Camino de Santiago: Windmills of Navarra

It’s been a good three days of walking across, up, and over the landscape of Navarra. Green mountains, distant chalky cliffs, red soil, small villages, a hilltop castle, and, oh those lovely vineyards with deep purple grapes.

Pamplona to Puente de Reina – 27 km (includes 3 km detour to Saint Eunate)

Puente de Reina to Estella – 22 km

Estella to Los Arcos – 21.5 km

The first part of the walk to Puente La  Reina was defined by wind. As soon as I left the outskirts of Pamplona I could see a line of modern white windmills along the crest of a mountain. The more I walked the more defined the distant windmills became. At the summit I walked right between them and down the other side. But before the steep decent I stopped to admire the monument of a diverse set of pilgrims walking the Way, making sure to hold on to my hat. It was windy. Those windmills were harvesting the powerful winds that day.

At the town of Muruzábal, I joined up with another Canadian to walk the detour to Saint Maria of Eunate, a unique octagonal church from 12th century. The extra kilometres meant I was extra happy to arrive in pretty Puenta de Reina! My first vermut on this trip (with some fun ladies from Melbourne) was also extra sweet. And happily I reconnected with the nice couple from Colorado that I met in Zubiri.

The next day I had a final view of the windmills looking behind as I left Puente de Reina. Soon it was a steep climb up a red dirt path through pine trees. Then it was a lovely stretch with green fields, vineyards and mountains on either side. I stopped in pretty Cirauqui (entering the old town through a medieval archway) and in Lorca for a yummy tortilla with red peppers. Outside of villages I often saw gardens with peppers, tomatoes and healthy looking pumpkins.

I left Lorca on the remains of a Roman road and then onto a wide open stretch towards Estella. Shortly before arriving in Estella I stopped at the church in Villatuerta. The weathered old fountain outside was engraved with words of encouragement for a pilgrim. A message that apparently stands the test of time: Drink water pilgrim, take rest and leave your thirst, in the next stage know, that a good wine will give you strength.

Wine surely did await me in Estella. Might have been more than one glass. I capped of the day with a lovely dinner with a guy from Ireland on the main plaza with the sound of kids playing soccer echoing in the square.

The more I walk the more people I meet. There’s a lovely camaraderie on the trail. Pilgrims looking out for each other. Supportive. Convivial. I met a Spaniard (finally, there are “muy poco” as she said) who walks a section each year.  She commented: “el Camino es el mundo”. It’s true, I have been meeting people from around the world: Australia, France, Italy, Ireland, United States, Brazil, Portugal, Denmark, South Korea and more. Everyone has left their lives back home for a stint to walk the Way. Here, in this moment in time, we’re all doing the same thing, every day, together.

It was quite an eventful start to the next day of walking. Leaving Estella I reached the 100 km mark. Two or three kms further along the scent of wood fire lured me into a metal workshop – the owner was following the tradition of his father in crafting tools, decorations and jewelry out of iron. Then it was the wine fountain outside of Bodega Irache where it’s pilgrim tradition to drink out of the scallop shell.

After all the activity of the first 4 km, the path then meandered through a cool and shady forest before opening up to the sun. A replenishing gazpacho at a road side food truck (run by a Canadian) was a welcome break. Distracted by more windmills in the distance I nearly missed a turn but thankfully a pilgrim (from Washington state) behind me shouted out to get my attention and set me on the right track to Los Arcos. There’s never someone too far away.

As if to illustrate the  Spaniard’s comment above, I find a world map “el mundo” covered with pins placed by pilgrims in the peaceful cloister of Iglesia de Santa Maria in Los Arcos. The map is crowded with pins.

El Camino es el mundo