Pamplona

Pamplona and Olite

and

La Puente de la Reina

Well, we had a tough blow.  The Temple Presidency decided to mix up the shifts.  We had been lucky to remain on the same shift for about 10 months.  All the same, we were very very happy where we were.  The change will split us and the Collins into different shifts.  We have been becoming pretty close, so this made us sad.  We had also planned a trip together in September.  So we moved it up quickly, and they joined us in Pamplona. It was fun to get one last fun trip in together, at least for awhile.  Who knows, maybe we'll get back together again some day before we leave.  Different shifts is kind of like different planets.

On our way to Pamplona we drove through Santo Domingo again.  We could not resist making another stop at the "chicken church."  We wanted to share the experience with the Collins.

Of course, Alan had to get his picture taken with the chicken.

It is such a pretty church and I had to snap a few more pictures.

The tomb of Santo Domingo, Saint Dominick

We had dinner at a sidewalk cafe, and a parade happened by.

There were so many pretty costumes.

Cute observers dressed for the occasion.

As we pressed on to Pamplona we were treated to a beautiful Spanish sunset.

The next morning we headed out of Pamplona to the town of Olite,
and unexpectedly spotted a very long, very old Roman aqueduct.

Another ruined castle off the highway.

  Olite is a very cute small town with an enormous castle and a great church.

Main street, with a castle at the end.

Part of the city wall.

The local church.

There were 6 little girls posing for pictures. While I awaited my
chance to get a picture of the door, I had to give into the cuteness.

It was a very pretty church.  We got a few shots and then moved on to castle climbing.

Arriving at said castle.

This castle had so many twists and turns, turrets, and towers.

Even the Collins were impressed.

A view from the castle wall.

Exploring.

That's my man.  He climbed to the highest point.  I couldn't let him outdo me,
so I quickly joined him, but then I had the camera with me.  Who was going to take the shot?

Another view from the castle wall.  This is a monastery.  They have a large
vineyard.  I think they are not table grapes.

More views from the castle.

Back on the wall.  This place is huge!

Still on the castle wall.

An unused smoke stack.

Home to a stork family.

Mom or Dad off to the grocery store.  I love these birds.

Back on the street.

Another cute church.

Another gate into the city.

We saw a sign for "La Puente de la Reina."  Could not resist the hope of seeing
 another neat Roman bridge.  We were not disappointed.  I love this bridge!

The church tower in the distance.

                                                                 COOL BRIDGE!

Not enough time to spend here.  Maybe we'll get back to it.

Back to Pamplona.  It is such a pretty city.  This was some sort of
museum next to our parking place.  We didn't have time to explore.

It is also a very colorful city.  Each narrow building was so different than the next.

This is where the "Running of the Bulls" begins.

I do!

You see this all over Spain.  It is a shrine to the Virgin built into the wall of this pharmacy.

This was a very unusual looking building with a corner balcony.

City Hall.

This "Warrior" guards the city.

Plaza Mayor.

This beautiful gazebo was in Plaza Mayor, surrounded by tall colorful buildings.

We had the feeling someone was watching us.

We headed towards the Cathedral, and I loved the streets along the way.

That's a lot of Bull!

What I said before.

The Cathedral at the end of the street.

This is the symbol you see on the ground along the route of Santiago (James).  We saw a lot of pilgrims making the trek.  We have been seeing it a lot lately.  I guess we're kind of following the Road to Santiago ourselves.  Fortunately we are not walking the whole way with a backpack on.  All the pilgrims we've seen look pretty worse for wear.

Lots of stores sell giant heads to wear for festivals.

They also sell these to practice your bullfighting skills.  It was kind of tempting.

The Cathedral.

This cathedral got more than it's fair share of gold from the Americas.

The choir in this cathedral was spectacular.  They had it roped off so I couldn't
 get a good picture.  Take my word for it,  its was fantastic.

Graves of Charles III and Queen Eleanor

They added a little silver to contrast with a lot of gold.

There was beautiful spiral staircase.

The courtyard.

The smokestack for the kitchen of the cathedral.  I don't know why
they have a kitchen.  What really puzzles me is how they keep the rain out.

This is a city park set around castle ruins.  It must have really been something in its day.

Heading home we passed more signs like this.  It marks the road to Santiago for pilgrims.

We followed another interesting sign to find this old Roman hermitage.

Ermita de Santa Maria de Eunate.  It was originally Roman, but later became a Christian site.

We decided to take a little detour and go back to La Puente de la Reina.  I love this place!

There he is on the bridge giving me his best pose.

We had to go see their cathedral.

Along the way we kept noticing red gates that could close off the street.  About halfway to the cathedral we finally saw the reasoning.  This is the local bullring.  Pretty cute.

A boatload of gold from America found its way here too.

Pretty fancy for such a small town.

We had such a good time on this trip seeing Pamplona, and Olite, and all the exploring we were able to do along the way. The bulls run in July, which we missed by a few weeks. I loved La Puente de la Reina.  We will be passing that spot on to others.  We are so blessed to be here in Spain.  It is such an amazing place that I wish everyone could explore it.