Day 2: Roncesvalles to Zubiri

It was a much shorter day today, about 22 km, and mostly gentle ups and downs, more downs than ups; our group was in Zubiri ready for drinks and lunch at 11:30 am

The morning officially started just before 6:00 am, with monasterial chants to gently wake everyone up, followed at 6:01 am by all the lights being turned on to violently wake everyone up. As it happens, I was already awake and up, so rather enjoyed the experience, but some others had contrasting opinions
The Way today was mainly a walk in the woods, not as dense as NZ forest, and with occasional trips through small villages. The track was a little reminiscent of tracks in NZ, although no mud, and perhaps wider and better formed than we are used to. Mostly in the shade, which was appreciated! Again there were numerous 'iconic' scenes that I recognised from YouTube
A sign warned of a steep downhill for the last few km before Zubiri, but it really wasn't too bad. I gather it's recently been tidied up
And it was a bonus (albeit by mistake) to catch up with some friends on WhatsApp during (what it would be nice to become a habit) morning break of freshly- squeezed orange juice and coffee. Apologies to anyone who was shocked by my appearance, but it's only going to get worse - you have been warned

There seem to be many legends associated with places along the Camino, and it's not clear to me if the locals keep the stories for real, for fun, or for the tourists. Dare I mention one local legend:  animals that walk three times around the central pillar of the bridge into Zubiri will be cured of rabies. Who needs vets?
Anyway, my albergue for tonight is just across the said bridge
View from bedroom window:

Comments

  1. NicolaApril 25, 2026 at 1:23 PM

    Counting the bucks... looks like you could sing "10 in the bed and the little one said ...". Bridge looks a corka. We thoroughly enjoyed the WhatsApp hiccup.

    ReplyDelete

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