Now begins the Day.
With one step upon the Road
My soul is on its Way.
I couldn´t sleep last night. I repacked and got rid of a few more things. I wrote information from the Camino forum about the pros and cons of different albergues. Layed down at 2 am. At 3am I listened to my Zen. Fell asleep and woke up 3 more times! The last time was 1 minute before the alarm went off. Readied and out the door after my goodbyes with Begoña. Got 200€ from the ATM and went to the metro. Went the wrong way 1 stop and headed back on the next train... 2 more connections later I arrived late to catch the train to Pamplona. Phone calls later, I headed by metro this time to the bus station. 2 hours later I was on the most comfortable bus to Pamplona. I saw the landscape change, definitely more hills and then mountains. At the bus station in Pamplona I could not find anyone to share a taxi with to go to St Jean-Pied-du-Port (SJPP) so headed to a city bus stop to take me to the train station. Maybe there I would find other pilgrims. I looked at the schedule, and not understanding the Basque language, I felt something was not right and walked back to the bus station. Just then 1 woman and 4 men were walking out of the snack shop and I asked if any were going to SJPP (which is on the French side of the Pyrenees).
A couple were. We (6) got into a taxi van and headed north. First stop was Roncesvalles, which is known as the beginning of the Camino on the Spanish side. I would be there in a couple of days. On we went to SJPP. The rest of the ride showed us beautiful vistas, lush, green, woodsy, cute villages. The whole ride was 24€ each. We went to the office of Les Amis du Chemin de St Jacques and got our credencial. This is a little booklet where I will get a stamp placed in it each time I stop in an albergue. Like a little passport. It will be shown at the Cathedral once I am in Santiago de Compostela to prove I walked it and then I will be given the certificate, called the Compostela. Antoine was awesome... all smiles, laughing, singing, welcoming us. We each got our credencial and headed to our albegue. I got a room with 3 bunk beds and 1 twin bed, 7 of us, men and women and 1 dog. He wears a backpack with his food in it!
Then Marta, Jaime and I walked around this lovely village and ate a big dinner.
The albergue is in a family home.... I am not allowed to shower there however. Headed to bed early since I haven´t slept much and must be ready for the uphill climb to Orisson tomorrow.
On this date many years ago it was the beginning of my marriage, which ended with a divorce this past April. And today is the beginning of a new journey. What will this one bring?
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