Camino – Zubini (Day 4)
Date: Fri 10th May
Ok, we’ll come clean on our accommodation at Roncesvalles! We had pre-booked the only Hotel in town and skipped the Albergue. This Hotel is 5 stars and worth every Euro! They served the Pilgrims 3 course menu for €9 per head and we opted for breakfast as well for an additional €8.
5 Star accommodation!
Pilgrims 3 course meal
Mass and Pilgrims blessing at the Royal Collegiate Church of Saint Mary
Breakfast 5 Star! We finally headed off at 9:50am. This is definitely NOT typical of a departure time for a typical pilgrim. We later found out that most of our fellow pilgrims stayed at the local Albergue and were woken with lights on at 6am. Most were on the road by 7:30 and some as early as 6:30am! No wonder we had the track to ourselves!
A Romanesque 12th Century Chapel – Silo de Carlomagno in Roncesvalles
We thought it was 790km from SJPDP! Whilst we headed off with very low clouds overhead and single digit temperatures, it wasn’t raining and we were still greeted with fantastic scenery with the added quaint villages thrown in!
Typical sign posts that mark the well signed Camino way
Arrived at the town of Zubini 22Km from Roncesvalles. The muscles are starting to let’s us know they need a well earned rest! As we crossed over the Romanesque bridge into Zubini, we were greeted with an enterprising local Spanish lady offering private accommodation. Knowing we were one of the last to arrive and being a small town, we took her offer and were escorted to a neat little house nearby. Looks like we have the place to ourselves!
We again finished off the day with the typical Pilgrims 3 course meal noting many pilgrims that we have seen on different occasions along the way.
More Photo’s
Camino Stories (For Alison, who cannot get enough”)
John the Californian
We meet John at the B&B we were staying in at SJPDP. John was the life of our little party at the guest house and was also setting off to Orisson the following day. John however hadn’t done any training, had recently had 2 hip replacements, not to mention knee surgery and wore a back-brace. Did we mention that along with his natural additional body weight, he was attempting to carry a 15kg backpack? Mostly filled with medical equipment. One very brave man!
The next morning our host kindly offered to take his pack for him up to Orisson and he headed off early. We again enjoyed his company at diner that evening and waved him off as he left for his accommodation a few hundred meters down the road.
We hadn’t seen or heard from him until late today a fellow pilgrim told us that John had fallen down the stairs back in Orisson and taken off to hospital! Whilst we don’t know how serious his injuries are and we do wish him well, We do wonder if this is a small blessing for him as I wasn’t fancying his chances on the climb up and then down into Roncesvalles!
Jenny and Stephen's Travel Adventure 
7 Responses to “Camino – Zubini (Day 4)”
Looks like you are off to a rolling start! Nice photos. I know it’s a lot of work to blog after a day walking, but it sure is nice to be able to follow along. Our Friend Bill Bennett just wrapped up on the other end today.
http://pgstheway.com/2013/05/10/day-31-arrival/
He’s had quite an adventure. I’m sure your’s will be just as wonderful!
Yes, I’m trying to work out the best way to increase my efficiency in time. Typically taking up to 3 hrs! Not sure if I can sustain for long term… Might write up a post on the technical side of Blogging on Camino if I find the time. Thanks for your comments…
Goodness! Nothing like being prepared and not underestimating what lies ahead. We usually pack more than we need – something we need to work on – but at least we generally don’t find ourselves lacking.
Great post and photos. I’m very impressed that you managed to do this while walking.
: )
Thanks Dayna for dropping by. It’s a difficult balance between over or under packing, but whilst we aren’t the type to cut our toothbrush handle down to save a few grams, we do choose our kit carefully. Our packs on the Camino were around 8kg before water. In fact we lived out of these packs for 8 weeks! However, we met others that managed to only carry 6kg! When tackling the Milford as independent walkers, we started out with 10-12kg and then the Larapinta with the full catastrophe (tent, mattresses cooking and food) we managed under 15kg. I know people have carried way more, but even at 15kg we definitely notice the load! Blogging was a BIG commitment and was to keep family and friends informed. I would be up at all hours sorting photos and blogging. The more remote walks are all done after the fact due to lack of Internet!
Cheers,
Stephen
Internet access was something I was (probably naively) surprised about. Was it generally wifi at the places you stayed or 3G?
Europe in general had free internet access available in every place we stayed. This included Spain and was found in even the smaller villages. Speed varied greatly, but I learned quickly to reduce photo sizes specific to blog before uploading. Check out my page on how I blog from main menu (If you haven’t already). Obviously NZ and Oz walks are so more remote, but that just makes them so unique! As you would know… 🙂
Haven’t got to that page, or that what you packed page yet, but am working my way there a bit at a time. Slowly getting over a rather bad cold so I’ve had a bit of time lately!