Roncesvalles to Zubiri
- Dad
- May 4, 2018
- 1 min read
What a difference a day makes. The 13.9 miles to Zubiri took us through farms, forests, medieval Basque villages and was gloriously flat. It made us realize what grinder yesterday was. A warm and pleasant walk in the woods. We've dropped back below 2,000 feet and the weather report is good.
Early in the day we walked through Burguete. You Hemingway fans (like me) will recognize this town as the location of Jake and Bill's fishing trip in The Sun Also Rises.
Thank you to the many who subscribed to this blog yesterday, it gives us energy to continue. On that note, if anyone has a question for us about this crazy adventure feel free to ask in the comments (or Contact Us). In fact, if you have any problem that needs solving throw it in there too and we'll spend some miles working on it. If we don't respond immediately either the WiFi is poor, or we just needed several more miles to walk and talk it out.
Buen Camino!
Om the Basque militants, you probably saw this story Wed: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/02/spains-basque-region-militant-group-eta-announces-it-has-completely-dissolved.html
I don’t have an opinion about the terrorist vs patriot argument. I can think of dozens of examples of this difficult question (like, Star Wars?). I’ll see if Ben does in the morning. He reminded me on the trail today that Catalonia now holds the Guinness record for “shortest republic” at 8 seconds.
So there are two examples of Spanish Autonomous Communities seeking independence. But no, I don’t think Spain will dissolve in the next decade and in 4 extended visits now here’s why. I don’t think the people here have ever regarded themselves as “Spaniards”. They’re Basque, Catalan, Andalusian, Galician and so forth. They get to come toge…
Hello James!
“Like a diesel, keeps on trucking” is perfect for this challenge. I’m a slow middle aged man and I’m giving it a shot. I’ve seen so many older, slower, out of shape people out here than I am. You don’t have to be in immaculate physical condition to do this. But you do need a lot of time, and the ability to keep at it like it sounds your sister has. That said, I’m only three days in. There’s such a long way to go, so I may revise my answer down the road.
An easy and a hard question. (Easy) My sister has talked a lot of doing this trail, what fitness level would you say is needed to enjoy this hike. She’s slow but like a diesel, just keeps trucking. Doable for a slow middle-aged woman? (Harder) Are Basque separatists terrorists who kill civilians for a lost cause ... or are they patriots, with a moral obligation to oppose Madrid until their right to self govern is is (actually) respected? Bonus question, is Spain as we know it going to break apart in the next decade?
Ha! I love the cat! Well done guys and keep up with the fun spirit. It makes it fun to follow
Lastly, on “the oaks of witches”, there’s a sad history of people being accused of witchcraft and executed as a part of the Spanish Inquisition in Roncesvalles. So the name of the forest makes sense.