by Katie Reed
Universidad Publica de Navarra
We got our bus from Pamplona to Rancesvalles and we were on our way. Once we got there we realized we were literally in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing in this town but a restaurant for the Pilgrims "Pelegrinos", a church, and the albergue that we stayed at (a hostal for the pilgrims). We got checked in, payed our 6 euros for the night and then headed to our room with the other pelegrinos who were there as well. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into!! There were 10 bunk beds in one tiny room that there was barely even room to walk in. Not only that but there were no blankets or anything to sleep with, and they had the window open so it was FREEZING in there. We were slightly freaked out so we decided we would go get dinner. However dinner was not going to open until 8:30, after mass. So we walked around the area to see the town and take pictures. We saw the old church that was standing where Charlemagne was defeated. Then we walked to the church that is in use today, and we got to see the end of the mass. After that we headed to dinner. It was very good; we got a 3 course meal for 9 euros because we were pelegrinos. We had bread, green beans, beef, french fries, and rice pudding. After dinner we headed back to our "room". We had to sleep in the clothes we had on because it was so cold in there. I put on an extra shirt that I brought and used my coat as a blanket, my scarf as an extra pillow and warmth, and put on an extra pair of socks. Even with all that I froze all night. We decided we wanted to get up super early and go ahead and head back to Pamplona so that we could walk the entire trail from Rancesvalles and Pamplona in one day (24 miles) rather than having to stop again. Bobby woke us up at 5 and we headed outside. Shaking all over, we got to the path and saw that it was nothing but a black trail and none of us had a flashlight. We decided it was best to go back to the albergue and wait until it got a little lighter. We decided to go lay back down except this time Suzette and I shared a twin bed and Courtney and Amanda shared a twin bed so that we could all keep warm. We woke back up about 8 when everyone started getting ready and we started our journey, and, of course, it was raining. It wasn't pouring but it was drizzling enough to get us wet. I used my scarf as a hat to keep my head somewhat dry along the way. The farther we got in our journey the harder it got. We all blamed Suzette for getting us into this mess. Constantly throughout the trip she kept pulling the most random things out of her backpack, sandwichs, a blanket, tons of stuff that the rest of us did not even think about. At one point she asked us if we brought water and we just told her to hush because no matter what she asked about what we brought the answer was going to be no. We told her she was our mom on this trip, so it was her job to tell us what to bring because we had no idea what we were getting into. Everytime we said Oh My Gosh all we heard we laughter out of Suzette. I told her that my next blog was going to be titled Suzette because she got us into this whole adventure. Anyways, along the way we got to see some very pretty homes, scenery, and animals. It's so neat to see that even though here in Europe we can say we are all from the United States, we are all from so many different parts of the states that we all have totally different ways of living. At one point during the walk we were walking up this huge hill and all you could see where mountains, trees, and hills and Amanda was like "wow, I have never seen anything like this before", and of course I told her that is what I see everyday in Tennessee. Later on in the trip Courtney got to see what sheep were. Then later we saw another kind of sheep and she was like thats not a sheep it looks different. I proceeded to tell her that they were both sheep just different kinds. She had no idea there were different kinds of sheep, so I told her that yeah there were different kinds of sheep just like there are different kinds of cows. She freaked out at that point. She had no clue that there were different kinds of cows. I went on to tell her about what some of the different kinds of cows were and she was just amazed. I asked her if she had never heard of Angus burgers like at McDonalds or somewhere and she said of course but she thought that was just the way they cooked the meat...no idea....I have so much to teach her. She asked Amanda if she knew about the different kinds of cows and Amanda said yeah there are hefers, the ones with the horns...and I just lost it. I told her that was the sex of the cow not the type. It is so funny to see how different we all are just by where we live at in the states. My accent is still an ongoing amusement for them all as well. However, after many long long walks, talks, climbs and much more we finally made it to Zubiri (the city halfway between Rancesvalles and Pamplona). We were ready to stop for lunch since we had walked 12 miles in the past 5 hours. When we got to a place for lunch we decided that there was no way we would make it to Pamplona before dark and didn't even know if our bodies would allow us to do it anyways, we were getting pretty tired. So we decided to be safe and get a taxi back to Pamplona. However, we sat down and had a very good lunch, salad, bread, pork, fries, and chocolate mousse. After our lunch we got in our taxi and headed back to Pamplona. The taxi driver dropped us off at Los Abedules..we were home! (in Spain). We all headed up to our rooms and have been taking it easy all evening. Its about time for some rest...and NO plans tomorrow!
Universidad Publica de Navarra
We got our bus from Pamplona to Rancesvalles and we were on our way. Once we got there we realized we were literally in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing in this town but a restaurant for the Pilgrims "Pelegrinos", a church, and the albergue that we stayed at (a hostal for the pilgrims). We got checked in, payed our 6 euros for the night and then headed to our room with the other pelegrinos who were there as well. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into!! There were 10 bunk beds in one tiny room that there was barely even room to walk in. Not only that but there were no blankets or anything to sleep with, and they had the window open so it was FREEZING in there. We were slightly freaked out so we decided we would go get dinner. However dinner was not going to open until 8:30, after mass. So we walked around the area to see the town and take pictures. We saw the old church that was standing where Charlemagne was defeated. Then we walked to the church that is in use today, and we got to see the end of the mass. After that we headed to dinner. It was very good; we got a 3 course meal for 9 euros because we were pelegrinos. We had bread, green beans, beef, french fries, and rice pudding. After dinner we headed back to our "room". We had to sleep in the clothes we had on because it was so cold in there. I put on an extra shirt that I brought and used my coat as a blanket, my scarf as an extra pillow and warmth, and put on an extra pair of socks. Even with all that I froze all night. We decided we wanted to get up super early and go ahead and head back to Pamplona so that we could walk the entire trail from Rancesvalles and Pamplona in one day (24 miles) rather than having to stop again. Bobby woke us up at 5 and we headed outside. Shaking all over, we got to the path and saw that it was nothing but a black trail and none of us had a flashlight. We decided it was best to go back to the albergue and wait until it got a little lighter. We decided to go lay back down except this time Suzette and I shared a twin bed and Courtney and Amanda shared a twin bed so that we could all keep warm. We woke back up about 8 when everyone started getting ready and we started our journey, and, of course, it was raining. It wasn't pouring but it was drizzling enough to get us wet. I used my scarf as a hat to keep my head somewhat dry along the way. The farther we got in our journey the harder it got. We all blamed Suzette for getting us into this mess. Constantly throughout the trip she kept pulling the most random things out of her backpack, sandwichs, a blanket, tons of stuff that the rest of us did not even think about. At one point she asked us if we brought water and we just told her to hush because no matter what she asked about what we brought the answer was going to be no. We told her she was our mom on this trip, so it was her job to tell us what to bring because we had no idea what we were getting into. Everytime we said Oh My Gosh all we heard we laughter out of Suzette. I told her that my next blog was going to be titled Suzette because she got us into this whole adventure. Anyways, along the way we got to see some very pretty homes, scenery, and animals. It's so neat to see that even though here in Europe we can say we are all from the United States, we are all from so many different parts of the states that we all have totally different ways of living. At one point during the walk we were walking up this huge hill and all you could see where mountains, trees, and hills and Amanda was like "wow, I have never seen anything like this before", and of course I told her that is what I see everyday in Tennessee. Later on in the trip Courtney got to see what sheep were. Then later we saw another kind of sheep and she was like thats not a sheep it looks different. I proceeded to tell her that they were both sheep just different kinds. She had no idea there were different kinds of sheep, so I told her that yeah there were different kinds of sheep just like there are different kinds of cows. She freaked out at that point. She had no clue that there were different kinds of cows. I went on to tell her about what some of the different kinds of cows were and she was just amazed. I asked her if she had never heard of Angus burgers like at McDonalds or somewhere and she said of course but she thought that was just the way they cooked the meat...no idea....I have so much to teach her. She asked Amanda if she knew about the different kinds of cows and Amanda said yeah there are hefers, the ones with the horns...and I just lost it. I told her that was the sex of the cow not the type. It is so funny to see how different we all are just by where we live at in the states. My accent is still an ongoing amusement for them all as well. However, after many long long walks, talks, climbs and much more we finally made it to Zubiri (the city halfway between Rancesvalles and Pamplona). We were ready to stop for lunch since we had walked 12 miles in the past 5 hours. When we got to a place for lunch we decided that there was no way we would make it to Pamplona before dark and didn't even know if our bodies would allow us to do it anyways, we were getting pretty tired. So we decided to be safe and get a taxi back to Pamplona. However, we sat down and had a very good lunch, salad, bread, pork, fries, and chocolate mousse. After our lunch we got in our taxi and headed back to Pamplona. The taxi driver dropped us off at Los Abedules..we were home! (in Spain). We all headed up to our rooms and have been taking it easy all evening. Its about time for some rest...and NO plans tomorrow!