Day 4: Cizur Menor - Puente de la Reina

Usually we start walking at 8:00, but since we were the only pilgrims at the albergue and today's stage was fairly short (only about 20km) we decided to sleep a bit more, leaving the albergue at 9:00. We were expecting rain today, but the weather was really nice. Actually, it seemed like we were dodging dark clouds all day long: every time we looked back, it looked like it was raining on the hills we had just passed.





Today we crossed Alto del Perdón, a big hill where a famous pilgrim monument stands at the top. It was really windy up there, and the view was great.




We were thinking about getting something to eat when we got to Puente de la Reina, but then something awesome happened. About 6km before our destination, we saw two guys walking on the Camino. Since we walk faster than most peregrinos, we eventually caught them. As we were getting closer, one of them took our photograph. And he offered us some food! He said he thought he would be walking alone, but since he had found a friend and they would be having lunch together at a restaurant, he didn't need the food he was carrying. We tried to say no, but he insisted. He gave us one big "jamón" and cheese sandwich, three apples (biological, he said) and a can of Coca-Cola! Also, he gave us a Saint Francis' Cross (a Tau cross). Finally, he said a little prayer in Spanish, something like this: Que el viento sople siempre por vuestra espalda, Que el sol caliente vuestro rostro, Que la lluvia lave vuestros pensamientos y Que cualquiera que sea el Díos en que creáis vos lleve en la palma de Sus manos. It was a wonderful gift. We thanked both with words and our smiles, and we went our separate ways.





We got to Puente de la Reina at 13:15. We ate the sandwich the guy had given us and then presented ourselves at the albergue. Bernhard arrived a few hours later and then another Spanish guy. Were now waiting for some tea that Bernhard is preparing and then we'll all share a meal :)