I have arrived in the Navarra Basque region of Spain in Pamplona. This is the home of the mullet hair cut….business at the front and a party at the back! It is wonderful to wander and get lost in the small cobble stone streets here and be emersed in the daily and night life of the spanish. You get can forget for a moment that you have been walking in the same clothes for over a month and stop the noise of other pilgrims talking about where they will stop next and what albergue will they be staying at. I am so happy to feel like a normal person enjoying a wine and some tapas and listening to people have everyday conversations, even if it is in spanish.

Pamplona is beautiful and the home of the running of the bulls in July. The city celebrates Ernest Hemingway who made the festival famous with his book ‘The Sun Also Rises’. I am having a few days rest here to enjoy the museums and the sights, to sleep and let my body restore itself for the next 850km or so. I hope I will see a few of my french friends who were behind me arrive too after the long walk through the Pyrenese.

The spanish have a wonderful social scene. After siesta all the small bars open and people descend from their small apartments to enjoy wine and tapas, walk their dogs and talk aboit their day. Children still run around and family’s enjoy their walk around town. It is not unusual for people to be eating late into the evening before heading home and the atmosphere is very social and enjoyable.

I am lucky enough to have been gifted a night in a fabulous hotel from some very special friends of mine that I met on the camino last year. I have a wonderful bed with fluffy pillows and huge soft towels and a room all to myself. Unlike other pilgrims I do not have to be in my room by 10pm so I can truly enjoy a night on my own, on my own time. I also know that I can sleep as long as I want and I don’t have to walk tomorrow. Although I know I will be eager to get going again soon, it is fantastic to rest and to be a tourist for a day or two.

The wine in the Navarra region is fantastic and I can eat and drink for less than €5….unlike France which was just as fabulous but more expensive! In a bigger town you also have to deal with the beggars and the people trying to sell you cheap jewellery or sunglasses….thankfully I can just say no and pretend I don’t understand. But I feel the space that I had in France is slowly coming to an end and the more people that begin the Camino, and the more people that are in the towns will test my patience. But that is a good thing too….I need to be more tolerant.

But for tonight I enjoy my space, my time and my wine, and I am very happy but wish my friends could also experience this too…maybe one day you will be able to do this….for me, I found my new love of walking and experiencing different countries in a new different way, even if it does sound crazy to walk over a 1700km..it makes me very happy.