DAY 2: ZUBIRI TO PAMPLONA (May 9)

 Beautiful day; a few sprinkles along the way; talked to some wonderful people; arrived safely...only a couple of our students got lost but eventually got back on track. Here is what we saw:

Puente de la Rabia - leaving Zubiri

Along the Camino...

You see many unusual things along the way. People have put stickers from all over the world on this signpost...

This is a lovely Romanesque church in Urdaniz

The trail follows the Rio Arga until we get to Pamplona

This medieval bridge at Irotz or Iturgaitz (11th or 12th Century) has had a modern facelift with a new metal railing along the top.

We went slightly off the main Camino to visit the small convent of San Estéban (13th Century). There are two interesting things about the monastery: 1) traditionally the Virgin Mary holds the Christ child in her arms; here he is held by Joseph...

2) you can climb the bell tower and ring a 14th century bell (the one on the far left). 

We again set out from the convent and came across this "memorial." Someone evidently decided that these shoes had seen their day and left as a reminder of the miles yet to walk along the Camino.

We've just crossed the Puente de la Trinidad (possible Roman origins; reconstructed several times) heading towards Pamplona. We still have about 5 kilometers to go!

We are again crossing the Rio Arga. This is shot of the Puente de la Magdalena (12th Century) again as we are entering Pamplona.

Catedral de Pamplona and its interior below

As many of you know, Pamplona is the home to the famous running of the bulls as part of the celebrations of San Fermín. Below is the countdown clock to the next running of the bulls...

Finally, we had to get something to eat. We went to MariJesus, a wonderful little spot where they make these amazing salads. It is tomatoes covered in chopped hard-boiled eggs, tuna (known as ventresca), and asperagus (a type particular to this region and grows completely underground). The whole dish is lightly doused with olive oil and vinegar with a light sprinkling of salt.

After our light dinner we went to our favorite gelateria. Mmmm! My favorite is the "lemon basil".