Our night in Zubiri was fun filled with our new community of fellow Perregrinos. We had dinner and lots of laughs with 3 girls from Italy, 1 from Australia and Blanche from North Carolina who we had met our first night.
Today’s walk was fairly muddy and sloppy but the walk through small villages and farms was enchanting. It seemed odd when we left the peaceful countryside and came into the city of Pamplona. As we walked down the sidewalk, we came up behind two elderly women with canes. Hearing us, one of them turned around and when she saw we were pilgrims tapped her cane on the ground near my walking sticks. She smiled at me then put her hands together as if she were touching my face. She then puckered her lips. It was then I realized she wanted to greet me with the European double cheek kiss. It was very sweet! After the greeting I pulled back smiling and said, “Gracious!”. She looked at me and firmly said, “No!” I looked at her questioning and she made it clear that I had made the mistake of not kissing her cheeks back. So I did, which seemed to make her happy. She smiled, then immediately pointed to her friend. And so I had the pleasure of greeting two sweet Basque women!
Not long after this, another woman came up beside us and walked with Ryan then gave us a Camino blessing as she walked away. It was a good day!
The Path to Pamplona
A Million Steps 