The original plan was to go as far as Pamplona.
We passed some pretty villages but the rain made photos difficult.

This is a XIIIth century bridge but with the rain we did not stop to look at much but kept moving. It was also quite cold. As long as we kept moving we were fine but got chilled when we stopped.
Soon we were in the outskirts of Pamplona. It was not much fun in the rain but we walked right through the middle. It looks very pretty and if it had been dry we would have stopped to look around since it was still early. The path today had been easy with only small hills to climb, but several narrow, slippery muddy places to be crossed.
We past the massive old city walls and entered the city through one of the gates. Stopped to take a picture of the road where they run the bulls at the feast of St Firmin in July. I am sure the shop windows are well boarded up. The bull ring is at the other end of the street.

The Camino was well marked along its length with metal plates in the sidewalks so it was easy not to get lost.

At about 11:00 we stopped for a cup of coffee and something sweet at a cafe. It was nice to take our wet ponchos off and get out of the rain for a while. As we were walking I felt threatened by all the Señoras whose umbrellas were all at the level of my eyes and they were not very good at moving or raising them high enough. My trekking poles came in handy!
Suitably refreshed and since it was still very early in the day we decided not to stop in Pamplona but to continue to the next Albergue in Cizur Menor. This would still only make 21 km for the day and we know we can easily do more. We stopped at the University to get a "cello" stamp in our pilgrims passes to show we were in Pamplona and then went on to Cizur Menor.

We arrived at about 12:00 but the Albergue does not open until 1:00 so we ate the rest of our lunch from yesterday in their porch and got some beer from the local shop to go with it. It was nice to get out of the rain again for a while. We considered going on to the next Albergue on our route since it was so early but it is quite a long way including a steep climb of about 1000 feet followed by an even steeper descent. We decided not to do this in the rain but to take a half day as a rest day.
We checked in and got our bunks allocated. The place is very nice and has a nice common room where we can use the computers and have wifi access. There is also a small kitchen where several people have cooked some good smelling food.

There are 10 beds in our Room tonight.

 

 

We went out for a "Pilgrims meal" always seems to be €10. It was very good and warming. It is cold in the albergue since there is no heating and the outdoor temperature is only about 50F. Tonight I had paella, grilled beef and tiramisu along with local red wine. Not bad. There were people from Germany, Austria, Canada, USA and Ireland at our table tonight.

Then we went back to the community room at the albergue since there are enough people in here with some cooking to keep it warm. Also good social time.

I have got caught up on my blogs and even posted them and made a Facebook entry!
Now to bed so ready for what tomorrow brings. Again early start is planned. We want to be on the road at 6:30. We are not sure how far we will get. Depends on the weather, on us and on what we find on the way.

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