Pamplona to Puente la Reina, Spain - September 11

Based on the map on Booking.com the apartment we rented in Pamplona was located very close to the Camino route. That’s right, just a paltry 1.5 mile walk to reenter “The Way” and begin our 16 plus mile walk to Puente la Reina. What’s a couple extra miles among pilgrims….

The day started with a steady climb out of Pamplona towards Zariquiegui where the small but beautiful 13th century Church of San Andres is located. We decided to stop to see the inside of the church and have our Pilgrim Passports stamped. As I took my first step toward the entrance I felt something spasm in my left hip/leg. Yow!! The pain subsided a bit as we continued inside. That is where something magical happened; one of the other pilgrims began singing a hymn in Latin as she walked among the pews. She had a beautiful voice. At the chorus, the priest temporarily stopped stamping passports and sang with her. By the time she finished at least ten other pilgrims were also singing. The echos of their voices off the ancient stone walls was quite moving and a Camino memory I will hold dearly. Unfortunately, between the singing and my leg pain, I forgot to take a photo of the church.

Thankfully, the pain in my leg was not bad enough to stop me from continuing the walk. We started the climb to Alto del Perdon (Hill of Forgiveness) one of the most iconic and photographed places on the French Way.

From there we began our descent (@750 ft down in about 1/2 mile) toward Uterga where we would meet up with Sunita and walk on to Puente la Reina together.

The Albergue we booked was in the old part of the city, and very quaint. Bad news, our room was on the third floor so more chance to climb! After getting cleaned up, we had a nice dinner and retired for the night.