To Burguete or Zubiri

2006 

Leaving Roncesvalles, 
I was sore, but excited.
The trail began flat and easy.

I really enjoyed walking through
the pretty village of Burguete.

Interesting decoration above the door of the house, 
which states it was built in 1853

Watch carefully for the yellow arrows, 
which are on the GROUND leading out of Burguete.
They are easy to miss,
and many pilgrims end up walking the road.

A beautiful place for a drink!

 The steep descent into Zubiri was painful 

because my feet were recovering from Hell Day.
It is very steep, 
and luckily, the weather was dry.
Those rocks must be slippery as heck
in the rain!

We walked slow and steady, finding mushrooms all along the path.

Edible Parasol Mushrooms and my Pilgrim's Staff

Joe found a place to soak his feet.

Down another steep hill and into Zubiri, 

we found beds at the Municipal albergue.

This was a dirty place and not particularly friendly. 

The bedding was dirty, the floors were dirty, 

and the toilets, which were located 

in a trailer around the back of the building, 

were overflowing and filthy.

This was also the place I got my first 
and only bedbug bite, 

although I didn't know at the time what it was. 

But remember, 

this was my experience in 2006.

You might have a totally different experience today. 

You must ask yourself, are you are pilgrim?
Or are you a tourist?

A Pilgrim is Grateful

So I'm grateful for that little dirty albergue -
with its dirty linen and dirty toilets -

at least I had a safe, warm, dry place to sleep!

2012
Spring Group

This night we slept at Casa Pedroarena in Burguete.

While the lodging was nice, and the lady of the house was lovely,
the owner's husband was not very nice,
and so we will not stay here again.

I do recommend you try Casa Pedroarena,
as it was exceptionally clean and beautiful.
Perhaps the husband was just having a bad day.
I just can't risk it with a group.

Some of our walkers attended the pilgrim mass at Roncesvalles
but getting a taxi from Burguete at this high season
proves to be a problem.

Dinner was fresh trout with potatoes,
a huge green salad and ice cream. 

I fell into bed exhausted but happy!

Next day we walked from Burguete to Zubiri.

Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of the walk.

But I did take photos of some of us,

hanging out in the back yard after doing our laundry.

Part of the group stayed in this little private apartment.

The married couples and Joe stayed across the street at El Palo, in private rooms.

Miranda got in a good foot soak

while the rest of us doctored our blisters

sang campfire songs, and shared stories.

The sun was out so we got our laundry done.

Teresa caught up on her journaling

Catherine wishes the camera "Peace!"

The wild roses were in bloom, and their scent permeated the air!

Fred and Judi

 Fred and Judi arrived from Burguete. 

They said the walk was not too hard at all!

They will now settle into their room at El Palo
and come down for bacalau dinner at 7:30. 

Just thinking about bacalau makes my mouth water!

Galia doing what Galia does! 

Galia immediately got busy taking photos.

She carried that big camera all the way from SJPP to Santiago! 

Galia's smile was always like a ray of sunshine!

2012
Autumn Group

The walk to Zubiri in the Autumn
was wet and wild!
Good thing Patty was prepared with her ALTUS poncho!

A challenging day, especially the last few kilometers.

It was extremely steep and extremely slippery because of the rain!

I was glad I had a walking stick!

Two would have been better!

After a long wet descent into Roncesvalles Wednesday, 

we were praying for a break in the weather but it was not to be.

Everyone had a second day of rainy weather 

to test out those Altus ponchos I'm always touting, 

and boy, we're they happy to have them!

The rain actually made for quite nice walking 

once you got over the swishy feeling in your shoes.

My Altus Poncho had served as a blanket for me
Thursday night in Roncesvalles. 

They no longer hand out blankets there. 

Make a note. 

The new alburgue us lovely. 

There was a nice warm drying room for our wet gear 

and the showers were blissfully hot. 

Dinner was the famous trout and everyone was so exhausted, 

most slept soundly.

Watching all the Altussed pilgrims marching along was surreal - 

like a parade of rainbow humpback tortoises - 

a new species found only along the Camino!

This is what the trail looked like for most of the day today.

Water rushing down the trail.

I've always thought this was such a pretty house.

Haha!  Some pilgrim has a sense of  humor!

Joe stops for a snack.

The trail is rocky on this stage.

The signage to Zubiri was hilarious. 

First we saw a sign telling is it was 6.5 kilometers. 

Then about 2 kilometers later, the sign said 7.4. 

Huh?!

I'm always happy to see this little trailer

as I come off the trail,

a place to get something to eat and drink.
It sits a few kilometers before the village of Zubiri.

And don't forget to check the FREE BOX!

I picked up a well-needed sports bra here!

We put Joe and Father Jeff in El Palo Albergue.

The rest of us stayed in Pension Amets.

I love this little Pension!

A bit difficult to find,

it's worth the time to look.

This pension is in a complex of apartment type buildings.

The rooms are clean and comfie.

A nice dining and living room downstairs.

Linda and I shared a room at Pension Amets.

We arrived at Pension Amets soaked to the skin and chilled. 

My body responded by coming down with the flu. 

Yup! Again! 

 All I can say is "Oh CRAP!"

Linda was also feeling like she had a cold 

so the group quarantined us to a room together. 

I hope that works!

Tomorrow, we head to Pamplona!

A reminder...

Photo by Linda Hendricks