Apparently, we are here at the height of the Camino season. The highest count of pilgrims for the year at Roncesvalles was the night we were there. There is also a four day festival in Pamplona right now. That means that every place is packed. Some pilgrims came straggling into our albergue last night around 9 pm. They walked an extra ten miles, about 24 total, to find a place to sleep. Every place they stopped in was booked. Some have chosen to sleep on gym floors when it was an option. We are glad that we have made some reservations and are walking shorter days so we get in earlier.
The Albergues can be quite crazy with activity. Just getting checked in can take awhile and be stressful. Then the mad rush to wash clothes, shower and organize one's belongings often has a frantic feel.There is a lot of comraderie but there is also a sense of competetiveness for the limited resourses. So far the Camino has not been a quiet time of reflection.
The Albergue we were at last night was part of an old church adjacent to the beautiful arched bridge going into Trinidad de Arre. The kind old man checking us in didn't speak any English and we were kind of confused on how to get to the rooms. We wandered through the chapel and upstairs where we saw some rooms with bunk beds. A different man saw us and shooed us out, pointing downstairs. Eventually we went through a doorway which led into a lovely, tranquil courtyard with trees and grass. Some of the rooms were located through a tiny doorway that you had to duck to go through. We chose bunks upstairs and once I finally tracked down my pack and did wash we relaxed in the garden for awhile before going back through the narrow main street to a cafe for our lunch/dinner of bocadillos.
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