May: Week 1

If you click on the picture next to the diary entry, you will go to a page with the pictures of that day. Expect to find some french, Dutch, Spanish and German words thrown around in this diary here and there. If you need me to clarify anything, please mail me at beken_barbara@yahoo.com.

10/05/03

Of course, I get up way too early and spend two hours waiting for the TGV to take me to Bayonne. My parents don't leave my side one moment. They're worried sick. If they could they'd lock me in my room. I have to admit I'm worried too. On top of that my backpack seems to weigh a ton (12kg, no water) and it's hurting my shoulders. Finally the train arrives and I say goodbye to my parents and I'm off. After a long ride I get to Bayonne where I take a small shaky train that'll carry me to St Jean Pied-de-Port. The train is filled with pilgrims of all nationalities. It's a beautiful trip through the Pyrenees and everybody seems to enjoy the sights. We finally arrive and everyone spills nervously and giggly on the platform. The pilgrims fan out in all directions in search of their respective hotels and refugio. I of course pick the wrong way and have to circle a large part of the large village before I find my hotel 'Hotel des Remparts'. I'm worried because my shoulders, back and legs hurt from a walk of no more than a kilometre. My feet feel hot and blistery. What a great start. The reception at the hotel is nice and I arrange breakfast and payment for tomorrow. My room is very small but I really don't want anything more.
I take a walk around town. It's very touristy. Pilgrims mill around all over the place and almost every shop is hawking staff, botas and other pilgrimage accoutrements. I like it. I pass the 'Amis de Saint-Jacques' and visit the citadel. The weather is fine and the views fantastic. I love it here. After an early dinner, I try to get some sleep. I'm not anxious as I have another day of exploring before me before I hit the road on Monday.

11/05/03

St Jean in the morning is unbelievably pretty. It reminds me once more of all the reasons why I love the mountains. The Pyrenees are one of the oldest mountain ranges and everything looks very soft and green. Not at all cold (I hope it will stay this way tomorrow) and the birds are making a racket. I'm happy to see some sparrows as they're growing scarce in Belgium. St Jean is bigger than expected but has fewer tourists than I feared although there are quite a lot of them. On a negative note, yesterday's small tramp already supplied me with an opened blister on my right heel, meaning I'll have to bandage my foot for tomorrow. Darn. I've already paid my hotel and bought some food for on the road, so I'm good to go. There are quite a lot of pilgrims roaming the streets, buying staffs and food.
To check my determination and general form, I walked to Hunto on the hottest part of the day, which was stupid. It took me 2 hours to do 5km without a backpack. Ok, that option is now closed, meaning I'll go the Valcarlos route instead of the mountain pass. My knee and ankle hurt quite a bit and the blister on my heel got worse if that was even possible. Feet are and will always be my weak point. I've had blisters in about any shoe I've ever owned. Well, I gave it a go and I truly enjoyed the marvellous views and humongous birds. So, up to Valcarlos tomorrow.

12/05/03

Left St Jean at 7.21 am. I'm very very nervous and am ready to throw up. I had to look a bit for the correct path, but it's easy really. I just have to follow the Petite Nive stream along the farms and fields. Many bovines look at me as at the proverbial train. I must look oddish. My backpack is dragging a bit on my shoulders and I'm trying to find a position that'll work but it's not easy to get used to the weight. Also, it's too heavy at 13kg. I'll stick with 12km to the village of Valcarlos although I seem to be moving at an ok pace. I've had a quick breakfast alongside the road which surprised some early drivers.
At around 10 am I crossed the border into Spain. YAY! I passed Las Ventas and am having a little sit-down. My shoulders still hurt but my feet are holding up so far. Thank god. The road went up and down like crazy, but if I go slowly it's doable. More or less. Considering my condition (non-existent), I'm not doing too badly. Got pursued by two dogs when I passed a house about an hour ago. Thankfully, the owner was there to restrain them, but I was really not at ease. A few years ago I was attacked by a big Rottweiler dog and I've been hesitant around large dogs ever since. A fear which I'm sure they sense.
It's rather cloudy today and somewhat cool although the sun peaks through from time to time. I'm glad I didn't take the mountain path as the hills are all covered in mist. There is not one pilgrim on this road. I'll see my first pilgrim tomorrow at the Ibaneta chapel.
I arrived in Valcarlos around 11.30am, earlier than I expected but I'm too tired to go further today. On top of that there is a difference of 8 km between the Lozano Guide (excellent) and the Confraternity of St James Guide (superb). Hm, we shall see. Of course, I missed a turnoff at some point and instead of walking on the path next to the Nive I had to take the carretera for a couple of km. There wasn't much traffic on anyway and I could walk along the side without too much of a problem. I booked a room for tonight at Hotel Marcelino which is very nice but entirely Spanish-spoken, which is a problem cause I'm not. Oh well, I catch their drift and they seem to get whatever I'm saying. I'm quite tired and happy to stop. I don't feel like hurrying since I have 3 month's time to complete the Camino. I prefer my body to get used to the new military regime.
I went for lunch at the other casa in the village and had some lovely Tapas, a few slices of mutton with french fries, some sheep's cheese for dessert and some wine to make it all go down. Delicious! As I was a little tipsy I enjoyed the wonderful vistas from a small bench outside for a couple of hours. It really is beautiful here. The ground is literally teeming with lizards in all sizes and butterfly's are all around. Wunderbar!

13/05/03

Up early again and off in a nice drizzle. Blergh. After about 1.5km on the carretera, I'm following a small farm track next to what I assume is still the Nive although it looks more aggressive today. Why in heaven's name am I doing this again? Took a quick desayuno in the middle of the pilgrim-free forest path. God bless my sleeping mat 'cause there's no way I'm gonna sit in the mud.
After about 4 hours, I finally made it to Ibaneta Pass and I'm dead. I really didn't think I would've made it. It's very cold and windy up here and I'm shivering so I quickly pull on my fleece jacket. Getting up here was very hard as it was an unrelenting climb on a very solitary path. I pulled a muscle in my groin which is hurting like hell. And my shoes are wet. boohoo. I have to say I really didn't see it happening on several occasions but I bloody well made it this far! Crappy uphill forest tracks! Cruddy mean dogs at the Casa de Guardino that followed me for 100m, snarling. Well I saw one biker pilgrim when crossing the carretera and there’s one pilgrim at Ibaneta. Finally, some people after 16 km on my bloody own.
I arrive in Roncevalles around 1.45pm. Logged and sello'd. Called the very worried parents and am relaxing now at a small table in front of a bar. Don't ask me where the refugio is 'cause I have no idea. No one knows and the ones who know are not telling. Promising. I seem to own the largest backpack of all which is not a good thing. Don't feel in the best of shapes and am very tired. I'm very happy I spent the night in Valcarlos because there's no way in hell I would've made it over this mountain in one day. I don't see myself sleeping in the woods either. I have a Blair Witch Project trauma.
When I consider it, I made good time in all. There are a lot of pilgrims milling around here. I hear Canadian, French, Dutch, German, etc. I don't fell like making small talk so I keep to myself. It's not like I'm very social anyway. I'll be glad when the refugio opens at 4. There's a bit of sun but it remains very cold and windy. Roncevalles is absolutely tiny. There's only the monastery, 2 bar's and that's more or less it.
Well, the refugio was across the street in a chapel-like building. It contains about a 50 bunk beds, sleeping 100 people. The room filled up pretty quickly. I was given a top bunk but realised I would probably make an amazing free-fall in the middle of the night so I switched to a bottom bunk when everyone was checked in. Phew! The showers were overrun at once and by the time I got there the water was very very cold. Oh well, took a quick dip anyway. The groin muscle is turning out to be a big problem. It hurts and I can hardly lift my foot off the ground. This means I wont be able to go very far tomorrow so I opt for 12km to Viskarret as Zubiri is at 20km from here.
The pilgrim's mass was nice and everyone got blessed. It seems I'm the only Belgian although there's someone from Luxembourg too. There are at least 95 pilgrims in the refugio and about 15 more in the hotel. The night turns out to be cold, uncomfortable and painful. Thankfully, there is entertainment to be found in the Snore concert in B minor preformed by 5 wonderful bass snores. Sigh. Earplugs don't bring relief as the chapel literally echoes with the sound. One can even hear some giggling after a tremendously beautiful solo. Oh well.

14/05/03

After a quick on-the-road desayuno of soup, we march on brave soldiers! I left the refuge at about 8 a.m. and was already one of the last ones to go. I've passed the tiny village of Burguete where we find several pilgrims having a normal breakfast. There are quite a lot of pilgrims on the road today. The weather is cool but sunny which is nice. My muscles still hurt a lot so I won’t be able to go farther than Viskarret, I fear. I'm still tired but I feel well, except for the fact my face and arms are sunburned, including my ears. Sigh. Pathetic.
Well, I thought today would be calmer and flatter but there's still a lot of climbing to be done on slippery rocky paths. Wouldn't want to walk here in the rain. I plan to go to Visakarret today, Larrasoana tomorrow and Pamplona the day after. I need to catch up on some sleep and give my muscles some time to heal. The blister I got from my walk to Hunto still hurts. I hardly dare remove the Compeed.
Of course mulehead here walked all the way to Zubiri. Sigh. Am kaputski. Very kaputski. 22km! Only reason I didn't stop in V. was because I couldn't find the bloody hotel. So, I bought some lunch there and rested half an hour before moving on. The path to Zubiri was very heavy especially the last 5-6km or so. We went relatively steeply downhill on a terrible rocky path made of shark's teeth and dragon's back's. The poor little feet suffered today. Tomorrow I'll do 18km to Trinidad de Arre, depending on how I turn out in the morning. Will have to fill up on painkillers. I've already used up several meters of surgical tape to keep my feet together. Ridiculous.
Got my sello from the dismal-looking refugio (wouldn't stay there for the world!) and had some dinner. I'm staying at a rather expensive hotel, but it's worth the price to have a large bed in a silent room. And a hot clean shower. Mom called again, meaning I must've sounded very near death when I called home earlier. I'll just take an early night and hope I feel better in the morning.

15/05/03

I made it to Trinidad de Arre at about 2.15pm. I was having doubts I'd ever get there since the Lozano Guide sent me in the wrong direction with a false promise of an easier road. I ended up in Huarte which was about 2.5km out of my way on the wrong side of the hill. Mon oeuil, 2 roads. Bon, I found it in the end but taking the scenic route over a hill at noon was Not Fun. I found it in the end. Am all alone here for the moment. I suppose a lot of people did the extra 5.5km to Pamplona but I'm too tired to go on. My plantillos hurt a lot. In the beginning the path was fairly hellish as we had to pass through a large wasteland made by a pumice stone (i think) factory. yergh. Met a young German woman along the road, Irmi, who was having a lot of problems with her feet and didn't know if she would make it today.
I'm starting to get tired of the mountains. My body is not used to the effort yet, I suppose. The weather today was quite excellent, cool but sunny. The views along the way are stunning to say the least. I saw some great big birds floating above me. Black with white round markings on the tips of the wings. Saw a lot of smaller birds also: sparrows, finches and tits. There are a lot of insects so it's not very surprising. Not many blackbirds and pigeons though. It's wonderful to walk amidst the noise of the feathered violence and the chirps of multitudes of crickets and grasshoppers. The variety of flowers is simply overwhelming. Along the road grows some bright-yellow flowery herb mixed with violently red poppies and small purple and blue forget-me-not. Cute. It's a shame I can't enjoy it a full 100% but I have to concentrate on the road and on walking on and on. This will change once I get used to walking and the weight of the backpack. I'm looking forward to the Meseta and kilometres of flat terrain.
Had to buy a new roll of surgical tape. Must've used 5m at least, but there's always a new spot on my feet to cover. The refugio, though it didn't look like much on the outside, turned out quite nice on the inside. Was able to take a hot shower which is the most important thing for a pilgrim and am trying to cook some hot dinner on a relatively workable stove, fishsticks and peas, mmmmmm. Irmi, the German woman, made it here too. Great! She's very friendly and I hope I'll see her some more later on (I'll lose sight of her after Pamplona though). There are a few more people I recognise like Daphne from Canada whom I saw first in Roncevalles; but as I'm going quite slowly that won’t last long. After a stroll through Trinidad de Arre, everybody crawls in bed relatively early. Only to be woken in the middle of the night by a gent who needs to use the bathroom and doing so, turns on the lights in the sleeping area. Murderous mutters are reported.

16/05/03

Bad day for me. Walked the 5km to Pamplona and managed to get another 4 blisters on 2 toes. No mail waiting for me. Hate the city. Will be glad to go on tomorrow. Am depressed and over-tired. It's raining and I'm cold. The refugio doesn't open till 2, so I look for a hotel. I manage to find one after walking aimlessly and without plan for about an hour. Shower is cold and I feel miserable. Could go home just like that. I managed to mail my sister, my friend and my colleague and bought some stamps. Can't find a shop to buy some food and don't want to go eat in a bar. pfff. I shoulda gone on to Cizur Menor but my feet were killing me. Feel like crap.

17/05/03

After my small breakdown yesterday, I feel a lot better today. Mom called twice and my sister once yesterday, so I guess the family must've been kinda panicked. I really felt awful yesterday, I suppose I was somewhat exhausted. Had a nice long sleep and decided to go only to Cizur Menor today. Short day, time to rest up further. I've got all the time in the world anyway. Am waiting for the refugio to open while sitting in a little shaded front garden. Absolutely bloody marvellous here. Will go to Puenta La Reina tomorrow but won’t take the detour to Eunate, so it will be around 18-19km. I will have to cross the Alto de Perdon with the windmills and that's a big climb again. Thankfully the groin muscle I pulled the second day seems to have healed up. On the other hand, the four blisters I picked up yesterday are very painfully located on my small toes: one up and one under (I don't know it yet, but these will plague me off and on for the rest of the trip). The only thing left to heal are my foot soles and my calves and I'll be a happy girl.
As I was starving, I gathered my courage together and went to eat in one of the two local restaurants. Trouble is the village kids are having the First Communion and family is celebrating all over the place so I had to wait quite a bit before I got a table. But having money and puppy-eyes, I got seated in a relatively calm corner of the room. Much noise and cigarette smoke. I ate some muy delicious 'Chorizo en las cidres', which is basically chorizo sausage in a hot cider sauce and it turns out to be one of the best things I've ever eaten. As a main course I devoured a humongous piece of grilled beef sprinkled with sea salt with fries. Man, I needed that. Quel délice! Wonderful food.
I met up with Daphne the Canadian again and a few other people I'd seen before. Irmi stayed an extra day in Pamplona to let her feet heal up. Other than sitting around, nobody does much the rest of the day.

10/05/03
	Of course, I get up way too early and spend two hours waiting for the TGV to take me to Bayonne. My parents don't leave my side one moment. They're worried sick. If they could they'd lock me in my room. I have to admit I'm worried too. On top of that my backpack seems to weigh a ton (12kg, no water) and it's hurting my shoulders. Finally the train arrives and I say goodbye to my parents and I'm off. After a long ride I get to Bayonne where I take a small shaky train that'll carry me to St Jean Pied-de-Port. The train is filled with pilgrims of all nationalities. It's a beautiful trip through the Pyrenees and everybody seems to enjoy the sights. We finally arrive and everyone spills nervously and giggly on the platform. The pilgrims fan out in all directions in search of their respective hotels and refugio. I of course pick the wrong way and have to circle a large part of the large village before I find my hotel 'Hotel des Remparts'. I'm worried because my shoulders, back and legs hurt from a walk of no more than a kilometre. My feet feel hot and blistery. What a great start. The reception at the hotel is nice and I arrange breakfast and payment for tomorrow. My room is very small but I really don't want anything more. I take a walk around town. It's very touristy. Pilgrims mill around all over the place and almost every shop is hawking staff, botas and other pilgrimage accoutrements. I like it. I pass the 'Amis de Saint-Jacques' and visit the citadel. The weather is fine and the views fantastic. I love it here. After an early dinner, I try to get some sleep. I'm not anxious as I have another day of exploring before me before I hit the road on Monday.
11/05/03
	St Jean in the morning is unbelievably pretty. It reminds me once more of all the reasons why I love the mountains. The Pyrenees are one of the oldest mountain ranges and everything looks very soft and green. Not at all cold (I hope it will stay this way tomorrow) and the birds are making a racket. I'm happy to see some sparrows as they're growing scarce in Belgium. St Jean is bigger than expected but has fewer tourists than I feared although there are quite a lot of them. On a negative note, yesterday's small tramp already supplied me with an opened blister on my right heel, meaning I'll have to bandage my foot for tomorrow. Darn. I've already paid my hotel and bought some food for on the road, so I'm good to go. There are quite a lot of pilgrims roaming the streets, buying staffs and food. To check my determination and general form, I walked to Hunto on the hottest part of the day, which was stupid. It took me 2 hours to do 5km without a backpack. Ok, that option is now closed, meaning I'll go the Valcarlos route instead of the mountain pass. My knee and ankle hurt quite a bit and the blister on my heel got worse if that was even possible. Feet are and will always be my weak point. I've had blisters in about any shoe I've ever owned. Well, I gave it a go and I truly enjoyed the marvellous views and humongous birds. So, up to Valcarlos tomorrow.
12/05/03
	Left St Jean at 7.21 am. I'm very very nervous and am ready to throw up. I had to look a bit for the correct path, but it's easy really. I just have to follow the Petite Nive stream along the farms and fields. Many bovines look at me as at the proverbial train. I must look oddish. My backpack is dragging a bit on my shoulders and I'm trying to find a position that'll work but it's not easy to get used to the weight. Also, it's too heavy at 13kg. I'll stick with 12km to the village of Valcarlos although I seem to be moving at an ok pace. I've had a quick breakfast alongside the road which surprised some early drivers. At around 10 am I crossed the border into Spain. YAY! I passed Las Ventas and am having a little sit-down. My shoulders still hurt but my feet are holding up so far. Thank god. The road went up and down like crazy, but if I go slowly it's doable. More or less. Considering my condition (non-existent), I'm not doing too badly. Got pursued by two dogs when I passed a house about an hour ago. Thankfully, the owner was there to restrain them, but I was really not at ease. A few years ago I was attacked by a big Rottweiler dog and I've been hesitant around large dogs ever since. A fear which I'm sure they sense. It's rather cloudy today and somewhat cool although the sun peaks through from time to time. I'm glad I didn't take the mountain path as the hills are all covered in mist. There is not one pilgrim on this road. I'll see my first pilgrim tomorrow at the Ibaneta chapel. I arrived in Valcarlos around 11.30am, earlier than I expected but I'm too tired to go further today. On top of that there is a difference of 8 km between the Lozano Guide (excellent) and the Confraternity of St James Guide (superb). Hm, we shall see. Of course, I missed a turnoff at some point and instead of walking on the path next to the Nive I had to take the carretera for a couple of km. There wasn't much traffic on anyway and I could walk along the side without too much of a problem. I booked a room for tonight at Hotel Marcelino which is very nice but entirely Spanish-spoken, which is a problem cause I'm not. Oh well, I catch their drift and they seem to get whatever I'm saying. I'm quite tired and happy to stop. I don't feel like hurrying since I have 3 month's time to complete the Camino. I prefer my body to get used to the new military regime. I went for lunch at the other casa in the village and had some lovely Tapas, a few slices of mutton with french fries, some sheep's cheese for dessert and some wine to make it all go down. Delicious! As I was a little tipsy I enjoyed the wonderful vistas from a small bench outside for a couple of hours. It really is beautiful here. The ground is literally teeming with lizards in all sizes and butterfly's are all around. Wunderbar!
13/05/03
	Up early again and off in a nice drizzle. Blergh. After about 1.5km on the carretera, I'm following a small farm track next to what I assume is still the Nive although it looks more aggressive today. Why in heaven's name am I doing this again? Took a quick desayuno in the middle of the pilgrim-free forest path. God bless my sleeping mat 'cause there's no way I'm gonna sit in the mud. After about 4 hours, I finally made it to Ibaneta Pass and I'm dead. I really didn't think I would've made it. It's very cold and windy up here and I'm shivering so I quickly pull on my fleece jacket. Getting up here was very hard as it was an unrelenting climb on a very solitary path. I pulled a muscle in my groin which is hurting like hell. And my shoes are wet. boohoo. I have to say I really didn't see it happening on several occasions but I bloody well made it this far! Crappy uphill forest tracks! Cruddy mean dogs at the Casa de Guardino that followed me for 100m, snarling. Well I saw one biker pilgrim when crossing the carretera and there’s one pilgrim at Ibaneta. Finally, some people after 16 km on my bloody own. I arrive in Roncevalles around 1.45pm. Logged and sello'd. Called the very worried parents and am relaxing now at a small table in front of a bar. Don't ask me where the refugio is 'cause I have no idea. No one knows and the ones who know are not telling. Promising. I seem to own the largest backpack of all which is not a good thing. Don't feel in the best of shapes and am very tired. I'm very happy I spent the night in Valcarlos because there's no way in hell I would've made it over this mountain in one day. I don't see myself sleeping in the woods either. I have a Blair Witch Project trauma. When I consider it, I made good time in all. There are a lot of pilgrims milling around here. I hear Canadian, French, Dutch, German, etc. I don't fell like making small talk so I keep to myself. It's not like I'm very social anyway. I'll be glad when the refugio opens at 4. There's a bit of sun but it remains very cold and windy. Roncevalles is absolutely tiny. There's only the monastery, 2 bar's and that's more or less it. Well, the refugio was across the street in a chapel-like building. It contains about a 50 bunk beds, sleeping 100 people. The room filled up pretty quickly. I was given a top bunk but realised I would probably make an amazing free-fall in the middle of the night so I switched to a bottom bunk when everyone was checked in. Phew! The showers were overrun at once and by the time I got there the water was very very cold. Oh well, took a quick dip anyway. The groin muscle is turning out to be a big problem. It hurts and I can hardly lift my foot off the ground. This means I wont be able to go very far tomorrow so I opt for 12km to Viskarret as Zubiri is at 20km from here. The pilgrim's mass was nice and everyone got blessed. It seems I'm the only Belgian although there's someone from Luxembourg too. There are at least 95 pilgrims in the refugio and about 15 more in the hotel. The night turns out to be cold, uncomfortable and painful. Thankfully, there is entertainment to be found in the Snore concert in B minor preformed by 5 wonderful bass snores. Sigh. Earplugs don't bring relief as the chapel literally echoes with the sound. One can even hear some giggling after a tremendously beautiful solo. Oh well.
14/05/03
	After a quick on-the-road desayuno of soup, we march on brave soldiers! I left the refuge at about 8 a.m. and was already one of the last ones to go. I've passed the tiny village of Burguete where we find several pilgrims having a normal breakfast. There are quite a lot of pilgrims on the road today. The weather is cool but sunny which is nice. My muscles still hurt a lot so I won’t be able to go farther than Viskarret, I fear. I'm still tired but I feel well, except for the fact my face and arms are sunburned, including my ears. Sigh. Pathetic. Well, I thought today would be calmer and flatter but there's still a lot of climbing to be done on slippery rocky paths. Wouldn't want to walk here in the rain. I plan to go to Visakarret today, Larrasoana tomorrow and Pamplona the day after. I need to catch up on some sleep and give my muscles some time to heal. The blister I got from my walk to Hunto still hurts. I hardly dare remove the Compeed. Of course mulehead here walked all the way to Zubiri. Sigh. Am kaputski. Very kaputski. 22km! Only reason I didn't stop in V. was because I couldn't find the bloody hotel. So, I bought some lunch there and rested half an hour before moving on. The path to Zubiri was very heavy especially the last 5-6km or so. We went relatively steeply downhill on a terrible rocky path made of shark's teeth and dragon's back's. The poor little feet suffered today. Tomorrow I'll do 18km to Trinidad de Arre, depending on how I turn out in the morning. Will have to fill up on painkillers. I've already used up several meters of surgical tape to keep my feet together. Ridiculous. Got my sello from the dismal-looking refugio (wouldn't stay there for the world!) and had some dinner. I'm staying at a rather expensive hotel, but it's worth the price to have a large bed in a silent room. And a hot clean shower. Mom called again, meaning I must've sounded very near death when I called home earlier. I'll just take an early night and hope I feel better in the morning.
15/05/03
	I made it to Trinidad de Arre at about 2.15pm. I was having doubts I'd ever get there since the Lozano Guide sent me in the wrong direction with a false promise of an easier road. I ended up in Huarte which was about 2.5km out of my way on the wrong side of the hill. Mon oeuil, 2 roads. Bon, I found it in the end but taking the scenic route over a hill at noon was Not Fun. I found it in the end. Am all alone here for the moment. I suppose a lot of people did the extra 5.5km to Pamplona but I'm too tired to go on. My plantillos hurt a lot. In the beginning the path was fairly hellish as we had to pass through a large wasteland made by a pumice stone (i think) factory. yergh. Met a young German woman along the road, Irmi, who was having a lot of problems with her feet and didn't know if she would make it today. I'm starting to get tired of the mountains. My body is not used to the effort yet, I suppose. The weather today was quite excellent, cool but sunny. The views along the way are stunning to say the least. I saw some great big birds floating above me. Black with white round markings on the tips of the wings. Saw a lot of smaller birds also: sparrows, finches and tits. There are a lot of insects so it's not very surprising. Not many blackbirds and pigeons though. It's wonderful to walk amidst the noise of the feathered violence and the chirps of multitudes of crickets and grasshoppers. The variety of flowers is simply overwhelming. Along the road grows some bright-yellow flowery herb mixed with violently red poppies and small purple and blue forget-me-not. Cute. It's a shame I can't enjoy it a full 100% but I have to concentrate on the road and on walking on and on. This will change once I get used to walking and the weight of the backpack. I'm looking forward to the Meseta and kilometres of flat terrain. Had to buy a new roll of surgical tape. Must've used 5m at least, but there's always a new spot on my feet to cover. The refugio, though it didn't look like much on the outside, turned out quite nice on the inside. Was able to take a hot shower which is the most important thing for a pilgrim and am trying to cook some hot dinner on a relatively workable stove, fishsticks and peas, mmmmmm. Irmi, the German woman, made it here too. Great! She's very friendly and I hope I'll see her some more later on (I'll lose sight of her after Pamplona though). There are a few more people I recognise like Daphne from Canada whom I saw first in Roncevalles; but as I'm going quite slowly that won’t last long. After a stroll through Trinidad de Arre, everybody crawls in bed relatively early. Only to be woken in the middle of the night by a gent who needs to use the bathroom and doing so, turns on the lights in the sleeping area. Murderous mutters are reported.
16/05/03
	Bad day for me. Walked the 5km to Pamplona and managed to get another 4 blisters on 2 toes. No mail waiting for me. Hate the city. Will be glad to go on tomorrow. Am depressed and over-tired. It's raining and I'm cold. The refugio doesn't open till 2, so I look for a hotel. I manage to find one after walking aimlessly and without plan for about an hour. Shower is cold and I feel miserable. Could go home just like that. I managed to mail my sister, my friend and my colleague and bought some stamps. Can't find a shop to buy some food and don't want to go eat in a bar. pfff. I shoulda gone on to Cizur Menor but my feet were killing me. Feel like crap.
17/05/03
	After my small breakdown yesterday, I feel a lot better today. Mom called twice and my sister once yesterday, so I guess the family must've been kinda panicked. I really felt awful yesterday, I suppose I was somewhat exhausted. Had a nice long sleep and decided to go only to Cizur Menor today. Short day, time to rest up further. I've got all the time in the world anyway. Am waiting for the refugio to open while sitting in a little shaded front garden. Absolutely bloody marvellous here. Will go to Puenta La Reina tomorrow but won’t take the detour to Eunate, so it will be around 18-19km. I will have to cross the Alto de Perdon with the windmills and that's a big climb again. Thankfully the groin muscle I pulled the second day seems to have healed up. On the other hand, the four blisters I picked up yesterday are very painfully located on my small toes: one up and one under (I don't know it yet, but these will plague me off and on for the rest of the trip). The only thing left to heal are my foot soles and my calves and I'll be a happy girl. As I was starving, I gathered my courage together and went to eat in one of the two local restaurants. Trouble is the village kids are having the First Communion and family is celebrating all over the place so I had to wait quite a bit before I got a table. But having money and puppy-eyes, I got seated in a relatively calm corner of the room. Much noise and cigarette smoke. I ate some muy delicious 'Chorizo en las cidres', which is basically chorizo sausage in a hot cider sauce and it turns out to be one of the best things I've ever eaten. As a main course I devoured a humongous piece of grilled beef sprinkled with sea salt with fries. Man, I needed that. Quel délice! Wonderful food. I met up with Daphne the Canadian again and a few other people I'd seen before. Irmi stayed an extra day in Pamplona to let her feet heal up. Other than sitting around, nobody does much the rest of the day.

Diary Next Week