I was dragging after the night we had last night. I should have stood up to Pam and refused some of the beers she kept making me drink. We didn’t get up until 9. At one point, I woke up and didn’t know where I was. While I was trying to remember, I heard a voice “Pamplona, P L O N A”. I was thinking “where?” when I heard it again. “Pamplona, P L O N A”. I found out later that Rob was talking with his mother for Mother’s Day and I heard a part of the conversation.
We got ready to head out thinking everyone was already up. Instead, Shaun, Rob, and Michelle were all being lazy as well this morning. We all headed down to grab some breakfast about 9:30. When we got near the free WiFi area by the information center, everyone checked their phones. We got a text that George was in Pamplona sitting at a cafe near our hotel–he had taken a taxi from Zubiri to here first thing this morning. This definitely saved his feet from the pain we went through the last 4 miles yesterday.
Everyone waited while I ran back and got him settled in. When we got back down, Santiago and Eva from Sweden were there. We talked for a bit then headed to San Nicolas to find some food. We ended up eating at an outside cafe right in front of the Church of St. Nicholas.
The rest of the day was sightseeing, rest, errands and food. After Pam nearly got attacked by a little woman in St. Nicholas Church for taking a picture, we decided to switch from the religious sights to what Pamplona is known for.
All of us headed to the Plaza del Toros to see where the bulls run to. We spent a couple hours touring the bull ring and learning about the running of the bulls. We then retraced the route the bulls take and those mentally unhinged enough to run in front of them.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing for our return to the pilgrimage in the morning. We are looking at a 12 mile day which will be our average amount of walking most days from here on out.
Six of us went to dinner at Cafe Iruna where Ernest Hemingway “loved to go”. It was one of about a dozen places claiming to be his favorite. Nonetheless, we had a great 3 course dinner including bread and wine at a reasonable price. When we were finishing up, Santiago dropped by our table and recommended that we go see the new “Running of the Bulls” sculpture just south of the plaza. George and Shaun passed, so we went with Rob and Michelle. It was worth the trip.
