We are doing the Camino spa style

Spa Day
June 6, 2014

Ok…this might not look like the Korean Spa, but we do have similar ingredients-salt, vinegar and cold water. I will also be scrubbing our feet with pumice and than rubbing down both feet and legs with Vaseline. Feels great on our feet and ankles. Might even do this treatment again before bed.

We packed up our bags and headed out to the post office in Pamplona. They opened at 9 am and we already knew that by the time we started to climb “the hill” it would be very hot. Others who were going onto La Reina had said to avoid doing this in the heat of the day.

While on the way to the post office, a large group of middle school students were walking by us. Some girls stopped us to interview us…really they were more interested in interviewing Abby. Their assignment was to interview pilgrims in their native tongue. The teacher told me that the point of the assignment was to teach the students that they needed to know more than Spanish and English in order to be a pilgrim. She was their French teacher. The Spanish government heavily encourages their young people to walk either the full Camino or at least the last 100km ( the amount one has to walk in order to receive the Compostela) as this looks good on their resume when applying for the university and even for a job.

This took some time, but we enjoyed helping them fulfill their assignment. Afterwards, the teacher walked us to the post office. Ok, this was yet another experience in why you should familiarize yourself with the written language in the country you are traveling to. When you pack too much stuff ( it isn’t crap…it is good quality stuff that is needed for the Camino, but hey…every ounce counts!) and need to send it home, you have to fill out a form. And don’t count on having a friendly, English speaking postal worker to help you out. I will tell you right now, THAT is not going to happen.

We stuffed the box. Weighed the box. Gasped at the price to send the box home. Purged the box. Re-weighed the box and found it to still cost a lot, but it was doable for 36€. Yes…please go to my go fund me site and stick some more money into the account.
After we finished, we had the stuff leftover in the Ikea bag. So we placed the bag on a bench in the park. Someone will appreciate the good stuff within…unless the police are called for a bomb report.

Finally made it on to the Camino. We stopped at the fruit stand, the bread shop, the market. Then we had to find a restroom. We found it at the university AND we even got a cool Camino stamp on our credential for peeing!

Onto we walked. We are staying at this beautiful Albergue Roncal in Cizur Menor that is a family home. The gardens are way beautiful. Our feet. Our soul. Our body…they are all thinking us. Well worth the 10€ For each of us to stay here instead of the 4€ place down by the historic church. No bed bugs here.

So after walking 4km or 6km ( depends on the book you use) we parked ourselves for a nice rest stop before climbing over “the hill” which we will take on early in the morning.