Stage 2: it’s all downhill from here

Roncesvalles to Zubiri > 21.3 km

The Roncesvalles Pilgrim’s Hostel was an experience in it of itself. It is a well-oiled machine with three stories of dormitories and I think somewhere around 180 beds. But you wouldn’t know it with the way it’s set up. They run a tight ship.

Put your shoes in this room. Here are your disposable sheets. Everyone has their own locker. Lights out at 10 pm. Must be out by 8 am.

At 6 am, monastic Gregorian chant began playing throughout the massive albergue (pilgrims hostel) as our wake up call.

While getting my things ready, it became apparent how much slower I was than just about everyone on my floor to get up and out. “It’s okay,” I thought, “I am going at my own pace today.” As I collected my things, the highly efficient girl in the bunk next to me named Emily (from Korea) exchanged early morning pleasantries and gave me a little individually wrapped mini version of a Korean cookie. So sweet!

At 7:52, seeing that I was the only soul left, one of the hostel workers felt the need to state the obvious: it’s almost 8, I’ve heard you going back and forth this morning, you are very busy - listen lady, I’m new at this, I’m in pain, I’m exhausted, and I haven’t had coffee yet - but what came out was a funny plea, “I’m almost done, I have 8 minutes!” She smiled but I felt the judgement. The shame! Bad pilgrim.

I hobbled over to the same restaurant I had dinner at the night before and reminded myself that I was okay with going at my pace today. I conquered literal mountains yesterday and there was no way I was going to move fast anytime soon. I needed to sit. I’m okay with being the last pilgrim into town as long as I make it. And so I sat at that café for an hour and a half until I was good and ready to get started. And I am so thankful I did because it’s where I met Gloria (69) and Gina (57) (sisters from, El Paso, Tx). This is Gloria’s second Camino and she gifted this to her younger sister. Gloria works in education as a principal through the Dept of Education’s arm in Belgium. Gina is also an educator. She teaches elementary school and is wanting to teach at a higher grade level and have more flexibility.

We ended up cris-crossing so much that day that at some point we just started walking together and taking breaks together. At one of our rest stops, Gloria bought me my zumo (fresh squeezed orange juice). We got into a real conversation about why they were doing the Camino and it was so cool. Gloria is trying to figure out if she should retire but is scared to. Gina is trying to figure out a better model of work for her life. We had a deep conversation about identity and purpose and it was truly so beautiful.

On one of my solo breaks walking through a picturesque Burgette, Maria, a local woman, walked a few paces with me on the way to her car. “Buen Camino” led to Maria sharing some deep wisdom. This interaction was so divine. Maria told me that her and her husband walked the Camino together and that what she loved about the Camino is that while you have all different languages trying to communicate, the Korean and the French with the German and the English to the Spanish and Italian, on the Camino we all speak the same language; we understand each other. How beautiful is that?! But the best part is when she said, “solo nosotros sabemos lo que llevamos en nuestras mochilas.” (Only we know what we truly carry in our backpacks) I mean honestly, this moment was straight out of a movie, right?!

I caught up to Lars and Carmen (Sweden) that I met yesterday. They were struggling but making progress. Everyone at their own pace.

At another stop, I hobbled into a Basque restaurant that had some pilgrims eating outside. I asked the old lady behind the counter if they were still open and serving food because it was nearing siesta time. I got silence and a stare… more like a scowl. Her daughter then barges in from the kitchen to save the day. After repeating myself, the daughter tells me to take a seat as her mom walked back into the kitchen. I’m not kidding you, this old little basque lady stared at me as I put on my pack and got ready to leave. She neither said hello nor goodbye. But she watched me. I literally went to the bathroom to see if I looked crazy or something.

Side note: I joked all day long today about when I was going to feel cute on this trek bc so far, I felt just about as far from chic as one could feel. I was so tired, achey, and swollen that I wore my glasses and didn’t care that I looked extra special with my bucket hat on

Today’s walk was a lot of downhill which was really hard especially because it was a lot of navigating gravel and rocky road. When it wasn’t rocky downhill, the way was made up of old Roman roads which are cool in theory unless you’re walking up and down them. There were long stretches of very steep descents!

It was during the last 5km downhill that I came across Angie, 58, (Wisconsin). Angie wore knee braces on both her knees and is a school counselor. Angie suggested taking a taxi before the final descent into Zubiri and with just 1.5 miles to go, I finally agreed. At first, I told her I would call her a cab when she wanted but I had not resigned to getting into the car with her. But, my knees were shot. At this rate, I wasn’t getting to the albergue for another hour and a half. I did 12.1 miles at my pace and I’m not mad about it. I needed to get to the hostel and actually do laundry. And get this, Angie paid for the taxi because I had called and had spoken Spanish!

The first person I saw when I got to my hostel was none other than Günda. “You made it, American” - thanks Günda! Just as I got my clothes out to hand wash them, a man speaking French asked me if I wanted to eat for 2€. What a steal! An Italian woman named Mariana had cooked a communal spaghetti bolognese meal for everyone. It was the epitome of the Camino. Italian, French, English, Portuguese all at one table. One of the French guys staying there even shared something he wrote about the way after dinner.

When I finally got to wash my clothing, I saw a pink bucket on the windowsill and thought: I could use that to wash feet! It’s a funny thought and not one I’d typically have, but it brought a smile to my face because I came on this Camino having had a vision of washing feet.

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭14‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

* Tomorrow I walk into Pamplona where I’ll take my first rest day.