Estella-Lizarra to Olite

May 8, 2024

Last night neither of us felt like going to a restaurant for dinner. Instead, we bought some fruit to go with the cookies Al had picked up in Bilbao and ate at our B&B, washed down with cups of mint tea.

Our friendly hosts at B&B Zaldu provided a filling breakfast and we were off by 9:30 for a relatively short ride to Olite. Since we both had a bit of fatigue from the first two days, this was appreciated.

We were on a fairly busy highway all the way, with a notable amount of truck traffic, but there was a decent shoulder and all the truck drivers were considerate and moved over as they passed.

View from the road (looking back whence we’d come)

Yeah, there were lots of those red flowers, but daisies deserve their day in the sun. And it was unexpectedly sunny today!

We were in Olite by noon and our hotel was easy to find. I’d drawn the route right to it and Olite’s very small. We dropped our bags at reception, changed into street clothes, and went for an explore until we could order lunch. Best menu del dia yet at our hotel.

Our hotel is on Plaza Carlos III el Noble and there’s even a small pyramid near the entrance to the palace at the end of the plaza. At “our” end there’s archeological work excavating some mediæval galleries below; we locked our bikes to the railing guarding the hole. The pyramid seems to cover another opening to the galleries.

The palace must have looked like a castle to travellers approaching from from the east.

Iglesia de San Pedro (XII-XIII C) wasn’t open to go in but the portal had some interesting decoration, like these raptors on either side

Above the door. I especially liked the fellow in the boat, clinging to the gunwale.

Street leading from San Pedro to the palace

While we were having lunch, this truck arrived with a delivery for the archeological site.

The afternoon was spent exploring the Palacio Real de Olite. We didn’t get a map or any guidance, just wandered the many empty rooms and towers.

The room that wasn’t empty contained historical photos, models, and information about the reconstruction. The palace was a ruin until about 1940, due to a devastating fire in 1813. Restoration work of the structure was carried out 1937-1967; no wonder so much looks new!

The old photos showed that a lot of this gallery was still standing prior to the restoration

How many towers does a palace need? This is only a fraction…

Stork! I’ve only ever seen a nesting stork in pictures. Full zoom, cropped in.

Same stork, seen from a different tower.

Iglesia de Santa Maria is adjacent to the palace and survived the fire. This is the portal, restored in the last couple of decades.

Later, we walked around a bit more and had a light dinner in our hotel’s restaurant. We both ordered salads and they were huge! Next time, perhaps a salad to share followed by another shared dish? Maybe that’s what “raciones” are for. In any case, we’ve now made up for our lack of vegetables on our travel day and first couple of days in Spain.

Al’s mixed salad included tuna, something I really don’t like so I ordered a different salad.

Cogolos de Tudela with Roquefort, walnuts, and peppers. I had the same at lunch, much much smaller, and ordered this when my first choice wasn’t available. It was the only option this evening without tuna or anchovies—and really good.

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Today's ride: 42 km (26 miles)
Total: 189 km (117 miles)

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Rachael AndersonNo wonder you were ready for an easier day, you’ve been doing challenging rides!
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3 months ago

Jacquie GaudetTo Rachael AndersonChallenging for me. I think Al was finally challenged by today’s ride to Torla.
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3 months ago