Day 15 GR1 to Ujue

Short 17 kilometre walk today distinguished more by the destination than the journey.

Sunny weather, clear blue skies, but still cold.

Leaving Olite

Left Olite (having returned to the hotel to retrieve my hat) through a tiny arch in the wall of the Royal Palace. Great view of its huge crenelated gothic tower.

A flat road down pig alley

The first part of the walk, across the flood plain of the river, was completely flat. Pig farms were scattered across the countryside and their waste had been scattered across the fields.

There were hints that I might be reaching the end of my three day journey across the Navarre plain with higher ground beckoning in the distance. On the eastern horizon I could see what looked like a church and decided that this must be Ujue.

Transporting water south

After about two and half hours I crossed a huge brand new concrete conduit shipping water to who knows where and which seemed to define a boundary between the plain and hillier countryside. Getting higher and looking back I could make out Lagran, which I left yesterday and the mountains, now covered in snow, which I dropped down from three days ago.

Ujue

After climbing around a hill I reached a road at the end of which was Ujue, a stunning hill top town set on a promontory jutting out over a valley towards the west. As you approach along the road the land drops away on both sides and to the north-east, you can see the Pyrenees, a long line of snow covered mountains.

Fortified church at Ujue

Ujue gets better the closer you get. It's a densely packed medieval town, narrow streets, treacherously covered in snow and ice, descending from the summit on top of which sits a building which is half church half fortress.

The Romanesque core dates back to 1090 and this in turn is surrounded by a Gothic superstructure built in the early 15th Century. I particularly like the carvings which adorn the older parts of these churches and I wasn't disappointed here.

Detail from the door

The restaurants are all closed tonight so I treated myself to a late lunch in a restaurant near the church with particularly good views of the Pyrenees. I started to eat at 2.30 but I was early, people were still arriving an hour later. I'm staying in a casa rural which is OK but which, despite a huge radiator, is freezing cold. I suspect I'm the first occupant for some time.

If you want to see where I went today then please go to the following link



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone