Some Random Notes from our First Day

On our first day, when we had all our bike troubles, there were several memorable moments.

• The first had to do with our trip back to Pamplona to repair Paul´s bike. As we headed down the valley with our two young rescuers, we were pulled over and quickly waved on our way at a police roadblock. A search was underway for several Basque terrorists thought to be in the area. During the Tour de France, part of it entered into Spain not ten kilometers from where we were staying. The Basque separatist group ETA exploded a bomb on the route. One of their members was recently arrested, but several others were thought to still be in the area, hence the police roadblock. Taking a quick look in the back seat, the police waved us on our way.
• Paul finally got his picture of Roland´s monument, something he has wanted to since our last trip. The monument commemorating where Roland sounded his horn for the ignominous retreat of Charlemagne´s army is about two kilometers above Roncesvalles. Since it required uphill biking, I remained in the little square having a cafe con leche while Paul went up the hill to take his pictures. He just made it before the evening fog covered the hillside making nearly impossible to take any photos. Paul said it reminded him of Brigadoon (impressing me with his reference to a Broadway musical-not usually his strong point!)
• Other memorable items are the sounds and smells of the camino. The clanking of the old church bells calling the pilgrims to Mass. The church chimes are also quite necessary due to the aforementioned fog. Last year, Paul said that two hikers got lost up in the mountains when the fog rolled in. The bells are used to guide people back to safety, however, they were unable to and one poor hiker died on the mountain. As to smells, well, we are in the country and there is nothing like the strong aroma of cow manure to greet you as you bike along your way!

For more information on the origin of the Camino de Santiago, Wikipedia has a great entry. You can find it at www.wikipedia.org/wiki/camino_de_santiago.