4 October (Saturday):

Off we went this morning, taking our usual back roads, and heading into Spain.  we were going to a small town, Puente la Reina, and had to go through Pamplona (Basque name Iruna).  Hans spent quite a while figuring out how to get through Pamplona and came up with a fairly simple route.  when we got to Pamplona we couldn't  find any of the signs or streets he had noted and just followed the signs to the next big town, Logorno.  We went right through the centre of town and had no traffic problems at all!  We arrived in Puente la Reina before noon.  We had no hotel booked but knew where we wanted to stay and Hans figured we had more chance of getting a room if we were early - the hotel is quite small and doesn't have many rooms.  When we arrived we found they had several rooms available and they gave us an upgrade to what we asked for so we had a fabulous 'suite'.  this town is a major stop on the pilgrimage route - it is actually the official start as two routes into Spain join here.  We walked a few kilometers of the route, going backwards.  We found this was not the thing to do as all the signs giving directions were facing away from us and we didn't see a crucial one.  We walked several kilometers further than the 10 we had intended on but did get to see the places we had been aiming for.  No more reverse walks!  The restaurant in the hotel was excellent (main reason Hans wanted to stay there) so we had a great meal, after I had used their free internet access to get my blog up to date and sent.

5 October (Sunday):

Breakfast this morning was a little different as we had two items I have never seen before.  I think one was yogurt with a chocolate sauce and some sort of cereal bits in a small wine-shaped glass.  The other was an express size cup with some other sort of solidified milk that was a but lumpy.  We were told to bup honey on it.  It tasted good.  We also had orange juice, bread, jams and salami but no cheese.  We drove off the main pilgrimage route, in a way went backwards.  The first stop was at a gorge called Hoz (gorge) de Lumbier.  It is very unusual as it just looks like a crack in a huge rock until you are lined up with it and can then see right through.  What becomes a major river eroded its way through.  Right at the view point for the gorge are the remains of a Roman development, dated from the first to the fifth centuries.  there are just the bottom layers of walls but there are a lot of them.  The road we were on follow this river and took us past some fascinating rock formations.  The whole Pyrenees mountain chain is amazing.  We didn't get many photos of the strange effects but there are a couple of pictures in the Gallery that goes with this blog.  The Monastery of Layre was one of the two main things we went to see today.  It was interesting in how they managed the tourists.  We paid our w.w0 Euros each and they gave us a small map that showed us how to go and they gave us a key to the main door into the church.  We were to let ourselves in and lock the door from the inside, then lock it behind us when we came out!  It seemed to work fine, especially as more than half the visitors were in tour groups.  The other place we went was the Castillo de Loarre.  By the time we arrived at the ticket counter to pay our 2.50 Euros each to see inside the castle we were told it closed for lunch in 5 minutes so they wouldn't sell us tickets.  We walked around a bit and left, wondering where we would find lunch.  Driving down the hill we came to a camping hotel/restaurant that is on the Pilgrimage Trail and chose to eat there.  We realized that by the time we were finished lunch it would be 4 pm and the castle would be open again.  This castle was started in the 11th Centruy and used until the 18th or 19th Centruy.  It is partly ruins but a lot is still complete but not furnished.  It is remarkable because it is built into and ontop of a great rock tower.  There are pictures that will give you the idea.  From there we took the fastest road to Sos del Ray Catolico where we had a reservation in the Parador Hotel.  (Pardors are hotels owned and run by the government of Spain.  They are often historic buildings transformed into hotels.  Some are relatively new buildings.  The one we stayed in here was built in 1972.

6 October (Monday):

After breakfast we walked around town, which took us up and up and up to reach the church on the top of the hill.  The towns here are built on hills for safety reasons, at the time they were started - most of them at least 1,000 years ago.  We managed to climb up on one side of the hill and came back on the other side, right to our hotel door.  We were very pleased with ourselves for not getting lost.  We drove to Olite to see a big castle.  It was like a Disneyland palace - towers of all sizes and designs.  We wandered through most of it, including climbing the Keep Tower (130 feet high) and walking on some of the walls.  It is too bad they don't have any furnishings in the Spanish Castles as the French do.  We had intended seeing several places in Estella and walking to a Monastery near by but we got to the town to find that all the places were closed on Mondays.  We drove on to Torres del Rio, another small town on a hill top.  It is directly on the Pilgrimage Camino and has a small church called Santo Sepulcro.  It is a Romanesque 12th C. building, built using Islam workers and designs.  The building is octagonal in shape and all the details are perfect to maintain the effect.  Hans took a picture of the dome,which is round, and how the cross braces holding the dome up form a perfect octagon around the circular centre.  He also took a picture of the carved cross and Jesus that was done in the 13th century.  We then drove on to Laguardia, another important town on the the Camino.  After settling into our hotel we walked through and around the town - another top-of-the-hill place.  The main church has an elaborate door entrance and a fantastic triptych behind the alter, as well as interesting ceiling details.  Hans has finally reached the stage where he takes lots of pictures and we discard most of them.

7 October (Tuesday):

This morning the sky was completely cloudy, in contrast to the last couple of days when we had totally blue sky.  Soon after we got under way it started to rain.  We were glad today was primarily a driving day - our longest day's drive.  We had to go 330 kilometers, to Leon.  At times the rain was very heavy, other times light, but it rained the whole way, until just as we arrived.  We checked into another Parador, this one in the old Convent of San Marcos, a 10th Century building that has been well maintained.  Part of the building is the Parador, the rest is a Museum which we intend to visit tomorrow.  The first two pictures taken in Leon are of this building.  There are two churches i this town that are 'must see' category.  The Basilica of San Isidioro is very old and looks it on the outside.  The main attraction inside are the frescos on the ceiling.  They are very old but in excellent condition.  Pictures were not allowed there.  Hans did take a couple of shots in the Cloister attached to the church.  They have a library full of old books written by the monks a millennium ago, and a Treasury with a few 10th and 11th century artifacts of precious metals, jewels and ivory.

The Cathedral is the second fantastic church.  It has over 12,00 square METERS of stained glass windows.  There is very little stone wall to support the glass and they are inthe process of doing more work to make sure nothing collapses.  Hans took quite a few pictures inside but in spite of his efforts they mostly were too dark.  A few were good enouogh to five you some idea of the place.  There was still a little drizzle off and on during the afternoon but it never got bad enough for me to use my umbrella.  We hope for sun again tomorrow.