Today’s goal is a little longer, ~28km.  Joe and I got our crapped packed then headed into breakfast.  Simple stuff, bread, jam, and biscuits.  The coffee had been brewed last night an left in the pot.  We nuked it back to life.  

I sat with Shelly chatting while we picked through the stuff on the table.   Shelly is a retired IT consultant from Kansas.   She worked at Oracle in the 90’s and is something of a PL SQL slinger.   I’d met her briefly about a week ago when I was doing my rain soaked solo push to Logronos.  

We spent much of our time debating on exactly how many biscuit cracker things we should eat.  We settled on 2.  Munching our way through our meager offerings, I made an executive decision and snagged 6 more which I shared with my new partner in crime.   So after 5 biscuits, a hunk of bread, 8 hour old coffee, and an apple, I was ready, no make that HUNGRY, for the day to begin

Pretty much infinite wheat fields here, plus an occasional field of this stuff.  Some kind of grain I assume. 

Joe caught up with Kemi.   I was behind descending from a long rolling hill.  Joe slowed up and had a quick hello convo with her.   Nona, Kemi’s dog, found some fresh cut grass along the roadway and started rolling in it which cut the conversation short so he kept going.   When I rolled up, Nona was back into a walking mood now so she took up a position between Kemi and me and trotted along.  We shared idle chit-chat, jokes, etc.  We talked until the next cafe where she wanted to stop for coffee.  I carried on. 

 

TIL that Vitoria de Rioja was founded on 1019.

Passed through Belgrade.  A decent sized village. 

Outside of town it started raining.  Fortunately, I bumped into a gas station on the edge of town.  I have learned to never pass up a gas station.   They are filled wall to wall with tasty snacks.  I pulled some chips, mm’s, and a delicious Spanish chocolate bar.  Ate my junk food while putting on my rain gear. 

Rest of the day was a mostly light rain walk to Villafranca.  Got hailed on for a bit as well.  According to my weather app, a nasty storm was coming in, so aside from the gas station, no stops today.

Our destination tonight was an albergues behind the San Anton Abad hotel.   We checked in at the hotel desk.  This place is swanky.  The albergues was super clean and modern.  Nice to see some of the swanky hotel money leaking into the albergues.   Joe and I had an awesome 3 course meal in the restaurant.  Then settled in our room of like 8 people.  

Later that evening, it began raining really hard, which quickly turned to hail.  I took this picture for Alice after the worse of the storm passed. 

 

Easy walk today.  The weather cooperated for once and we were able to hike with no rain and even the occasional splash of sunlight.  I went mostly introvert today, just listening to music and stacking K’s 

Seems every village has a few old building with this goop sprayed on the exterior.  Joe and I think it looks like a house fungus.  Near as I can tell, it is a waterproofing sealant that is sprayed indiscriminately over old windows, doors, holes, and whatever else is in the way.  Paint must come later…..much much later. 

Joe and I have been seeing more and more of these gigantic bird nests.   This guy took over a smoke stack.  I just looked it up and these are most likely White Storks.  Their nests are massive. 

Made it to Granon.  Small ancient village.  We are staying in a donativo.  You stay fo free, then make a donation before you leave.   My “stamp” on my Compestella was hand drawn by our host.  Super nice guy who is still learning the arts.   He made us a simple dinner of some kind of noodle soup and chickpea hash with bread and wine.  An young Estonian gal next to me was picking at her food trying to analyze each bit before eating it.   I don’t think she gained any weight tonight.

Kemi arrived with her dog Nona and slept in our dorm room with us.  It was nice having her dog with us.  Very well behaved.   Kemi told us that this is the first dorm room she has stayed in so far.  Often the Albergue’s deny entry to dogs.  Last night Kemi rough camped at a cemetery.  She’s a tough gal.  She is doing the hike for law enforcement mental health awareness and has an instagram called “Nona’s way”. 

The conditions in the place are a little ratty, but all the love makes up for it.  Found out in the morning that a bunch of kids slept in the church for the night.  They all made a communal meal, played music, sang, and danced.  Then they flopped down on mats laid on the cold stone floor.   It was like 35 degrees F last night, but I didn’t hear a complaint from any of them.  

We had a nice stay in Logrono, but Joe wants to wake up and get to work.   6am.  It is a cold drizzle this morning.  I am a bit grumpy.   My bed over the last couple days was soooo comfortable.  It had this nice curtain you could pull for privacy, a charger, light, good WiFi.  The shower didn’t suck.  And now we are leaving.  

So the first item on the agenda is to get lost in the city with all the other Camino people.  We criss-crossed several squares trying to figure out where the trail was.  At least 4 different locals tried to help various groups out.  Joe and I mostly just followed the crowed.  Eventually an old guy emerged who was taking a morning walk and he showed a Spanish speaker ahead of me where to go.  They walked together and a bunch of us followed.  

It was drizzling, of course.  I was pacing myself behind put-together-asian-girl.   I started to pass her, but she picked up her pace and I wound up following her umbrella for the first 10km until she caught her friends and fell (way) behind.  

Today, it rained, then it stopped, then it rained,then it stopped For good in the afternoon.  Not a good day for the outdoors.

Speaking of bad days, there is a ruin outside of Logrono that used to be a hospital for pilgrims in the Middle Ages.  I wonder what folks in the Middle Ages would think about my high-tech gear. I mean, just the thick horse hair blanket these folks carried likely weighed more than my 22lb pack.  

I suppose I have no reason to bitch about the weather or my aches and pains.   Patients arriving here would show the Dr their toe blisters and they’d probably just chop those off.  Then put a bunch of leeches on their leg and maybe drain some blood just to be sure. 

Lots of vineyard in this area.  Check out the soil.  Clay and rocks.  This is a tough area to farm.  

As we approached Najera, we saw our first junk yard !  

We ran into a wierd stone structure that I thought might be a smoke house.  Looking inside, though, was a stone bench seat that ran along the interior wall.  I guess it is a resting area for Camino people?  Saw several after this along the trail.  Joe calls them stone pineapples. 

We checked into our hostel at Najera.  The Albergue might be lacking in amenities, but it had plenty of character.  

We had a pilgrim meal served by an amazing gal who managed a dozen tables.   She would pop by at certain intervals and if you could not tell her what you wanted quickly enough, she would just walk off to the next table.  Somewhere during the meal I shouted “Vino” to her retreating back and 2 minutes later a bottle of wine was dropped on our table without comment.  My kind of service. 

On the way back, I was checking out the sandstone walls towering over the village.  If you look at the picture below, you can see windows and, I assume, rooms, cut into the walls.  That got me excited.  Soft stone, people, and centuries.  I took off wondering, trying to get as close to the mountain as possible.  

 

I was rewarded with the Monasterio de Santa Marie

5 euro gets you in.  They stamped my Compostela for free.  The more modern section has some impressive stone work and a cool courtyard.  

 

Napoleon turned up to rape and pillage the place.  After the city was thoroughly liberated, his soldiers took over the monastery.  They chopped off some heads and shot up the walls before they left.  

Off the courtyard there is a huge church that almost appears to grow out of the mountain.  It is hard to determine what is natural, what was carved out, and what was built up.  Further back are tombs of some important bosses with their families.  Then through another doorway was a shrine carved in the mountain.  Neat place.  

I wondered the city for a couple of hours, on an important mission.  I need Tapatio.  All this pilgrim food is great, but I need some spice.   I checked 6 places in town.  Closest I could find was Siracha which I am now carrying.  Bought some ramen noodles for our dinner.  

Doing a little laundry and updating the blog.   Joe is chilling next to me.  It is currently raining outside and I am not in it.   This is a good day!  

Last night’s stay in Viana was a good time.  My bunk mate was Andre and we had a long chat before bed.   Andre is a software engineer who has entered his midlife crisis.   There has been consolidation in his industry with some of his best work being bought and, probably corrupted, by new management.   I felt his pain.  Sucks to pour your heart into applications only to see them treated as transient to be ignored or discarded when the new owners change direction.   

Had breakfast with a German gal named Edith.  She speaks German, French, Spanish, and English fluently, as far as I can tell.   It is neat to watch her switch between all 4 during breakfast.   I started calling her The Translator.   I told her we had a plant named Edith that I will henceforth associate with her.  She was a little confused, then, when she understood, just thought I was a strange.

Today is a short 10km walk.  The sucky part was that the trail took a turn through some low lying fields which are soaked from rain.  A very muddy walk for 1km or so.  Until this point, I have not seen a long stretch of mud like this.  The maintainers have done a fantastic job insuring the trail has good drainage and a solid gravel surface.   Didn’t get a picture. 

There is the wooden bridge over the highway that I stopped to admire.   If you zoom in on the rails you can see the joinery on the rails these boys cut when they assembled it.  Each one is custom and each fits together perfectly.

Entering Logrono, the river was running strong.  

I bumped into Andre admiring this sign next to my hostel at 10am.  Apparently these two serious looking guys discovered / isolated the element Wolfram (Tungsten) back in the 1700’s.  I had listened the Werewolves of London song a few minutes earlier, so there you go. 

Andre is all happy cuz he has an Airbnb tonight which includes all the luxuries we take for granted.   Specifically, he seemed keen to have unlimited toilet access where he can read his newspaper undisturbed.   It sounded wonderful. 

Today I learned that arriving early in town does not mean I get any rest.  The hostel door was closed, closed, closed.  Meaning, I tried knocking, pressing buttons, leaving and returning, etc for like 2 hours.   Instead, of dropping my pack and wondering the city in comfort, I humped this thing around till 1:00.  

I checked out a little flea market that was getting setup.  Some neat old stuff here.  

Saw a big church with some interesting sculpture work.  Check out the lady above the door standing on a pile of babies.  I mean, there are babies to the left and right, she’s slinging one around with her left hand.  Looks like a couple more are going to fall on her from the ceiling above.  

I found the more modern side of the city and walked some wide boulevards filled with well dressed, fresh smelling people.   It started drizzling again, I was hungry, so I ducked into a super fancy cafe and tried to sit in an isolated spot.   

The gals working the tables tried to ignore me for as long as possible.  Eventually they gave up, took my point-at-the-menu order.  5 minutes later I was served a huge plate of under cooked bacon-like stuff and 2 fried eggs, cooked just the way I hate them, all runny.  I scarfed all that down and was promptly given the bill.  The patrons seem relieved to see me go.

Joe turned up at 12 and I hung out with him until the Albergue opened.  We got cleaned up and met a group of gals who we first encountered in Urdaniz.  3 of them are nurses and the other a pharma rep.  Had topas, wine, and a lot of laughs.   I still don’t know any of their names, haha