May 26

          This morning we woke up at 6:00 and were out the door by 6:30. I could already tell the morning air was cooler than it had been the day before. We stopped at a gas station in Estella and bought some packaged doughnuts for breakfast, not very Spanish, I know, but it worked. We sat on a park bench beside a playground before starting back on The Way.
          We stopped a little farther down the path at a fountain where we could fill up on water. This fountain had two spouts. One for water and one for wine. I thought that was interesting, though I wasn't really interested in drinking the wine. There weren't many places to stop during our hike, but the day was nicer than yesterday and even though it was still hot, there was more shade.
          The path was nice and we could see really far into the distance. This was very cool, except that it made the walk seem much farther than it was. Around 2:00 we made it to Los Arcos and stopped in an Albergue called Casa del la Abuela, which was a very nice Albergue. When we got to our room there was already one pilgrim there. Her name was Eileen and she had taken a bus to the Albergue earlier that day because she was having foot issues. She was waiting for her son and daughter in law to arrive later that day. Eileen told us about the town, the food, and that there would be a festival celebration later that night. Caleb and I took showers.
          Three other pilgrims arrived to share our room while we were getting ready. The first was Chen, then Eileens's son Colin and his wife Erica. Caleb and I went to get tapas at a nearby bar, but didn't stay long because the Albergue would be closing at 6:00 and we wouldn't be able to get back in for another hour. We had the corner room at the Albergue, which had a window with a balcony where we hung our wet clothes. It overlooked the town square.
          Around 7:00 bulls started to run by. I would describe it was a mini running with the bulls. Three bulls came running up and down the street, while a bunch of people ran away from them. It went on for a long time. Then a marching band when down the streets playing brass instruments as loud as they could. Next they let a fourth bull join in the chase. They referred to this one as the 'pilgrim killer' because it supposedly killed one or two pilgrims every year. Colin went out to join in the running while his wife and mother filmed him and made jokes about his apparent mid life crisis. He survived. The pilgrim killer did not get anyone this year.
          I felt bad for the bulls. They all looked old and tired and like they really didn't want to be running anywhere. It was a little sad to watch. The race went on pretty late and Caleb was asleep by the time it was finished so I decided to skip dinner and head to bed instead.
(Written May 26)