May 1 - St Jean Pied de Port

 We had a lovely ride to St. Jean. The taxi driver who was a lady, told us there were two ways to go. One way had a lot of curves and one did not. The way without a lot of curves with a little bit longer but we chose that. 

We arrived and got checked into our rooms and went to the Pilgrim office to check in. We then went out looking for food. Half of us went to a vegetarian restaurant and half of us really wanted meat.

Prices of gone up event since Covid . A pilgrims plate was €15 here but  it was really good. The first course was a plate of meats that were local. I’ve often wondered what some of these tasted like so it gave us the opportunity to sample each one. The second plate was a plate of pork loin with a tomato compote, fried potatoes and salad. Dessert for me it was two scoops of ice cream. One was a wonderful lemon that made my taste buds dance. I’m not sure what the second scoop was. I think it was banana but it was tart so I just couldn’t quite figure it out it was really good.  After lunch everybody just kind of went their own way. 

The owner, Christoph, stopped by to collect money and take our breakfast orders  he was very happy to see us and was quite kind. It was a little confusing because I had heard there was some problem with picking up backpack transport but he seemed not to know about that so I’m just going to ignore what I heard and think positive  

We met up at dinner time at the Gite for a potluck. We all brought whatever food we were carrying I just shared it. It was a lot of fun.  We had a lot of fun telling stories from our childhood and I’m finally in bed now at 10 PM. Breakfast is at 7:30 AM and we will hit the trail to BORDA.

Wish this wonderful group a Buen Camino!

Love,

Annie

Hostal BEARAN - Pamplona

 

Joe and I arrived at Hostel Bearan and immediately realized I had made a big mistake. We specifically asked for a room that was fragrance free — and I was hit in the face by Febreze when I walked in the door. My brain is wiped clean. I cannot remember simple things. I feel dazed and confused. 

It’s fucked - in so many words.

I have stripped the sheets off the bed and am sleeping on an upside down mattress in my sleeping bag because it’s too late to cancel. There is nothing to be had in Pamplona unless I want to pay over €200 per night per room. So we are here and I am sleeping with earplugs up my nose.

My pest service called and wanted to service my house and I needed to change the date. Believe it or not, I could not even remember my own address. I had to ask Joe my address.That’s what fragrances do to me. That is MCS. I met a pilgrim down in the bar and felt like an idiot because I couldn’t remember names and places I’ve stayed in for years. I’m lucky,  tomorrow I will remember my name. 

Anyway, I’m having a rough night.

Hopefully better tomorrow, 

Annie

Happy Birthday Joe!

Yesterday was Joe‘s birthday. We were going to go to Calle Laurel to La Taberna del Tio Blas, my favorite place on Calle Laurel. But we realized it was too late for us last night so this morning we got ready and went over around noon to celebrate Joe’s birthday. We ordered Chuletón de Ternera This is a huge T-bone steak that comes on a plate of slate, with a pile of fried potatoes and grilled peppers. The price seems a little high, (49 Euros), but it includes a bottle of wine and really is enough to feed four people Highly recommended. We arrived right around noon, so it was very quiet. If I were going to do this in the evening, I would be there right when the doors open at 7 pm

Best. Food. Ever!!!

River Walk 2

Yesterday was Joe’s birthday so I took him to breakfast and then we completed our river walk heading the other direction. We crossed the river at the last bridge we came to and walked up the other side where we found the Children’s Museum of Science. This building was once the town slaughterhouse! 

 Our landlord gave us a gift of a bottle of Vermouth for being the renters who have stayed in the pension the longest. Ricardo is very nice and we highly recommend this place, called 8Rooms La Rioja  

I wanted to take Joe out for a special dinner on Calle Laurel but we missed the window - they were closed and not opening until 8 pm, so hopefully we will do that Wednesday. 

Insomnia hit me again last night

I need sleep

Heading to Pamplona tomorrow  

River Walk

 Today the sun was shining and so finally, we got out and walked. 

We had another great breakfast this morning with fresh squeezed orange juice, tortilla, and thick slices of deep fried bacon called torreznos. After breakfast, we walked along the river and ended up walking about 10 km. We stopped at the Santiago Church where pilgrims were hanging out waiting for the parochial to open. Into the market for some groceries. Then home to watch a Steven King movie. 

There were a lot of storks in their nests when we walked along the river.  We walked under the bridge that the pilgrims walk across when coming into Logroño. 

Stork nests

We finally made it into see the church of Santiago. 

Bodega and Oca - Logroño

 This afternoon we took a walk, looking for the albergue where we have stayed a few times. On the way, we passed an excavated ancient wine cellar (bodega) museum called Calado de San Grigirio that was open for visitors and we really enjoyed it. We arrived near closing so we will return on Wednesday. Below are some photos. 

We wanted to see the church of Santiago but they were having mass when we got there and by the time we came back around the church was locked. One very cool thing next to the church is a giant Oca board.  It is complete with huge dice that you can sit on. If you don’t know what OCA is you will need to look it up on the Internet. It is a medieval board game.

Oca board

This was pretty interesting mural showing a man with tattoos of credential sellos on his skin

Waymark 

Oca dice

There was a lot of really cool street art and I took photos of it also  

After our walk we went to find food. We ended up having a donor kebab. The grocery stores were closed because it Sunday afternoon, but luckily we have some picnic items laid aside for tonight. We are now back in our room looking for a good movie to watch on Amazon prime.