Hola from Roncesvalles

Today's breakfast was white bread with butter and jam and a bowl of coffee. The mist over the mountains was peaceful.  I was thankful to have some Chia seeds and hemp to get me the next 18 km up the mountain, passing sheep and horses right next to the road. The view was so breathtaking it made me and many others feel weepy. I had a great walk and the backpack has been fine, so far so good. I found it a little heavy on the shoulders until I walked with Ally from Colorado who adjusted my straps, turns out Ally taught backpacking skills to youth in Colorado, how lucky was that!
The Alburque here is new and lovely. You sleep in pods of four, no doors, nice showers and laundry facilities. We were fortunate to arrive early, there were line ups all afternoon and once our sections was full people were sent to the overflow 13th century building made of stone. That area is one large room that holds 100 beds stacked close together. The pilgrim dinner was soup, trout , chips and yogurt. It is good to have food of any kind after being out all day. The walk today took 5 hours, followed by shower, laundry, more walking and lots of talking. 
I feel very fortunate to be having such an amazing experience. There is a man making a documentary in our group so you may get to see some of it. He is 71 years old, carrying a backpack that weighs 17 kilos and he arrived shortly after me and he had been stopping along the way to film!

We have another 10:00 curfew and aren't allowed to get up until 6:00 am. Buen Camino!