We had planned already to stay for a day in Pamplona.  Had also decided to stay in a relatively posh hotel there, instead of an albergue. It turned out the hotel stay was not really sorely needed. Ominously though, some blisters were beginning to make an appearance. Being in a hotel made it easier to work on those issues.

  There are some interesting museums in Pamplona. There is a small, but very new and sleek museum , called Ultreia, ostensibly devoted to the camino.  However one can learn mostly about about the history of Pamplona there. It turns out that for centuries, Pamplona was not one city, but rather three towns that very closely adjoined, separated only by streets. And these towns apparently occupied themselves in large part, by attacking each other. The Museum did have an entertaining media show about a fictional pilgrim, to tie in the historical events.
  The Museo de Navarra has several stories and covers the immensely long history of humans in the region, starting with the stone age, until the 1800s, in beautiful exhibits.

Between 2 PM and 5PM there was siesta. I call it that, although one Spanish albergue host said that the Spanish are sensitive about that word, because it is has connotations of laziness. Anyway, most of the shops and restaurants were closed during this period.

Towards evening the streets came alive. After having pinchos, we took part in the custom of “dar un paseo” – taking a walk.
Strolling through the streets at whim in the twilight, we see all ages, people congregating in bars, restaurants and cafes, sitting together in squares. Young people singing, playing instruments in the Calle Carmen. Even very young children running and playing, extremely old folks being pushed around in wheelchairs, everyone seems to be out in the streets in the warm night, and enjoying themselves just by being there. My impression was simply “These people know how to live.”

D. , as a foodie, had found a Michelin-starred restaurant that he very much wanted us to go to. But a reservation was not available until around 10-11 PM.

We made our way there in the night though the maze of buildings and streets , up outdoor flights of stone stairs, and across plazas.
The Google Maps navigation that we relied was not working well – the blue directional arrow seemed to point in random directions  in this old-city environment. But we found the restaurant.

I was already beyond tired, and with the remaining jet lag… There were many courses – I could not tell you how many there were … food was delicious – I could not identify exactly what all it was  service was excellent –  I can’t recall what all these attentive people were doing …

Coming back late through the with D. , I was more or less floating , a bit in a daze after all this. But after all the days’ walking in this area I could start to recognize the irregular topography of the historic streets around us, enough to find a way back to the hotel.