We had a lie in until 7am!! left Larrasoana at 8am after another machine coffee. The experience of not getting a room the night before in Zubrini was unsettling but Pamplona was, at least, a decent sized city and we were pleased that we had a bit of a head start on all those who had slept in Zubrini. The walk continued to be alongside industrial areas like it was beyond Zubrini the night before. The path then became quite wooded and opened up to a lovely cafe with a garden and vine covered terrace and also a ducking stool! The spinach tortilla was amazing and we breakfasted well. We met a guy from Middlesborough who used to run the Zap Club in Brighton! After posing for photos by the metal pilgrim we continued on to an even path which was a relief from the ups and downs! As happens on the Camino you quickly fall into deep philosophical conversation with your fellow pilgrims and Fiona and I discussed the pros and cons of her abandoning Bridget Jones style knickers. It seemed that she was seriously considering a mini brief!

The outer suburbs of Pamplona seemed to go on and on. We decided not to stop for lunch but all fancied a coffee, a sit down and some time for boots off! There was a (what we thought was) a cafe with tables and chairs outside and we plonked ourselves down, removed our backpacks and unlaced our boots. The proprietress came out smiling but turned a little aggressive when she discovered that all we wanted was a coffee. "This is not a cafeteria" she said sternly and so we tried to order tapas. There was obviously no compromise - it was a full meal or nothing!! We were pretty much thrown out! But the Camino spirit can take such rejection and we trooped off down the road and found the Bogart Bar!! Coffees had, we walked on through the suburbs of Pamplona. Sue heard that Jack had got a teaching job in Spain and I heard Lydia had got the Matilda job so it was great that at least Sue and I had reasons to celebrate with more cava later! Jackie heard later that she too could celebrate as Allannah had passed her driving test theory. Sadly Jenny was no nearer being in a position to celebrate a confirmed shed delivery date! Just as we arrived near the centre we bumped into Suzie, Phil and Jo and we were all sent off to a supposedly great Albergue off the route which was, of course, full!!

We got back on track and found our way to the municipal Jesus and Mary municipal hostel. We joined the queue along with Michael but our Aussie friends were nowhere to be seen. They had obviously got wind that the place was like a WW1 field hospital!! But we were tired and any bed was a good bed! When we found our allocated bunks there was not a rush to claim all of the bottom bunks. Anne drew the short straw and was but a few feet away from a sweaty Italian pilgrim!! We dumped our stuff, showered, changed and Sue did a bit of laundry and we wandered into Pamplona for some much needed food. It was hot and sunny and after being turned away from a restaurant, which Ernest Hemingway apparently frequented, because they stopped serving lunch at 4 (fair enough!) we found another in the big central square willing to feed us. Had some yummy local dishes including Summer Beans and Tuna and Potato Stew. And beer and wine of course! The alcohol gave me the courage to phone an Albergue in Puenta La Reina and reserve beds for us for the following day. At least that it what I hoped I had done as the proprietor didn't speak English. But he did say "asta manyana" a few times which was encouraging!

We tried to do a bit of shopping but the knowledge that whatever you buy has to go in your backpack severely hampered even the most committed shoppers like our team Doctor, Jenny! We managed to find a Camino shop ' Caminoera' and bought things like Camino buffs, mini deodorants, Camino pins and shells and knickers imported from Primark! Fiona and Sue returned to the Albergue for a rest and we explored a little but we're so tired we went back and joined them. Fiona decided to have a night in but the rest of us managed to stumble around the corner and eat tapas and drink wine and we were joined by Jennifer and David in, what now was, a vibrant Pamplona Street. But we were all in bed by 10 and then had to endure a night of snoring and coughing and spluttering. Not pleasant but Fiona loved it and slept really well.