We left Puenta La Reina feeling well rested and hopeful. It was a beautiful crisp morning. The crisp fall air and warming sun rising reminded me of being young waiting at the bus stop. Dressed a little cooler than one would want to, full of anticipation for a late summer day.

The route was beginning to feel more and more crowded. We kept hoping things would shake out a bit and we would have some moments alone. But instead, as the day progressed we began to feel a bit like cattle being herded from one pasture to the next.

Luckily for us, the next pasture, or town Estrella was a beautiful one with a nice grocery store. At this point we had discovered it was much easier to buy food at a grocery store and prepare with our pocket knife than to try to compete with other pilgrims. I found this awesome fig balsamic glaze in Pamplona and we got really good at making different sandwich variations with it. I have long been a vegetarian and though I tried my best to remain flexible, turns out people in Spain pretty much survive on pigs and cigarettes…. hahah! Oh wait, that’s not true…. and anchovies!

The picture below was Michael walking on an old Roman bridge. It was pretty incredible to walk on some of the old Roman roads scattered throughout the Camino.