Day 6: Pamploma (taxi)– Zariquiegui (walking) – Puente de la Reina
Another way we are be easier on our bodies is to take taxis to get to more accessible spots on the Camino instead of walking all the way. With this strategy in mind, we took a cab from Pamplona to Zariquiegui to gain some time but still see the Parque Ecologico which we'd been wanting to see since learning about the Camino. We made it to Zariquiegui and were so grateful we didn't skip this stage before having to jump ahead to Leòn!
We spent a good amount of time taking in the beauty of the rolling hills and the Pilgrim's monument and then made our way for the rest of the afternoon towards Puente de la Raina. Puente de la Reina has been one of our favorite towns so far! We stayed at Albergue Puente where Jimmy welcomed us and alerted us to a public pool, which was amazing!
We cooked dinner of quinoa, pesto, tomato, cucumber, then went swimming – it was amazing watching the sunset from the pool. We walked through the city and saw the Puente de la Reina (Bridge of the Queen) built in honor of Doña Mayor, wife of Sancho III. She had it constructed to help support the path of pilgrims who joined the route at this stage. It's Romanesque style has made it a historical landmark not to be missed. We finished up the night with chips ahoy chocolate chip cookies, milk and we were off to bed.
We haven’t had much of a plan beyond Pamplona until today. Our first 5 days have informed what’s realistic for the next few weeks here in Spain. We want to walk the last 100km to Santiago de Compostela to officially finish the Camino and we know it will take around 8-10 days to do so. We also want to spend 2-3 days at the beach in Finesterre after Santiago. All this to say, it’s time to jump ahead. Tomorrow we will bus it back to Pamplona, then pick up a rental car to head to Leon. We will stay there for 2 days exploring and mapping out the rest of the Camino and making reservations as the last 100km are the busiest. We need to make sure we have reservations before heading out to each stage.
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