I managed to sleep till 7.30 am, thanks to some new earplugs (French) which completely cut out the noise of the church bells chiming the hour and the sound of other pilgrims departing early.
The climb out of Puente up to Maneru was pretty steep but it's going to be the last one for a while. Looking back, it seemed that we were as high up as the line of wind turbines on the Alto.
Maneru, where I stopped for coffee and an orange, was pretty quiet on a Monday morning. There was a small baby with pierced ears sporting the Basque emblem like mine!
Approaching Cirauqui, the vineyards and olive groves started to appear. The olives were small and green, and nowhere near ready. A cyclist who had sped past me stopped to help himself to grapes. He gave me a bunch. They were black, small but juicy and sweet.
In Cirauqui, a typical hill town with a maze of streets winding up to the Church, my first priority was to find the Albergue. I had booked a private room. It was upstairs and had a stunning view over the surrounding countryside. I went out to look for some lunch. The bar was closed so I had to settle for some bread and cheese from the supermercado!
Lovely pictures again Margaret
ReplyDeleteI must consult my map tonight to see where in fact you are in Spain!