Jeanne's Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela: Uterga to Puente la Reina

Uterga to Puente la Reina via Eunate Church
Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
10 km

6 EU breakfast at the albergue. I ate the toast and drank the cafe con leche. The orange juice in Spain is usually made by a cool machine that presses the whole orange into juice. Most of the cafes on the Camino have one that you can watch your juice being made. Everyone seems to rave about the taste, too bad for me since I don't care for orange juice. I would be all in if they offered grapefruit juice. At 6eu this breakfast is overpriced for me. If I knew there would be a cafe that was open and close, I would have skipped it.

I left the albergue at 8:30am. This was a very late time for me, but I had a short day. My boots and feet were fine for the first part of the walk. In Muruzabel I took a detour to the 13th century octoganal stone church called Eunate. It is thought to be a Knights Templar Church. It added an extra 3 km to my walk so I walked a total of 13 not 10 kilometers. Anyway, there was a sign in Muruzabel posted that it was cerrado (closed). I decided to go anyway because I thought I would be able to walk around the outside. Unfortunately for me, there was an iron gate and stone walls. The 13th century enforcements were enough to deter me from trying to climb over, lol. I was able to get a cool picture of the outside from a distance.

A 28 year old man named Anders, accompanied me from Muruzabel to the Eunate Church. He installs solar panels in Australia. I saw him again when I reached my destination, Hotel Jakue. I didn't recognize him without his hat and backpack on, lol. We had a good laugh about that. Anders hopes to complete the Camino in 28 days.

I walked through the cute little village of Obanos. Last year I was able to visit and get a stamp in my credential from the Iglesia San Juan Bautista. This year it was closed. More churches are open during Holy Week so my timing was off a bit. There was also an adorable little free library (just like the ones in neighborhoods, we have two of them in my neighborhood) on the outskirts of town. For some reason, I thought this was only in the United States. I just love discovering things like this.

My hotel room today is very nice. There is a bathtub that I enjoyed soaking in. My toesies are feeling very bruised. I hope my feet get used to the hiking quickly so it will become more pleasant. I hand-washed some laundry and it's hanging close to the window. It shouldn't have any issues drying.

I visited two churches in Puente la Reina. There are numerous alcoves in the walls of the main street. There was a sign stating they were not rubbish bins, but called arrowslits that were used during the 19th Century Carlists Wars.

The first church was the 12th century La Iglesia del Crucifijo. It's famous for having a Y shaped crucifix from the 14th century carried to Puente la Reina by a German pilgrim in the Middle Ages. La Iglesia del Crucifijo was also used as a barracks during the Carlist Wars. This church along with most churches on the Camino had storks and stork nests on its tall peaks. Less than a quarter mile, along the main street was the church La Iglesia de Santiago. Again another gorgeous church. The pipe organ in the loft, opposite the altar was stunning. The golden retablo was beautiful. I noticed on the way out you could light up the retablo for one euro.

I stopped at a grocery store (small tienda) and bought a can of white asparagus. This region of Spain is famous for white asparagus. Also a tin of mussels in a vinegar brine. My next stop was a butcher shop for 2 slices of cheese (queso) and a slice of serrano ham. My last purchase was a panderia (bread bakery) for a tiny baguette. I now had the items for an impromptu picnic lunch/dinner. A pear and mini orange in my backpack made a perfect meal.

Tonight I want to stay up to 2000 (8pm) so I can get a good night's rest. I have a long day tomorrow.