Monday 2 September

We checkout at midday today so this morning we head back into the old town for a coffee, and a look at any of the shops that are open. Monday is a slow day in Pamplona so we don't expect too much. Cafe Iruna, being on the tourist route is open and busy but we enjoy our cafes con leche (coffee with milk) outside overlooking the placa. On this side of the square are 2 establishments associated with Earnest Hemmingway. One he slept in, the other he drank in, and wrote presumably. It was his description of the Running of the Bulls that put Pamplona on the world tourist map.

It takes 20 minutes walk, including the funicular railway down the hill, to get back to the hotel in the modern city. We leave on time to take a local bus to the Pamplona bus station. Time for lunch and then on to the Logrono direct coach service which takes around an hour. Arriving in Logrono we walk to the Hotel Nuestra which is just a door followed by four flights of steps to the second floor reception. The owner rushes to grab our second case, all good. Our room is relatively big with a king-sized bed, luxury! The hotel is very well located, being half way between the two main restaurant districts. Time for a siesta as not much is open.

It's early evening so the group sets out for an orientation walk around the central historical district. It is not a big area, and the roads have a grid layout, so easy to navigate. The usual plazas, churches, narrow streets lined with pintxos bars (all closed as It’s too early for the locals to eat) two bridges (informally called the concrete and iron bridges) and an old tobacco factory that is now the Town Hall. The church of St. James gives It’s name to the pilgrim trail, the Way of St. James, which is one of several routes that comprise the Camino to Santiago de Compestella, a ~900km walk from southern France across northern Spain to the west coast. The town of Santiago is said to be the site of the burial of the Christian apostle James.

We end the walk with an ice cream for some, others are waiting for the next stop which is a cheese tasting, with wine of course. Then on to three pintxos bars to sample their speciality. Historically such bars only produced a single dish but most have moved on to offer several different ones. Irene is buying tonight so at the first bar we have a mushroom stack with garlic and prawn on bread, with the obligatory cocktail stick to hold it together. The wine is local, from the Rioja district which is world-famous. More about the wine tomorrow.

The second dish is Patas Bravas with a spicy sauce. We have had several versions of this dish whilst in northern Spain. And finally thinly sliced octopus at another bar. We finish with a few blocks of dark chocolate which are to be consumed with red wine, a heavenly combination we are assured.