Starting the Camino - Pamplona

I left Seville on the morning of the 14th to head to Pamplona, Spain to start the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James) I got to the train station about 15 minutes early and as I put my bags through security a man who worked there came up to me and told me I couldn´t ride with my bike on the train without a bike bag/suitcase. I was pissed because when I purchased the ticket the guy made it seem like I wouldn´t have that big of a problem and all I would have to do is ask where to put it. Finally after about 5 minutes of arguing he let me on the train with the bike. I wouldn´t have such an easy time in Madrid. The same thing happened except this time the guy was a total dick and wouldn´t even let me finish my sentence. I asked if I could speak to someone else and he said he was the only person I could talk to. After about 5 minutes of him being so incredibly rude I told him shove it (not exact words) and went and found another person to talk to. The lady was super nice and told me there was nothing she could do and it was up to the conductor, the guy I spoke to, if I could bring it on or not. She was nice enough to refund that portion of the train ticket and told me my best bet was to rent a car. I went to the rental car area, there were 4 companies; 2 of them wouldn´t rent to me because I was under 25, the other 2 would, but I can´t drive a stick and they didn´t have automatics. (I blame my parents)

I decided I had to take a bus so I went to Bajaras airport by metro to buy a ticket. The metro station, like the train, wouldn´t allow bikes on the trains. I was so annoyed I hoisted my bike over the railings and got on the metro. As I was changing metro trains 2 security guards came up and said I coudln´t have my bike in there. I pleaded with them for a few minutes and they acted like they didn´t see me and walked away. I think I would have gone crazy if they weren´t so cool. I bought my train ticket for 7:45 and waited for 4 hours in the airport. The bus ride was 5 hours long. I was not pleased but atleast I was getting to Pamplona. My friend Santiago had a friend who lived in Pamplona and he was nice enough to meet me at the bus station and let me stay at his place for the night. I got in around 1 am and when I got to his place he had a bed made for me in the living room. I was soooo happy that happened because I didn´t know where I was going to go.

I woke up in the morning early and went to get my credentials for the Camino, which are required to stay at the Albergues (hostels for pilgrims) along the way. I was exhausted and decided it wasn´t a good idea to bike 30 miles with the amount of sleep I got the night before. I decided to check into an albergue and then tour the city of Pamplona. The city was really nice, very different from southern Spain. I went and toured a few monuments and saw the church. The city was under constant attack for centuries and it had a pretty interesting defense system of walls and bunkers built around the city that are still intact. After a few hours of walking around I checked into the albergue and showered and met up with a bunch of other people doing the camino and we all went out for drinks and food.

Part of the old defense system

Pretty streets of Pamplona

Spiral staircase in the church

Park with church in the background

The albergues are a form of refuge that are only available to people doing the Camino (pilgrims). Since most people are walking around 10 - 20 miles a day the ¨lights out¨time is very early and you have to be up and out early too. I was in bed by 10 pm and up by 6 am to start my first day on the Camino. I decided to bike around 25 - 30 miles and Set off that morning very early (post to come)

The Camino from Pamplona is roughly 500 miles and I have until July 5th to finish. I already met some really great people the first night and I am excited to meet more along the way. There are a few advantages about biking instead of walking. One, the most obvious, I can cover much more ground that the walkers in a given day. The second is since most people are walking you are never with the same group of people and I am always going to be meeting new people in each place I stay. This should be an amazing journey and I can´t wait to start.