Rest day!! I took a taxi to the San Juan de la Peña monastery with a Japanese woman who wanted to go to the same place.
This monastery, founded in 920, was chosen as a pantheon by the kings and nobles of Aragon and Navarre. The tombstones can still be seen there. In the Middle Ages, pilgrims apparently came here to venerate the Holy Grail, now kept in the Cathedral of Valencia. In the 17th century, a second monastery, in the Baroque style, was built a little higher.
The way up was very difficult going but possible to walk. On the way up I saw the Slovakian couple, Thomas and Yvetta, climbing down. Once there I ran into the Franco-Spanish woman (Anne-Marie) I had met in Urdos along with three other French people (Christine, Thomas et Sophie) she had hooked up with. We then shared a mini bus to visit the "new" [excavated] monastery and then a taxi to Santa Cilia as it had started raining. They weren't staying at Santa Cilia, but continuing on as they had stayed there last night. I probably could have walked down, but it would have been difficult going. The Japanese woman, Hiroko did it and it took her nearly 4 hours! The pilgrim albergue in Santa Cilia is a charming place and there are 8 of us here tonight--me, Hiroko, a young Spaniard, and group of 5 older Italian men traveling together with their Spanish guide, [José] Carlos.
Me, 5 Italians, and two Spaniards
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