Maxx Camino

My first rest day. No need to get up early to minimize walking in the afternoon sun, so I had a leisurely breakfast at the albergue (scrambled eggs, toasted sandwiches, orange juice, coffee - definitely at the better end of albergue breakfasts!). And I was the last to leave at 8:10 am - my shoes looked lonely when I went to get them (It is normally compulsory to remove shoes at or near reception at the albergues, and some of them have quite creative places to store them overnight) I managed to drop my pack off at a hotel that some US pilgrims were staying at, and then set off for a walk around town. It felt quite odd walking without a pack or hiking poles I had heard that it was worth visiting the monastery, so headed that way. Amazing how they build these huge structures into the side of a cliff In this case the location was based on a cave found under miraculous/legendary circumstances by King Don Gar...

I had an early start today; some kind person got up and started packing at 4:45 am, and thought the rest of us would like to join him. I lay awake for long enough to know that I wasn't going back to sleep, so decided to pack up my bed and walk I had planned to take a short or maybe even a zero day, but the early start in the rain persuaded me to just keep moving (it was quite cold). A bit of manual navigation required in the dark added to the fun, since a pedestrian bridge on The Way was closed I quite like the stylised camino shell used in this region First village,  Navarrete: Just before my morning coffee and tortilla de patata, I had my gold fix for the day at the Iglesia de Santa María de la Asunción in Navarrete. I'm in three minds about this one: is it gaudy or godly or just goldy? [Sorry, not sure if that needs to be rotated on your screen. The video looks impressive, but I can't work out how to embed it...

The albergue included breakfast this morning, so I had a bit of a different start than usual. Breakfast was very solid toast with nutella followed by biscuits and coffee, so a little weird, but still ok We passed a few points of interest today, the first being someone using a trolley rather than a backpack. I had run into some Americans at Bayonne who were using the same sort of device, but theirs were still packed away in a cover, so I didn't get to see them in all their glory Second POI, right by the first POI, a bit of a memorial area with ribbons, painted stones etc Third POI, Viana: Entering Logrono... ... and observing some gold  Saying of the day: "the train is not waiting for me", meaning walk at your own speed, there's no particular date or time you have to be anywhere I'm now ensconced in an albergue next to the cathedral (with gold) in...

I really enjoy the early morning walking, with the cool temperatures, hardly anybody about, no traffic noise Just after visiting an amazing blacksmith... ...I reached the famous wine fountain. Wine is genuinely on tap for pilgrims, along with water. So I had to sample both liquids the traditional way, by using the pilgrim's shell as a cup I ended up drinking four zumo (or jugo) de naranga (freshly- squeezed orange juices) today. They always hit the spot, although can be twice the cost of beer (cold beer hits the spot too!). Cafe (and orange juice) number 2 was playing the Spanish version of Gloria by Laura Branigan, which is a real blast from the past. A cigar- smoking priest was entertaining a group of young Spanish pilgrims My legs and feet enjoyed the shorter walk today... ...and I managed to find a good albergue ...