Camino de Santiago: Day 2

Day 2

The albergue in Ronsevalle was pretty well equipped and unlike other albergues we would stay in, there were no bunk beds. A gigantic room was divided into small 2 bed cubicles with waist high walls. This meant when standing up you could look out over the whole area and see everything but when you were lying in your bed, you felt like you were in your own room.

We woke the next morning and started to head out the door at 7:00 am but realized it was still dark and freezing outside. (There was still piles of snow on the ground at this altitude) When you are starting a 500 mile walk I figured we didn’t need to make it any harder so we hung inside for another 30 minutes and had a vending machine cup of coffee)

We finally left the ancient monastery which for centuries had been a refuge for Santiago pilgrims at 7:40 in the morning. After we had waled about an hour or so we entered a small town and had the first of what is becoming a pilgrim ritual; morning coffee and a bocadillo. A bocadillo is just the Spanish name for a sandwich made from a baguette. Gabriel had his coffee in the way favoured by the Spanish; cafe con leche or “coffee with milk” which in Spain means the cup is about 1/2 coffee and 1/2 milk.
And my coffee? As always black, no sugar!

We shared a table with 3 Korean pilgrims. One of them asked Gabriel what the yellow ribbon on his jacket signified. Gabriel replied that it showed his support for the democracy movement in Hong Kong where he was from. The girl answered, “oh, in Korea we wear a yellow ribbon to honor the students who died when a ferry sank last year. I thought it was the same meaning”.

We continued on and although there was some challenging climbs at times, nothing that left me in the catatonic state yesterday’s accent left me in. After walking 23 km we realized we were at a good spot to reach Pamplona the following day so we stopped at an albergue in the town of Zibuiri.

When we got checked in the 2 Catholic Americans we met on the mountainside yesterday also arrived. However they wanted to be in Pamplona for Easter mass the following morning so they arranged to take a taxi. Tempting as that was, and as much as I’d have like to enjoy Mass in Pamplona on Easter, Gabriel and I (well me really) were determined to walk this whole thing…God willing.

We went across the street for dinner to a cafe serving a pilgrim’s dinner. As it was the night before Easter most places were closed…which meant this place was packed. We were seated at a table with a young Spanish couple who were doing a few stages of the Camino during the holiday. It helped explain why the trail seemed so full. Most of the folk we were encountering were NOT making the pilgrimage all the way to Santiago.

The Spanish couple introduced us to our first “tapas”. Then as our waitress was taking our order the owner behind the counter suddenly kicked the Spanish music up louder and came over to dance with our waitress. They did a whole salsa routine much to the delight of the cafe patrons. When the song came to an end, the owner went behind the bar once again and our waitress finished taking our order as if nothing had happened.

“I think I’m going to like Spain” Gabriel remarked.