Day 3 - Thursday, 24nd April, 2014 - 22.2 km
[Roncesvalles - The magnitude of the journey spelt out on a road sign!]
[Roncesvalles municipal Albergue - comfort in a 62 bed dormitory]
[The 62 bed dormitory]
The night in Roncesvalles was very comfortable and not to cold. We woke up to very low cloud and the weather was to deteriorate as the day progressed. This was to be a gentle day of undulating countryside as we slowly dropped down the valley of the River Erro making our way toward Pamplona.
[On the way to Zubiri from Roncesvalles]
In the first village a local supermarket had opened, which had not happened the previous year. The owner clearly realised that his captive market would be coursing through between 7am and 9am and he was very cheerful and hummed along with Handel's Messiah, which he played over the supermarket music system. We ducked into one cafe to avoid what turned out as a slight hail storm. Towards the end of the day the weather slowly changed to pelting rain, which did not stop and later turned to thunderstorms once we reached Zubiri - we got drenched. The only plus point was that this would not have been the day to cross over the Pyrenees.
[Pouring rain and muddy puddles]
[Dutch pilgrim (Franz) in suitable rain gear]
Paul the tall Canadian man knew of a brand new Albergue which had opened up in Zubiri and he and a couple of Americans had booked a night there. We joined the queue for places, but were pipped to the post by 4 German men just in front of us. I thought our best chances were to make for the Municipal Albergue just down the road. We were accompanied by a young American girl who was equally dispirited and had been turned away by 4 different hostels. The reception at the Municipal Albergue had beds for us at 8 Euros and we were shown up to a 3 bunk bedded dormitory for 6; we took the last beds available. There were two other big dormitories on that floor, but only one loo, basin and shower between them all and these were all in one room! A queue for the shower was already forming in the corridor outside and things looked pretty bleak. There was quite clearly nowhere to dry our clothes and pointless to wash anything as drying would not be possible. Eila and the American girl Christina looked pretty mutinous, so I suggested that we forget the idea of a shower and leave our things to go to the cafe restaurant down the road and just sit in there with a drink followed by food and wear our clothes until dried. The plan seemed to work and everyone's spirits improved with heat and two glasses of beer. We were soon joined by Paul the Canadian man and the two Americans and three Irish ladies from the new hostel, all looking fresh and clean from a recent shower and dry clothes. Although Paul the Canadian felt slightly guilty that they had got such a good deal, our now dry clothes and intake of beer meant we did not mind being gloated at for missing out and soon moral was more than restored. The evening went extremely well and we returned to the hostel to find the shower queue was no longer an issue and just made it to our beds before lights out.
Buen Camino
[Zubiri municipal albergue sadness - waiting for the queues to die down for the showers]
