Today was a Wellington free day.  We decided to visit some historical sites, dating back much earlier, to the Kingdom of Navarre, which was absorbed into the kingdom of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1509. We have been wondering how to follow Wellington, and the Kings of Navarre might be a possibility. They have brilliant names –Pedro the Bold, Sancho the Strong, Carlos the Bad.

Storks.

So first stop was Olite, where there was an important Royal Palace built in 1357 for Carlos III and his queen, Leonore. It was sumptuously decorated by mudejar craftsmen, with carving and plaster work, but unfortunately was set alight by Navarrese guerrilleros in 1813, to stop the French using it. They still have some of the blue ceramic floor tiles. It’s a wonderful place, with a private courtyard garden for the queen, a gorgeous loggia for the king, and a special loggia tower, from where the King and Queen could watch tournaments. There are Disney type turrets, and the views are amazing. The air is full of swifts and martins, and there are storks.

The Royal Palace - loggias for viewing tournaments on the left.

The King's loggia, with mulberry tree

The town is also very attractive, and as with all the little towns round here, not over touristy, not full of empty weekend getaways. There are lots of locals around. In fact, there was a wedding going on, and we wondered if it was a local teacher, since the school bands seemed to have turned out. It was lovely. 

They seemed to be getting ready for an encierra - a bull running - as there were very strong barriers being set up. But there is no bull ring, and we gathered that whatever happens, happens in the town square.

So then we went to Ujue, an almost untouched hill top town, with its fortress type Gothic church. But Ujue is a pilgrimage site – once a year, the whole of the local area descends to give thanks for their victory over the Moors in 1039. So it’s a very curious building – sort of a church within a church, because it’s surrounded by galleries which can be circambulated by the faithful. There are alabaster window panes, and I think that’s the first time I’ve actually seen any.

The church at Ujue

Then on to Sanguesa, on the river Aragon, which is much bigger than I expected, but that may be due to snow melt – one can easily see snow covered peaks in the distance. It has a church with a very impressive Gothic doorway – we are tending not to go into all the churches as they bring us out in a rash of Protestantism.

The Gothic doorway at Sanguesa

There is a thirteenth century Franciscan hospital for pilgrims, and lots of big impressive renaissance town houses. They have enormously projecting wooden eaves, some so heavily carved that they reminded me of the temples in Nepal, but less rude, obviously.

Finally, we visited Javier, the birthplace of St Francis Xavier, of Goa, China, etc. He was born in an ex-Moorish fortress, which has been heavily restored. The grounds are lovely but the atmosphere of religiosity put us off, so we didn’t go in the castle. We didn’t want to be preached at.

It’s been sunny all day, and sometimes positively hot, so we’re really hoping the weather has done its worst.

We keep crossing the Camino de Santiago. Quite a lot of bits just run along a main road, which can't be much fun. Virtually all the pilgrims we have seen are around our age - I suppose you must be retired to do it, as it is a least a month's walking from here to Santiago de Compostela. Some don't look up to it, but then I suppose they are just getting into it and will get fitter. 

Here are some pictures of where we're staying. I've seen lots of red kites, too.

The kitchen, with fireplace, bread oven, stone sink, and huge chimney above.

The view from our window.