Day 6, yesterday, was cold and blustery. It was overcast all day and we got sprinkles a few times. We stayed in a combination Alberque in Uterga. It had the dorm and rooms and dinner. The room we got was very nice. We had a great dinner too. Soup and Paella for a starter and choice of meat for main course. I got octopus cooked Basque style, in it´s ink. It was good. Rob had a breaded pork, ham, cheese and lots of garlic cutlet. We´re not losing weight on this trip, love the food!

We thought we would make a short day of it but the walk to Puenta la Reina was short. There are a few places to see there but as normal, most were closed. We did see the church of St. James. It had tall guilded wall pieces, a kind of backboard that had statues beautifully done behind the alter and in the 2 naves. We crossed the famous bridge and continued toward Cirauqui where we hoped to find a hotel and spend the day. The town is build on roman ruins and in a old circular fashion that culminates at the top with the church. The off season has begun so we were not lucky enough to find lodging there.

We met a group of 3 in the town before. A Spaniard and the Swiss guy Wolfgang were traveling together. Rosemary, from Australia, was walking with them for a while. She is a very fast walker. They had already done 35 km for the day. The men were trying to convince Rosemary to continue to Estella but she was done at Lorca. We made that our stop as well and were very happy to find it.

I have not spent any time describing the landscape. It has changed. There are still hills with ups and downs that challange but it is the gardens and the trees and plants that have been interesting. Dill grows wild everywhere. We are back into the grape vines. They went missing for a while but now food seems more abundant. Olive trees and fig and fruit trees in small orchards. Blackberries line the path but they have long since dried on the vines. The gardens are full of cool weather things like lettuce but still the tomatoes are hanging on, some falling to the ground all red and in need of eating but nobody around to ask so we left them lay.

We stayed in another albergue like yesterday with dorm and rooms but no dinner. We were told to go up the road to the sausage makers house and buy some for dinner. There was some pasta and stuff in the kitchen so we made do with that. Rosemary and I walked to the shop and managed to get a few tomatoes and onion and garlic as well as sausage. We made a sauce of sorts with that and the half a sweet pepper Rosemary had. By the time dinner was done more pilgims arrived so there was 6 for dinner. There was plenty for all, thanks to the perigrino that left the package and a half of spaghettie.

Yesterday was not so bad. It was longer then the day before but not so hard of a walk as the other days. We are getting stronger. We will walk to Estella today and probably spend the night there. It is 9 km from where we are now. There is supposed to be a lot of things to see. I have waved off everyone in the albergue this morning, wishing them all Buen Camino. Rob is up sounding like he has caught a cold, coughing every now and then. I must go pack so that we can get up the road. See you!

Day 5 is now done, thank God.

We stayed in an alberque our first night in Pamplona. It was run by some Germans. Very nice! We enjoyed a good group of guys. The Swiss and French threesome came in a bit late but were let in anyway. They had been on the road since the middle of August. Everyone there was in for the long haul, in our room anyway. Peter from Germany started 6 weeks ago. The most interesting guy to me was Juan from Argentina. He is Korean and grew up in Argentina. Recently he completed a contract job in Cuba where he was a translator for an engineering group. Very interesting person, trilingual.

We spent yesterday in Pamplona and last night in a hotel. Pamplona is a wonderful place to spend a day. The old town is small enough to walk around even for two gimps like us. We got to eat¨"small plates" in the bars. I don´t remember what the word for it is in Basque but it´s tapas in Spanish. There is a heavy basque influence here. I like it! People have a very helpful and friendly attitude. We stopped a few times to look at a map and 2 different men tried to help. Unfortunatley they don´t speak english much here. We got along though.

We saw the different sites in town and then found a good lunch. Lots of seafood here and cooked very well. We enjoyed all that we ate. Earnest Hemmingway liked to hang out in a bar in Pamplona and legend has it he spent many hours there. So like Hemmingway we too did that on the lazy Sunday watching over the main Plaza as the families strolled along. Sundays are very quite in Spain. Most places did not open but there were enough places open for food and drink. It was an early night cause everything closed.

Today was so tough for us. We walked on rocks all day. We only walked for 6 hours but our feet were done. We stopped short of our goal and are staying in the place in Uterga. Albergue, hotel and restaurant. We got a room. What the hell. Rob doesn´t sleep in the dorm rooms well and we aren´t watching our finances so that we can get to Santiago so we are being pilgrim/tourists.

Thanks for your comments. We appreciate all your support!

Day 3. Spent last night in a Pension and had a kitchen so we ate in. The place was a 3 bedroom apartment with a kitchen and living room. We had it to ourselves. Grocery was on the corner. The less walking the better ;)

Rob was feeling very bad last night. He really just wanted to go home and we discussed options but he had a change of heart this morning. I´m glad he decided to hang out with me a while longer. We got to Pampaloma around 5:00 today. Got a couple of beds in a small Alburque, on the top bunks. We were one of the last to get there.

The people that you meet on the trail are so amazing. There is the 60 something lady from France who has been walking through France. She is on her 38th day. Everyday she sits and takes a break in the sunshine and reads a while while she rests.

When we started from Bayone, France on Thursday we took a bus with a young man from Brighten, England who had just completed the Camino. He was going back St. Jean to get his car then drive it to Calais to ferry home. He was overwhelmingly excited for us and wanted to give us all the hints to get through the Camino. There was also the 2 Korean bikers on that bus. One spoke very good English the other did not. The hills were very steep at the beginning so we saw alot of those guys the first day. I guess they are days ahead of us now.

We are both very sore and plan to take tommorrow off here. We stay in the Alberque tonight but tomorrow there will be a hotel in our future. This is a good tourist area, lots to see. It will be a good time to rest for a while.

We are in Zubiri, Spain, for the night. Today has been challenging to say the least. Yesterday we walked 10 hours and finished up in the dark with flashlights. The trip up the mountain was beautiful. We had lunch in a nice spot about a third of the way up. That was the beginning of the pain. We climbed for another 4 hours before starting down. Down was not so good. Not on purpose,we took the wooded trail that the guy in the pilgrim office told us not to take... So we spent an extra 2 hours going down very steep trails. Wrecked our knees. Wrecked Rob´s feet.

The Alberque (pilgrims lodging) was nice. Sure we slept in bunk beds but the facilities were clean. What can you expect for 12 Euros? This morning both of us were in bad shape. Sore knees for me, sore everything for Rob.

We hit the trail by 8 and stopped in the next town for breakfast. There was a hard frost last night and frost was causing the leaves to drop so fast that the falling leaves from the top of the tree dropped on lower leaves causing big piles of green leaves under all the trees on the trail.

I cannot begin to tell you how hard this has been for two middle aged fat people from the flat plains of Texas. The scenery is beautiful but it´s much prettier from a car window. I´ll post a few pictures soon.

I´m not so sure about Rob continuing. He may be on a bus tomorrow for Madrid. This is not what he expected at all.

It has taken a week to get here but today we start. France was so wonderful. Full of freindly, helpful people. The sites were amazing. But now we must begin the Camino. It is late,10:15AM, we had to stay in Bayone last night and caught the first bus this morning. We have 8 hours to trek up the mountain and down again. Beer and lunch in 2.5 hours. Wish us luck!!!!