Day 1 and 2, Orrison and Espinal

Day 1 was a short walk (2 hr 15 min) for the 8 km straight up to my first stop - Orisson Albergue.

It was a very nice communal dinner with about 25 new friends. I sat chatting with gals from Germany, Hungary, Italy, and England. It was a great start to the Camino. No internet, though.

On day 2 leaving Orisson it was very misty and foggy most of the way this morning and didn't clear until almost the top. I could hear the cowbells in the mist all around me but could only see 20 m or so. It turned out the cows are great impressionists because they started baaing. After it cleared I could see sheep and horses but no cows.

It was like walking through water; the mist was so wet. I was happy to be on a paved road because I would have worried about wandering off the path.

I walked with Esther from Hungary who I'd met yesterday and later with Claudio from Italy who was on his first ever trip out of Italy.

A very nice group of gentlemen just bought me a beer. My clothes are hopefully drying on the rack. And I am freshly showered. We are all trying to communicate in broken English - OK mine's less broken, but my Italian and Spanish are not so good.

I'm going to walk to the store and buy some snacks for tomorrow and for breakfast.

I am doing very well. There have been several great moments where I am so happy to be here. Quite a few of them have included beer, mind you. It's wonderful at the end of the day to have a shower and a beer and sit around the albergue with the other pilgrims, talking about all manner of things.

The beds are comfortable so far and tonight I have a big bed that's not a bunk. I had first dibs and the men, including Claudio, called it a princess bed for me. I was a little cold last night so I used the silk liner and sleeping bag and was very comfy. So far everywhere (sample size = 2) has had pillows.

My feet have been fine - no issues so far. I take off the shoes at lunch and wiggle my toes. Feels great.

Today I walked from 7:30 to 3:30 with a short stop for a picnic lunch with Esther and then another stop for beer with Esther & Claudio in Roncesvalles (the French say Roncesvaux). I stopped in Espinal and Esther continued another 5 km to a Hungarian albergue. I hope to see her again, but she is a fast walker and is now ahead of me. She has my email so I hope to hear from her.

So far no issues with charging the phone and I've stayed at smaller albergues so it's not seeming too busy.

I am a faster walker than most so I passed lots (10-15) of people and was passed a few times. I found it too short a day on the first day just walking 8k to Orisson. Today was just right walking about 23k. Hot, though, especially this afternoon when we were at a lower elevation.

I would say it is not as busy as I feared, but busy enough to have lots of opportunities to meet people. Mostly Italians at this point. Apparently, there are usually many Italians at the beginning, but fewer later. One of the Spaniards said it was because they give up easily like their football team. There was a lot of laughter at that and agreement from the Italians so it must be a friendly (or not) football rivalry.

My only small frustration has been with syncing the fitbit. It often says that fitbit is down for maintenance. Must be the time difference.

1/2 hour to dinner. I can't wait. And I bought breakfast from the store so I will be able to leave early tomorrow, unless I sleep in again.

One of the pilgrims, Samuel, is playing a keyboard with mouthpiece - not sure what it's called. He is very good and everyone is loving it! He's just played When you Wish Upon a Star and is now taking requests. This one is apparently from Frozen to the delight of the parents in the crowd, who are singing along in sort of English.

Now we're moving onto Stand By Me or Country Roads - it's still under discussion. He's first setting up his video camera to film the singing crowd. I'm enjoying, out of camera range. Based on the singing it appears that Stand by Me won, but they only know the chorus. Moved on to an Irish jig.

By the way, note to Eric - j'ai eu l'occasion de pratiquer la langue pendant le super ce soir.

That's it for now. I am enjoying the adventure.

Impressionist sheep

Breakfast in Orisson

Esther and Claudio

Samuel playing a keyboard

Beautiful Pyrenees