Today was another case of “the camino will provide”. Yesterday, during the steep descent into Zubiri, I had decided that I would buy walking sticks upon reaching Pamplona. Surely a city like Pamplona would have hiking shops. But! On the stage from Zubiri to Pamplona there is a possibility to do a short detour, where you climb up a hill to visit the 13th century church: Iglesia de Sant Esteban de Zabaldika. I decided to do this, and in the church door there were dozens of walking sticks, made by the janitor, for free, for pilgrims.
Everywhere along the camino frances there are special places. For me, one of them was the place where Dan was selling refreshments. Dan is an American of Basque descent who has been selling drinks and snacks along the route for years. He was proud of meeting Martin Sheen during the filming of ‘The Way’ and let everyone take his picture, with the picture with Martin Sheen.
Around lunchtime, I reached Pamplona. What a nice place. A pretty touristy center of course, but I loved the atmosphere. I didn’t know it at the time, but in a few days, I would be back.
