Today’s Data:
The Song in My Head: We Are The Champions - Queen
Word of the Day: Derp
Today’s (Random) Craving: Six Flags Rollercoasters
Total Steps: 39,972 steps
Total Walking Distance: 18.1 miles / 29.1 kilometers
⏰ Wake Up: 6:00am
💤 Sleep: 11:45pm
Boo!
Today we woke up at 6am. To beat the crowd, and the heat. But to me and my friends surprise, everyone in the dorm was already up and out of the room. Guess it wasn’t a revolutionary idea.
We went downstairs and got our stuff together. I washed my fruit and ate a plum, and we got on our way at 6:45am.
We saw the sunrise. It was gorgeous.
The sun also came out very quick. And it got hot. I put my hat on and my buff around my neck for cover.
However, we were always greeted with water fountains along the way, or even donativo peregrino stations with water and crackers.
We even found a clown water fountain. I had to use it. My friends didn’t feel the same way so they took my picture instead.
But overall, the trek today was extremely enjoyable. Today we were walking with a group of about 8 people, and it made time go by much faster.
We arrived to Estella at 12:45pm. A 6 hour walk today, with multiple stops included. The extra time was worth being with friends and enjoying the journey instead of plowing through it.
Today is the towns own “Running of the Bulls” festival. And they were celebrating when we arrived with fireworks, parades, and music. The vibes were high.
We checked into the albergue and immediately went to get food. I got chorizo sausage with egg and fries. Inhaled that food so fast.
We then went to the market to get fruits and also saw the parade going by. We stopped to listen.
Then we went back to the Albergue, took showers and did laundry, and I passed out on my bed for an hour.
Then I woke up around 5pm, we played some Kombio and then went out on the town to go explore the festivities.
I parted ways to go find Max and some other friends by the river to have a beer. We hung out and chatted for a couple hours.
After, we walked into town and saw the fare rides. We walked past a pendulum ride and Max and I had to get in line.
We got on and were thrown in a cage with a kid who was scared to death. We kept telling him it’s going to be alright but he was death gripping the bars before we started moving.
And once we did start moving, all hell broke loose.
He was screaming and losing his mind.
Max and I on the other hand, we were having a blast.
The ride went on for a good 3 minutes, and it quickly became the highlight of this whole journey so far.
The ride ended, the kid’s parents were there to comfort him and thank us for reassuring him he will be fine, and we went to go get food.
I will forever miss that ride.
We checked out the plaza but it was too packed, so we went and found a pizza place and got 3 pizzas. Céline got one, Max the other, and Josephine and I split a big one because we were not that hungry.
It was 9:40pm by now and the albergue doors close at 10pm, so we went home to eat on the patio and even saw a band performing on our way.
We got home, ate, debated about cucumber vs zucchini, and then went inside.
And then around 10:45pm while I was getting ready for bed, I heard the festival fireworks show begin.
An Asian guy in our group who only speaks a little French and nothing else (but he’s super cool) went running out the albergue to go look at the fireworks. I joined him and held the door propped with my shoes since it was past closing time. We sat on the curb and enjoyed the views.
And about halfway through, he went inside and got both of us beers from the vending machine.
We sat and continued watching the show and talking. I still knew enough French from High School to communicate with him which was awesome (thank you Ms Connolly).
After that, we finally went to bed. What a generous man.
Tomorrow we walk to Los Arcos, but Estella has running of the bulls at 8am which some people are waiting in town for, but I don’t think I will wait for that. I will probably get up at 6am to leave at 6:30 to beat the heat, but that’ll be a game-time decision I’ll save for tomorrow morning.
See y’all then,
David