12 April to Cirauqui

Here is a free hint for if you ever walk the Camino Francés: when you are leaving Puente la Reina, do not go straight over the bridge.

If you go directly over the bridge you will probably stop in the middle and look down at the murky green water, maybe even take a selfie…but if you take the little cobbled path to the right of the bridge it will take you down to the water´s edge in four seconds and you will get to see a beautiful reflection in the river. Well, I did.

Before I even got to the bridge I was overtaken by a number of pilgrims on Calle Mayor. Because I am walking short days I have the luxury of really experiencing each moment. I was fascinated by the sun shining above the rooftops, the crests and the doors:

At the edge of town in an enormous stretch of plain windowless brick wall, I spied a half open door.

The voices that wafted out invited me in and I caught the last ten minutes of morning mass in a highly ornamented church, which was in stark contrast to the exterior.

Vídeo Puente mass

And suddenly I was in the countryside again.

At the top of a hill I make a point of looking back. Today I did it even without the hills (although there were hills to climb as well!) and was richly rewarded:

Soon enough the hilltop town of Cirauqui came into view and before long I was sitting in the shade of the church slicing tomato to put in some crusty bread with aged jamón while I waited for the albergue to open.

If you are ever on the Camino Francés, I have another hint for you. Stop in Cirauqui and stay at Albergue Maralotx. The host is hospitality personified.
When I didn’t rush to be first in line when he opened (even though I had arrived well before everyone else), he came out and asked for my sleeping bag so he could reserve me a bed before he let anyone else check in! He gave me the best one (a single bed, not a bunk) with this view: