The Town of Zubiri - - - A Basque Lesson

“Zubiri” is Basque for “Town of the Bridge.” There is a medieval bridge over the Río Arga in the village of Zubiri. According to a Santiago pilgrim from the 1600s, Fr. Domenico Laffi, this bridge was a very dangerous point in the journey. There were guards who demanded hefty payments from pilgrims ... with threats of beatings or being tossed into the river. I’m glad it is not the 1600s!

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A Side Note – The other day I picked up the book The Old Man and the Sea from the library. Yesterday as I read the introduction, I learned that Ernest Hemmingway referred to this book as his “Santiago story.” I liked that.

Ambition is a Funny Thing

Well, Noah and I are on pace for our 20 mile per day ambition ... but we are pooped. We just hit the 10 mile mark in Zubiri (from Roncesvalles, there was no taxi to France by the time we got there). We doubt we´ll knock out another 10 this afternoon. We´re pretty tired. Time´s running out. But we´re still having fun!