Day #2: Roncesvalles to Larrasoaña, 27.4km
04.18.2010
We got up at 6a to the sounds of chant music being blasted from the basement of the Albergue. We were on the road shortly before 7:15a and walked to the first town of Burguete for a breakfast of a ham/cheese bocadillo y cafe con leche. On the way, we met a trio of South African women traveling together. Still no Americans, minus the Oklahoman we met in SJPdP the day before we left.
This was a good day for me because it was mostly downhill. I do good on the downhills. Kimberley and Viviana do well on the uphills. It´s a little give and take when we walk together.
We have found the guidebook we are using, "A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino de Santiago" by John Brierley to be hit-or-miss with accuracy. The elevation charts, combined with the "not to scale" maps have been proven to be off quite a bit.
After Zubiri/Puente de la Rabia, we knew we had 5.5km to Larrasoaña. It seemed like it took the longest time to get there! I thought kilometers would go faster but they seem to just drag on and on!
We finally made it to Larrasoaña around 6p or so. We checked into the Albergue and then Ninka (I hope I am spelling this right!), our Dutch friend, found us. She was staying at a different Albergue but invited us to dinner at the bar down the road. We limped down there and found out they were taking reservations and the next time slot would be about an hour. I promptly let out a "Dios Mio!!!" and got a good laugh out of everyone.
The menu de peregrino for me was white asparagus (local specialty) followed by a thin steak, flattened/grilled and served with fries. Dessert was helado and all was served with bread, water, and wine. We sat with a group of Spaniards, including one or two from Barcelona.
After dinner, we made our way back to the Albergue, I took a shower, and we were asleep by 10p.
We got up at 6a to the sounds of chant music being blasted from the basement of the Albergue. We were on the road shortly before 7:15a and walked to the first town of Burguete for a breakfast of a ham/cheese bocadillo y cafe con leche. On the way, we met a trio of South African women traveling together. Still no Americans, minus the Oklahoman we met in SJPdP the day before we left.
This was a good day for me because it was mostly downhill. I do good on the downhills. Kimberley and Viviana do well on the uphills. It´s a little give and take when we walk together.
We have found the guidebook we are using, "A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino de Santiago" by John Brierley to be hit-or-miss with accuracy. The elevation charts, combined with the "not to scale" maps have been proven to be off quite a bit.
After Zubiri/Puente de la Rabia, we knew we had 5.5km to Larrasoaña. It seemed like it took the longest time to get there! I thought kilometers would go faster but they seem to just drag on and on!
We finally made it to Larrasoaña around 6p or so. We checked into the Albergue and then Ninka (I hope I am spelling this right!), our Dutch friend, found us. She was staying at a different Albergue but invited us to dinner at the bar down the road. We limped down there and found out they were taking reservations and the next time slot would be about an hour. I promptly let out a "Dios Mio!!!" and got a good laugh out of everyone.
The menu de peregrino for me was white asparagus (local specialty) followed by a thin steak, flattened/grilled and served with fries. Dessert was helado and all was served with bread, water, and wine. We sat with a group of Spaniards, including one or two from Barcelona.
After dinner, we made our way back to the Albergue, I took a shower, and we were asleep by 10p.