From king to dustman

Even at 8:30 in the cool of the morning Pamplona’s streets were deserted as I walked to the train station – which was lovely. In contrast my train to Olite was completely full, making me thankful I had reserved my ticket.

Olite is only 30 minutes South of Pamplona and is a destination largely because, although it’s only a small village, it is home to the Royal Palace of the Navarran Kings.

The Palace was reconstructed in the early 1900s. It is very pretty to look at and fun to wander about, but there’s not a lot going on inside. I had a nice time climbing towers and admiring views, while trying not to get in the way of people’s Instagram moments.

The downside of catching the train to Olite was that the train back wasn’t for four hours. So I spent a lot of time wandering the streets – which were, admittedly, pretty. Then I did a wine tasting at the Museum of Wine. The tasting proved to be bottomless glasses with a more generous pour than most bars. Which I thought was all about marketing until I realised you couldn’t buy the wine; it was the product of the local experimental collective.

Luckily Spain does an excellent line in extended lunches which took me through to my scheduled train time. When the train proved to be running late I was worried I’d have more time to kill but I had a very nice chat to a Cuban physicist about AI to help pass the time.

Back in Pamplona I had to tackle the less glamorous end of international travel – doing the washing, sweeping the floors, and taking out the rubbish. It can’t all be palaces and wine tastings.