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Having
slept well, Paca and I leave Puente La Reina at ten past six in the
morning. We had been to Puente La Reina on another occasion and we had
dreamed that we would at some stage go through its main street and cross
its bridge as pilgrims. This morning our dream comes true.
Each
one in the pilgrims’ group measures their strengths with the others
until Mañeru, then the group get dispersed. The stage, even though the
guide books say the opposite, ends up being harder than the one yesterday.
Besides, a strong rain kept a layer of mud on the route like slippery
chocolate the night before.
Why
do farmers plough the routes and get away with it? Those in power cannot
know about these goings on, because if they did, they would promptly punish the
farmers. Such is the nature of our laws!. Daring to plough the Route of
Santiago!. But, of course, we have to think that if they plough the Route
of Santiago, why do they not plough the other routes with no celestial
protection?
We
arrive at Estella at half past eleven, the pilgrims’ hostel is good but
it is filling up very fast. They have a personal computer as in other
hostels (meaning that it does not work). In this hostel they use the
personal computer to lean a big clock and a non-smoking sign against it.
Paca
and I are as fit as two fiddles after eating bacon and drinking red wine
under the Estella main square’s arcades. Then we have a meal at
Casanova. Then siesta, washing clothes and a little bit of writing.
I
forgot to mention that Cirauqui is a beauful village. We crossed this
village in the morning and, even though they say that Cirauqui means
"vipers’ nest" in Basque language, we were welcomed with open
arms and we found a bar to have breakfast. We left Cirauqui by the nice
Roman route that goes down to the road.
It
seems that the people in Navarra are rich, so consequently village bars
are closed at time in which early pilgrims cross the villages. So pilgrims,
ad maiorem gloria Dei, breakfast on fruits and peanuts most mornings as if
they were monkeys.
People
in the hostel of Estella heal your blisters, put on ointments, help you if
you limp, and you can cook and meet friendly people. By the way,
besides known pilgrims, we encounter again the fat woman in mourning
clothes that we saw at Jakué’s hostel and her friend. Both of them,
fresh as a daisy, maintain that they came on foot along the road. It has
to be seen to be believed. The sheer nerve, cheapskates doing economical
tourism!. Besides, improving the show, the fat woman and
her friend lie down together in a hostel narrow bed and they give smacking
kisses to each other in front of to see. Such is the strength of their
love.
A
girl arrives in the evening. She has been provided with the top bunk. The
girl weighs a lot and her buttocks are huge. When she tries to climb up to
her bed, she is stiff because of the long walk and she cannot put her leg
up. Pushing Chelo’s buttocks (The girl’s name is Chelo), a lot of
helpful pilgrims put Chelo up on her bed. It seems all is quiet when
Chelo says: "And what is going to happen if I have to go to the
loo?" "Count on us, Chelo!", answers the pilgrims in chorus.
There
is a ferocious storm in Estella in the evening. Pilgrims get frightened
because of the great amount of rain and hail falling. All pilgrims
quietly think the same: What will we do if something like this happens to
us in an open field?. All pilgrims do the same: We have to buy a raincoat.
In the next hour the local shops are crowded with pilgrims asking for this
item.
It
is not easy to have dinner in Estella, it is Monday and all restaurants
except one close on Mondays. The open one is full of foreiners that,
as they have dinner at seven o’clock, fill up all the tables. We have to
eat some sandwiches or go to the hostel, there are no more choices.
Paca
and I are happy and we touch wood: We are not dead tired, we are not
injured, nothing hurts and we have no blisters. The brand new boots I wear
daily do not rub my feet. Can a pilgrim ask for more happiness?
Stage
4  Stage 5 |