Day 4: Zubiri to Pamplona

"Now the sun was in my eyes
So forgive me if I was blind
But I can suddenly see the light
Now the blinds are raised,
Night has finally spoken
Winter's finally broken
I realise I'm heading for colder days"
     -Housemartins from "I Smell Winter"

The last time around, Zubiri didn´t make much of an impression on me.  That may have been because I was just too tired at the time to have an impression made.  It´s a bit different this time - it´s a place I could really grow to like.  Zubiri translates to "Two bridges" in the Basque language "Zubi = bridge", "Biri = two".  One of the bridge in question is a medieval construction, reputed to house the remains of Santa Quiteria in the central column.  The bridge is called "Puente de la rabia" (Rabies bridge) not because Santa Quiteria had rabies, but because there´s a local tradition that says if you herd animals around the central column three times, they will be cured of rabies.  I don´t think the legend details exactly how you´re supposed to "herd" rabid animals anywhere, or what to do about the hypothermia once the rabies has been cured.  Perhaps bridge #2 is called "Puente de Hipotermia", which cures hypothermia but inflicts anthrax.

The camino doesn´t actually pass through Zubiri - rather, it passes right by the foot of the bridge, inviting the pilgrim to enter rather than demanding it.  Having accepted the invitation and entered Zubiri the night before, I had to force myself not to stay any longer than was absoutely neccessary.  Even so, I didn´t end up skipping town until 9:00am.

One of the big differences between a winter camino and one that is undertaken during a more sensible time of the year is the availibility of services along the way.  The last time around, in autumn, I could pretty much count on (almost) every little town to have a store or vending machine around in case I needed to replenish any supplies, particularly water.  This time around, it seems like everything´s shut down for the season, which really adds to the sense of isolation that has been a permanent feature of this camino so far.  Larrasoaña was a ghost town...though a very pretty one, with lots of those old houses I talked about in the last post.  Same thing for Ilarratz, Ezkirotz, Akerreta, etc., right up until Trinidad del Arre, which is 5km from Pamplona.  Fortunately, I didn´t need any supplies, etc., and the lack of any place to waste time helped me get to Pamplona in reasonably good time.

I did manage to meet two other pilgrims today; both from Spain, and both returning from Santiago.  In other words, going in the other direction.  And here I thought I was nuts to do this again.  I didn´t realize it until I got into Pamplona, but the only English I´ve been using since I arrived in Spain has been to update this blog and the occasional call/text home.  It´s done wonders for my Spanish...at least on the comprehension side, though I´m doing a lot better on the conversation side as well.

Arrived in Pamplona after a long, snowy day.  No accumulation, but it was snowing lightly all day.  As Pamplona is about 300m closer to sea level than Zubiri, it´s a couple of degrees warmer, so the snow turned into a light rain as I entered the city.  Not enough to be a problem, but just enough to be a nuisance as I sauntered into town.  The albergue in Pamplona is a converted church that was once connected to an XVI century convent.  It´s been very carefully and well restored and re-fit for the use of pilgrims, although the re-fit clearly didn´t include a whole lot of insulation.  In the Albergue, the bunk beds are arranged along the perimiter of the old church, and the center, nave area has been sectioned off to house an art gallery with a Camino de Santiago theme.  As I was casually browsing through the exhibit, a gentleman came up to me and started talking about the various exhibits and pictures.  I thought at first that he was some sort of curator, but I learned later that he actually ran the Albergue in Cizur Mayor just a few km outside of Pamplona.  In any case, he spent an hour going through the exhibit, and explaining the details and aspects of the architecture, history and symbolism of the camino.  I was fascinated...I´ve always found that understanding the history and background of a place or thing allows one to appreciate it on a different level.  To see details that might otherwise be overlooked.  I am very grateful to have spent the night in that albergue, if for no other reason than my history lesson.  The world needs more wandering historians I think.

I was planning on taking a day off in Pamplona, but have added a second day to the layover.  While my feet have been holding up well, I appear to have developed a mild case of tendonitis in my achilles tendon (tednonitis isn´t contagious right?  As in, I couldn´t have caught it from talking to that horse in Valcarlos?).  Anyways, I´ll rest it another day and re-evaluate it then.  May have to change things around on my itenerary depending on how well I´m managing.

Assuming that all goes as planned though, I´ll be in Puente la Reina tomorrow (the 20th).