We left Roncesvalles early in the morning just as the sun was rising. On this our third day on the camino, familiar faces are starting to register. People who previously just said 'Hi!' "Hello!" and "Buen Camino!" are stopping by, slowing down and starting conversations. So many people we met today.
Two of the people we spent some time with are Annie and Catherine, who
are close friends on their second camino. They had so many valuable tips and
words of encouragement. One of the most important one was not to play mind
games with yourself. Actually, she used more succinct terms, but I
couldn't bring myself to type it in. 😅 This was at the end of a conversation
where I said that I was wondering what the bleep I was doing there and if I
could actually finish it. And Annie said I shouldn't question anymore why or
how I got there. Just remember that I am and there's a reason for that. She
also added that when you question your presence on the camino, you lose your
motivation to continue because there will always be more reasons why
you shouldn't be there than there are reasons that justify why you're
there. I mulled that over as they walked ahead and realized that she was
right. There's always an excuse not to go on, but being able to walk the camino
is not a random accident. That's something I had to keep reminding myself
during those times when I found the terrain a bit too challenging or when it's
starting to get late and I haven't sighted the next town yet. 
The walk to Zubiri started out easy. In these early days, I preferred the downhills to the uphills because my knees were still in perfect working condition. I changed my mind in a hurry heading down Cizur Menor to Puente dela Reina, but that's another story. In one of our uphills, we passed by a grassy hill an saw people stopping curiously at one particular spot. When we got to the spot, I understood what the fuss was about. There was a pilgrim lying face down on the grass with his pack still strapped to his back. It was almost comical actually, like when you see those cartoon characters landing face flat on the ground, unmoving for a few seconds. I wasn't sure if I should be amused or if I should be horrified. One of the passing pilgrims lightly poked him with a stick to check if everything was okay, and apparently it was, because the pilgrim moved his head, probably bothered by all the attention he was receiving. Apparently, literally stopping to smell the grass did him well since a few kilometers later, he was walking past us with all haste like nothing happened.
We arrived at the town of Zubiri at about 4 p.m. The municipal albergue was already full so we tried the private ones, the hostels and even the one hotel, all to no avail. One of the ladies we walked with was actually talking about taking a cab to the next town when we decided to try the municipal again. There were still no beds, but there was a queue because they opened the gym and were renting out mattresses at €2.5 each. When I got to the front, I asked for 2 mattresses, which turned out to be the last they had. As soon as our passports were stamped, the hospitalier closed the door to the office and declared the place 'cerrado.' I breathed a sigh of relief but felt bad for the people who were still standing in line. We were led to the gym and were shown where the mattresses were. We basically could lay it anywhere on the floor. As soon as the mattresses were down, we laid the sleeping bags and raised our legs for a few minutes.
As much as we didn't want to stand up anymore, and I actually thought I couldn't anymore, we had to take a shower, eat dinner, and shop for the next day's provisions, not necessarily in that order. We dragged ourselves up, walked the few hundred meters to the water fountain, which was also across the nearest restaurant, and promptly received my first applause. At first, I didn't understand what was happening, it took a few seconds before I realized they were clapping for me. And I only realized it when they started coming and giving me hugs and pats on the back. People were congratulating me, some we've walked with were telling me how proud they were of me. It was surreal! Apparently, there were pilgrims who saw my trudge for today. I felt an outpouring of love and support and felt for the first time since we started, that I can actually do it.
I thanked everyone and after they dispersed, we crossed the street to the restaurant where we ran into Annie and Catherine again. We shared a table and now and then, people would come to our table and ask how we were doing. The meal was filling and the conversation was good. Afterwards, we ran into more people at the supermarket and the outfitters. After walking off our dinner, we went back to the albergue to shower, do a bit of laundry and pack our bags for the next morning. This was to be our routine almost the entire length of the walk.
