Logbook of our trip

These pages are a report of our camino adventures, written and uploaded while we were actually "on trail". The pictures and links were added upon our return home.

Second Instalment (of 5)

Pamplona is a beautiful city. It was established by the Romans. In the Middle Ages it was the capital of an empire that included the southern part of France. We saw beautiful churches, the cathedral, the baroque city hall, all with sumptuous (religious) art. But, of course, everybody knows Pamplona from Hemingway's book "Fiesta" and the "running with the bulls".

The refugio was in the middle of the town, in the bell tower of the beautiful San Saturnino church. We had a nice meal and were asleep at 10 pm. The bells struck every hour but never bathered us. We slept till 7:00 a.m.

Over the next days we had fantastic views of green mountains, valleys, water fountains and picturesque beautiful churches, even in the smallest villages.

We climbed Perdon-Kam, a 780 meters (2,400 ft) mountain from where we had fantastic views to the east and west. We saw the 11th century Roman bridge (with 6 arches) in Puente la Reina. We filled our water flask up with red wine from the fountain at the winery, next to the beautiful monastery at Irache.

View west from Perdon-Kam

Puente la Reina

Tina drinking from the wine fountain

In Estella my (Willem's) knee started hurting and at night it had swollen a bit. Because of this it took me, on the next day, almost 9 hours to walk 29 km (18 miles) to the next refugio at Villamayor de Monjardin. It was a lovely place, run by Dutch evangelists, and beautifully situated on a mountain (675 mtr).

After dinner, when I was limping around, my knee and leg were treated with "energy" and pressure point massages by Aelya, a beautiful South African witch. Whatever she did it helped a lot. After that Tina massaged my knee and legs for a few nights and soon the swelling and pain were gone.

We very much enjoyed the Rioja region. Three days of hills and valleys, covered with grape vines with beautiful small towns appearing where you would not expect them. At night we always had one or two bottles of the excellent local Rioja wine for less than €3 per bottle.

The landscape of Najera was a bit different. The red rocks reminded me of Sedona, Arizona, although not as high. In the 7th and 8th century, the Moors lived in the caves of these mountains.

Red rocks (and caves) in Najera

Church Tower in Azofra

High altar at Granon. I slept here

The cathedral and museum in Santo Domingo de la Calzada was spectacular. It has Roman as well as Gothic and even some Baroque elements. The high altar is in Renaissance style. There were several Flemish paintings and triptychs of that time. But the most peculiar thing was the chicken and the rooster, who live in the church. Click here to read the story of the hen who flew away after it was roasted, and to see some photos. A new window will open. Close it when done to get back on this page.

After this enjoyable visit we went to Granon. The refugio was in the bell tower of an old church and the sleeping areas were on two floors. But one could also sleep on the stone floor in the splendid but very cold church. Andrea, Tina and Jan stayed in the bell tower, but I choose the church. They gave me two mattresses and I was there all by myself. I slept like a baby with a dozen Saints, carved in the high altar, watching over me (maybe?).

After Granon we walked over the "Montes de Oca" mountains towards Burgos. The scenery was really pretty and the weather was great.

Today is Saturday morning, June 1st, 2002. We have just arrived in Burgos, a beautiful city. More about this town and the rest of our camino in the next instalment.

Go here to the next instalment.