Circle Tour 13--on to Estella

Another gorgeous day!  I kept hearing people walking by the hotel say, "¡Qué día más bueno!" (What a beautiful day!)

Setting off from Vitoria

 And the scenery along the way was again awe-inspiring.

We stopped in the quaint village of Acedo to walk around, talk with people and, of course, use los servicios.

The chapel was ancient. We wanted to know more. Locals we talked to couldn't tell us how old. They did tell us about el palacio built around the original torreón.

El palacio

I wanted to know more. Wasn't there anybody in the village who could tell us more about its history? They sent us to these houses and this door.

A strange thing happened. A bearded gentleman answered our knock, came out shook a tablecloth and out flew a bird! ¡Magia! he said, then told us that the bird had flown in the house. We told him what we wanted to know. He said if we waited a minute he'd be back to talk with us. The minutes went by and we had to leave. (Did he not know either?)

We went on to Estella, the town near our destination, and stopped for lunch.

I had just one dish and that was more than sufficient.

paella

I walked around the church in the center of the plaza, fascinated by the different doors. According to the signs, Adoración Nocturna (Evening Worship) happens monthly, enter by the side door, I assume.

Talking with one lady I became well aware of the different opinions in Navarra, the province that is not officially part of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. Many, if not most, do not consider themselves Basque, though the NW border region is mostly Basque speaking and historically it was originally conquered by vascones.

We arrived at our destination for the night in time to settle in to the very nice camp facilities of Seven Oaks Camp--make beds, take a nap, or swim in the nearby stream before the cyclists arrived.

Zaspi Haritzak--Seven Oaks Camp

I happened to go outside just in time to welcome the tired riders and even get video footage!

Mike and I went for a short little stroll before it was time to take off for the town to get some dinner.

The road to Estella

Great dinner and conversation

At the end of another wonderful day we went off to our respective dorm room bunkbeds truly grateful for the blessing of this camp, an oasis for God's people.