Starting Day

Albergue
Jesus Y Marie €5 p.person
Excellent condition
Free washing machine and the dryer €1.00
Internet access is available €1 for 20minutes.
Kitchen facilities
Plenty of beds, hotwater and modern well maintained bathroom facilities.
Pilgrim menu €10 p.person

“Today is Mothers Day at home and for my present I get to begin our travel to our starting point on the Camino – carrying Raya. In Sans Sebastian we found the Correos and posted our luggage to Santiago without any difficulty. Fingers crossed it makes it there safely – after 5 weeks I know I will be ready for a change of clothes.
Spain has a very cheap postal system. Our large boxes (big enough to hold my pack or a suitcase) were €6.00 to buy and the postage for two boxes was €12.

The bus ride was very comfortable and we arrived in Pamplona keen to find our first albergue. We found the local touristic office and they gave us easy to follow directions. We needn't have been concerned as we soon found the Camino was VERY well signposted.

Arriving at the refugio we were impressed with the facilities – but we were soon to learn we were spoilt by starting here in Pamplona – not all albergues are created equal. Checking in, we purchased our credentials and our shell. The Credential is a passport which is stamped at each albergue and is evidence that you have walked enough distance to qualify for the Compostela in Santiago (the minimum is the last 116km walked on foot regardless of your starting point and there are many who only walk the last 116km). The shell has become the symbol of the Camino and is tied to a walking stick or backpack to identify the person as a pilgrim. I tied mine to the back of Aurelia's carrier.

As we checked in we met an elderly man who was surprised to see Aurelia and was perhaps the first person to call her the “littlest pilgrim”. He claimed she was “beautiful” and her smile was “magic” and after filming her shuffling along on her bottom raced out only to come back with a postcard present for her. Right from the start she was warmly welcomed by the pilgrims we met.

Having Aurelia with us was a great conversation starter and we met several lovely people who we would never cross paths with again. One such lady was Alicia from the UK – who was walking with her mum. They had walked till they “couldn't move” and were the first people to remind us to “pace yourselves don't do what we did”. Due to time constraints they were catching the bus and just walking the last 100km after crossing the Pyrenees. They were in “awe” that we were attempting the walk with a child. We hope they made it to Santiago.

Our lack of fashionable clothing was not a concern once inside the albergue EVERYONE was dressed like we were and wicking fabric, Teva sandals and zip off pants were the new trend. Probably the only place where our clothing would look fashionable!!

After finding our beds we set out to have a look around Pamplona. We followed the path the bulls take to the stadium in the 'Running of the Bulls” festival each year and marvelled

The street that the bulls race straight down into the stadium

that people would place themselves in such narrow streets ahead of charging bulls. We wandered around the main square and bought our journals we wrote in each night and sat eating gelato in the afternoon sunshine. We also picked up some homeopathic cough syrup for Aurelia. She was in excellent spirits but the reluctance of the doctor in the Spanish hospital to give her antibiotics initially meant she was still carrying a nasty cough with her.

Walking back to the albergue before dinner we crossed through Pamplona's main square.

Around the outside of the square were simple wooden benches all occupied by the elderly men of the city. Sixty or seventy men sat laughing, smoking or rocking their grandchildren in their strollers taking in the last of the days sunshine. We guessed that we were catching a glimpse of a daily routine that had been happening for decades. It was a heartwarming sign to see so many elderly men – in their eighties in such good spirits. Their faces were sunbaked and wrinkled but they laughed with the enthusiasm of the young.

After a great pilgrim meal (3 course meal with wine for €10) we returned for an early night. Return late to the albergue and you will find yourselves locked out for the night as most albergues have a curfew for pilgrims.

I have to admit I was anxious about Aurelia sleeping in the albergue that first night. Even though she always sleeps through the night, tonight was the first test of sleeping surrounded by so many snorers (mind you she survives her fathers snoring) and with her cold I suspected she may wake during the night. I silently prayed that she would sleep through and as a Mother's day gift Nick settled her in the Kinderkot for me while I enjoyed a hot shower hoping it wasn't going to be my last one of the Camino.

We were endeavouring to have a camino experience as 'authentic' as possible and so for us this meant avoiding the pensions and hotels along the way, staying in the pilgrim accommodation (albergues) with all the other pilgrims.

The accommodation was bunk beds and we used our sleeping bags and ear plugs that night.

As I lay in bed I thought how happy we were to be walking the Camino. We both were looking forward to the simplicity of the adventure. Consult the map in the morning. Choose a town we aimed to walk too. Check there was an albergue on the map. Get dressed and walk. Stop when tired or hungry. No researching on the internet and spending time trying to find accommodation that fit the budget. Focusing simply on walking and being together – valued time to allow the mind to wander and stretch itself and enjoy just being together as a family without work and the hustle and bustle of day to day stresses impacting on us.