Today I left Navarra...the beautiful Basque country within Spain. The language spoken here (Euskara/Basque)is among the oldest languages known to be spoken in the modern world. I was fortunate to meet a local family in Zubri, near Pamplona. It was the second day of walking and my knees and feet were very tired...crossing over the bridge to Zubri, I decided to go sit in the river for a while to cool off my legs. After settling down on a big rock in the river, I heard a man calling to me over a fence...he was amused that I was sitting in the river, still in my clothes. We spoke briefly, then a woman joined him and started laughing at, or rather with me. When I was done, they invited me onto their patio to share some cafe, helado (ice cream) and champagne! I did not drink the champage, but enjoyed their celebration. There were four of them, Javier, Pachi, Charro and Itas...celebrating a beautiful day away from the city of Pamplona. They taught me some phrases in Euskara and we shared some stories...it was a wonderful way to end my day of walking.
When I got back to the albergue (hostel) where I was staying, my Italian family had just arrived. That night I accepted the invitation to join ¨the family¨ for dinner, and traveled together for the next two days until they went ahead to Astorga. I will never forget this special time in Navarra...
