Puenta de la Reina to Estrella

It was overcast and cool this morning with potential rain in the forecast.  We walked along a busy road on our way out of Punta la Reina.  The town is named for the six arched Queens bridge, built in the 11th century to allow the pilgrims to cross the Río Arga avoiding expensive ferrymen and treacherous boat rides.   We were all a little slow this morning, but since we are in no hurry, that wasn’t really a problem.

Our path this morning started along side a busy highway, with lots of large trucks, just like at home.  As we left the city, the path ran between large shrubs and brambles-lots of brambles!  But everywhere along the path there are flowers.  The air was fragrant with Eutruscan honeysuckle, Spanish broom, and wild geranium.  And almost all of the gardens have gorgeous roses!  And the fields of poppies are stunning.  

Bird vetch, olives, Spanish Broom, poppies growing in the rapeseed.

The terrain was pretty steep, up as well as down, which is hard on the knees.  Down is is a killer, especially as my toes slip forward to the tops of my shoes, and provide the perfect condition for blisters.  I only have 2 blisters, which are healing, but my toes are sore, and I have one toenail threatening to abscond.  I am holding it in check for now with Compeed and a bandaid, we shall see how that goes! There is a beautiful young woman who has crossed our path several times, swinging blithely down the path in sandals, no ginger tiptoeing for her!  Of course she is about 40 years younger than we are, we’ve all agreed that if we were her age we would have no problem doing the same.

As the sun came and went we alternated between sweating and freezing and so kept taking off and putting on jackets and long sleeved shirts.   But the rain held off so we stayed dry.  At lunchtime we found a cafe with delicous tortillas (Spanish tortillas are more like a frittata with egg and potatoes) and vegetable soup. Seemed like soup weather!

Our friend Daniel spent the day walking with a lovely young woman named Hannah who was traveling with her German Shepherd dog.  She is fully kitted out for camping, and her dog helps carry the load with his own panniers.  And we discovered that it is Daniel’s birthday!  We all sang happy birthday to him on the ridge, and in turn he invited us all to dinner, as he was planning to cook at the alburgue where he was planning to stay.   

We arrived at our accommodations, an apartment in Estrella on the 3rd floor.  Which in Europe means the 4th floor.  And a tiny lift.  But if you can walk a hundred miles you can climb 4 flights of steps no problem.  Slowly.  It was a charming place, and we did a little wash, pegging out our clothes on a pulley  clothesline out the window.  Then we headed to the town square for dinner.  

The small towns we walk through seem deserted during the day.  No one about, windows shuttered, most stores closed.  But come 7 pm, the town square comes alive.  The kids come out in droves, kicking soccer balls and chasing each other like kids everywhere.  Parents sit nearby, chatting, drinking espresso and enjoying a smoke.  Lots of smokers.  It is truly community.  We really enjoy sitting in the cafes and greeting all the friends we see multiple times a day.  Many times the first words are “You made it!”

Children’s fountain in a square.  

Arriving in a Town Square

No word from Daniel so we ate dinner in a small bar, and managed to order using Google translate and our few Spanish words.  Great discussion on our experiences so far, I will leave that to another blog.  We were just finishing when Daniel sent a text saying Come for dinner!  Ron and Lu decided to walk over to the celebration. 

Daniel and María Lucía cooked for about 20 people staying at the alburgue.  Lu and Ron enjoyed another meal and meeting people from all over the world.  Truly an enjoyable experience.  And a wonderful way to celebrate a new friend.  And we once again applauded our decision NOT to stay in the alburgues.  Although, perhaps once it would have been a good experience.  Perhaps.

The number of flights is just as impactful as the mileage.  Personally, I would add another mile or two of flat terrain to cut down the “number of flights”