Camino Day 7, Friday 5/4/07: Puente La Reina to Estella

[This was posted on Saturday] I cannot believe that I didn't write anything yesterday. We enjoyed Puente la Reina. Fernando complained about the Menu del Dia at a restaurant downtown but it was fine for me (I had fried fish and he had codornices but I think he was disappointed at their size). The stay in the refugio was good, although Fernando complained (again) about the snoring of the man from Germany and of an older woman from Germany. The German couple in the bunk beside us had spent 3 years in Chicago. She had arthritis and they were going to take a slow day on Friday. Then we met a couple of Norwegian women who were also going to take a day of rest. Many of the pilgrims were cooking their food or eating simple things they had bought at grocery stores. They are all quite frugal.
The next day, Friday, started out raining with a thunderstorm and continued. After our experience in Zubiri, we decided we were not up to walking in the rain. We stopped for breakfast at a chain called Taberna and the proprietor told us not to go by the Camino but to go by the "old road" that had been replaced by a new highway, because there was too much mud on the Camino.

We decided instead to cop out and take the bus to Estella. We missed the 7;50 am bus by about 10 minutes and had to wait in a panaderia for 2 hours for the 10 o'clock bus. But it only cost 1.93 euros and took 1/2 hour to Estella. We passed many sopping peregrinos on the road.

Estella is a city of 15,000 and much larger than Puente la Reina. While in Uterga we made reservations at the Hostal Volante (at the suggestion of the hostal owner in Uterga). Although on the outskirts of town, it was a very nice hostal, and the proprietor, Carlos, was a gem. The hostal was full because of a wedding but Carlos put another bed into a single room to accommodate us.

We went to a nearby supermarket and picked up food for lunch. I'd prefer to eat a menu del dia at 2 pm but Fernando always wants a snack and that screws up the schedule.


After our snack we went walking in the downtown area but it was very dead because it was during their siesta. I was very impressed with the town because the curbs and central gutter in the streets were of black marble.

Back at the Hostal Volante we took a nap and then talked to Carlos about a place to find "Gorrin asado" or roasted suckling pig, which is a specialty of the area. Carlos made reservations for us and then helped us plan the following day. We were pretty down on the Camino and just wanted to get to Logroño. However we found that there were absolutely no accommodations for Saturday night in Logrono. Instead, Carlos called various hostales and hotels in the next stage of the camino and made us reservations at the Hotel Monaco in Los Arcos and then at a private home in Viana, the place where Cesar Borgia dies and where Fernando really wanted to visit.

Then we walked back downtown (it must have been around 6 pm) and were surprised at how crowded it had become compared to "siesta time". We recharged Fernando's vodaphone at a tobacco shop (he still can't get reception in the smaller towns), watched a "sardana" trio in the town square, bought chocolates and alpargatas as we waited around for the restaurant to open at 9 pm.

We really didn't need reservations because nobody else was there. Our waiter was Colombian - he noticed Fernando's accent before we noticed his. - from Pereira. I ordered Piquillo peppers which were VERY good. The gorrin was a disappointment for me - too much skin and integuments and too little meat - enough to make you a vegetarian in no time - and it needed salt and Spaniards never put salt on the table. And it was pricey 948 euros) but not as much as we would pay in the US perhaps.
By then we were pooped and headed home. We talked to Susan and Grandma and to Camila that day. The night before in the refugio in Puente LaReina I sent a large email to everybody because again Fernando did not have phone reception.
That is an advantage to the refugios: they often have internet access where as hostales and hotels do not. We slept very well at the Hostal Volante even though it was on the major roadways. They had double paned windows and those Spanish pull-down blinds that shut out the street lights.