PAMPLONA, BEYOND,

One of the biggest fears in travel is “I’m going to miss it”. The awful anxiety that eats away at your Fun Time which Insists that for one reason or another you are going to not see the one thing everyone else saw and that it was the best thing ever! Relax, unclench and breathe. One of the best things about the Camino de Santiago is that won’t happen. The only one possible best thing ever is Compestella ( not really ), all the rest is Your Camino, and therein there is no wrong rout, incorrect choice, No Shouldas, No Wouldas, No Couldas. Everywhere you go, is where you should be. And there are so many little towns, small detours, and cool family alburgues outside the bigger towns and destinations, you’d be a fool not to try the Road less Followed a few times.

Case in point, we walked right through Pamplona. Yup. A huge, beautiful castle town that all the Camino Saints insist must be enjoyed for a whole day or maybe even two! And they are right. But we didn’t, and we did not regret one bit.

Pamplona was fabulous! One of the best castle walls I have seen, and the city preserved it’s History in an accessible and fun way. We had blown through Pamplona on the way to St Jean as nervous travelers wondering what the hell was going on with this weird-ass bus station. And now we were experienced Pilgrims traipsing the streets like veteran Caministas!

The bread shops had become out first target upon arriving in any large town, and Pamplona’s bakeries were top notch; always a place to take a chance on a new food. We did stop for breakfast, and had an amazing meal with a smiling cashier and server. The place was full of pilgrims, and we saw some old friends from the trail. And, I have to say, we had a larger quantity meal and a better quality than the meal in Roncevalles, and it cost less.

And no, I’m not ‘just sayin’. Roncevalles should be skipped. Take a picture of it, move on to somewhere that cares.

Yeah, I’m so brave, taking on the Camino Industry while Trump fiddles.

Anyway, we walked out of Pamplona and into the countryside and onto one of the best walks I ever had! Though I mentioned in the past I was worried about Stacy’s general pace, and that her slowness might drive me crazy, things were actually going okay. She was getting stronger everyday, and by every mile I was finding a slower pace far more enjoyable than before. Despite that, on this day Stacy cut me loose, and let me power ahead to walk alone.

Wow. The totality of Stacy’s incredible coolness just hit me. A lot of folks would have trouble with that, letting your partner just walk on ahead. But I knew to stop at major points to wait for her, and though my overall pace was not faster, I still got to walk hard and fast and get myself all sweaty and tired and deliciously exhausted! Drained with good, solid effort for Unstupid reasons! And once I was alone enough, with no one else to hear me, I started singing out loud. Les Mis. Les Miserables, my favorite musical. The whole thing, Original London recording, of course. The American version tries too hard. There’s a picture of a haystack up Top in the Slideshow that just screamed of Jean Val Jean walking to Paris hand in hand with Cosette. I know it’s Spain and not France, but cut me some slack, it’s a feeling, not a truth. I popped it on and strode like an out-of-tune crazy person, it was wonderful! And when it was all done, I sat in silence under the shade of an almond tree, and waited for the woman I loved to come up the road.

And she did. It’s a gift to learn how to be alone together, and I’m greatfull she gives me that space.

Ot perhaps she was just getting sick of me and needed a break. Probably a little of both. Which is cool to be okay with, and that’s also due to her.

After Les Mis left me and Stacy joined me we made it Alto Al Pardon, The Hill of Forgiveness. It was a major point along the way, and there was a crowd of pilgrims there to talk and commune with. The main sight was a metal cut out mural of the history of pilgrim on the Camino which was placed near the edge of the cliff, so the spectacular view of Navarre was a background and as such it presented the perfect photo opportunity for all of us.

Too perfect. I was raised in San Antonio, where tourism is the number one industry, and this felt a little like The Alamo at it’s worst. I kind of wanted to just hold my hands up and say, “Okay, okay, just back off, I already know I’m on the Camino. I don’t need Blacksmithery Art Murals to remind me.” I’m being a little pissy here, as it was a great spot, and we had a great time talking to crowd up there. Mark, the school principal from Canada, gave us some great perspectives. But all in all, the view and the spot would not have been worse without the mural.

And then, about a hundred feet away was another monument which proved my point to myself. On a sloping side of the Alto were two rings of seven foot tall stones placed in circles, and a stone plaque dedication. The stones were carved in a Stonehenge like manner, severe and stark. (see above Slideshow) The rings had been built in 2017 to commemorate massacres of hundreds of people by the Fascist Regime, who were then buried in a mass grave, here, at Altro De Perdon, on the Hill of Forgiveness.

There was nothing about these stones that made you want to pose in front of them and smile.

To say the Fascist history of Spain is troubling is the only thing you can say, out loud, while in Spain. You see, it’s not History, it’s a living issue. That monument was built in 2017 to call out a regime that had left power only in 1975. The bodies are still being counted and loyalties have been passed down through the bloodlines, if they survived. The monument at Alto de Pardon told us that all the men from from a suspected Communist or Republican family would be taken away in the night and killed by the Fascist authorities, and the plaque listed the Family names of the dead on the Hill. The scars of the Civil War are everywhere, once you understand what you are seeing. It was terrifying to see how nicks in walls, little round concrete houses and large fresh mounds of dirt can Not look like bullet holes, pillboxes and mass graves. All of which we saw in our walk, and all of which The Spanish Jacobean Council does not want you to see.

Look up Alto de Pardon online. Notice the dearth of references to this Fascist death squad monument? But lots of stuff about the pretty, perky Mural. How do you visit Alto de Pardon and not mention it in your blog? Is there something I’m missing about the concept of Christian forgiveness here on The Hill of Forgiveness?

Forgiveness is not forgetting. And in case you didn’t know, or forgot, The Catholic Church supported Franco and the Facists wholeheartedly. I’m not giving you any links, go look it up yourself. It’s not disputed, just swept away behind Murals and replanted trees.

Forgiveness is automatic for God, Stacy can tell you all about it; the Grace of God is Free and waiting for you, if you want it. Hiding your past is not wanting it. Paying other people to hide your past is not wanting it. Agreeing to be paid, is not wanting it. Ponting towards Heaven with bloodied hands, is not wanting it.

I’m gonna leave you here with this…

Buen Camino.