{"id":3031,"date":"2023-10-01T05:46:05","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T09:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/?p=3031"},"modified":"2023-10-01T05:46:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T09:46:05","slug":"basque-country-day-6-september-10-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/?p=3031","title":{"rendered":"Basque Country, Day 6 \u2014 September 10, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>After breakfast, we \u00a0boarded our bus for Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, \u00a0the town \u00a0in France from which \u00a0many Camino walkers begin their arduous journey. \u00a0Centuries ago, it was declared that remains found 500 miles away in Compostela, Spain, were those of the apostle James the Greater. For many centuries, pilgrims have walked the trail for religious reasons, but now we met walkers from several continents whose reasons for walking the Camino were as varied as they were.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>After an orientation walk, we hiked \u00a0to the top \u00a0of a 17th century citadel, from which locals could check the road below between France and Spain for possible approaching enemies. Our goal was to climb to the top of the \u00a0high hill with its many twists and turns in order to get a great view of the Basque countryside below. Some of our group \u00a0members gave up before reaching the top. I persevered, although going up \u00a0to the top of the hill was somewhat challenging for me. In order to go back down, I required Nick’s assistance the entire way.<\/p>\n

T\"\"<\/a>hat experience was followed by a two mile walk on level ground through woodlands. \u00a0At the \u00a0first Rick Steves group meeting, each of us chooses a “buddy” to check on during group situations. As our group walked along a woodland path, \u00a0I chatted with my buddy, Linda. While we walked, we discovered that although I am from Connecticut and she is from Ohio, \u00a0we had much in common. We continued walking to the Hotel Loizo, where lunch was served. The Basques typically \u00a0have their main meal at midday. The appetizer \u00a0of our meal was \u00a0chorizo prepared with mild paprika. The main course options were peppers stuffed with cod, beef stew, or duck confit. We chose the duck. Our dessert was something like caramelized \u00a0French toast, served with vanilla ice cream. So delicious!
\n<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It \"\"<\/a>was time to board the bus to our next destination, our first town in Spain, Pamplona. The arrival in each new town begins with an orientation walk, and this was no exception. We happened upon a festival in which \u00a0costumed characters were marching through town, to the delighted cheers of the locals.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It was time for pintxos. An eatery was offering \u00a0a free pintxo and a glass of wine for each member of our group. In order to place your order, you have to work your way through the locals to the counter and point to something you might like. Nick chose \u00a0spinach and cheese in pastry and I, something like shrimp tempura. They were both wonderful. One of our companions refused to eat her pintxo when she learned that it was a pork cheek, and she offered it to Nick. If you know Nick, you know that he doesn’t turn down opportunities to taste food, and the same generally applies to me when we travel. The pork cheek reminded me of short ribs, and it was the tastiest of our pintxos that evening.<\/p>\n

12,127 steps<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After breakfast, we \u00a0boarded our bus for Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, \u00a0the town \u00a0in France from which \u00a0many Camino walkers begin their arduous journey. \u00a0Centuries ago, it was declared that remains found 500 miles away in Compostela, Spain, were those of the apostle James the Greater. For many centuries, pilgrims have walked the trail for religious reasons, but … Continue reading Basque Country, Day 6 \u2014 September 10, 2023<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[25,23,24,15],"class_list":["post-3031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-basque-country-2023","tag-basque","tag-france","tag-spain","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3031"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3152,"href":"https:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3031\/revisions\/3152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pisarro.org\/aboutnick\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}