Walking ahead and bombs

After waking very late the next morning I realised I would have to get a bus to the next village if I was to escape the day´s heat and be in with a chance of getting anywhere that day. After a cup of tea and some yoghurt I joined the locals to get to a lovely town where I would begin that day´s 30km walk.

The heat became greater throughout the day and I worked my way through at least 6 litres of water as well as 3 lemon fantas! When I reached the next stop, which was in a large town called Logroño, I decided to leave the other guys and head to another village as I had gotten a taste of village hospitality the day before. At 4pm, after almost collapsing at the top of a path by a busy motorway, I arrived in Navarrete, a peaceful town in the region of La Rioja (of wine fame). I had a great evening even though I was now by myself again, and sampled the local meal of the day which consisted of rice and a whole roast chicken!

The day after I was woken up by the other pilgrims in my room, and thinking that it was about 5:30 I left the hostel looking for my yellow arrows to lead the way back to the camino. However it wasn´t 5:30 but actually FOUR THIRTY! I couldn´t see anything, yet alone yellow arrows, so camped out by the road until sun rise when eventually I could see the yellow arrow BEHIND MY BACKPACK!! I had a little laugh then set off, for the first time with my fleece on my back as it was actually pretty cold in the early morning of Saturday. Bit by bit i reached a large town called Najera, where I drained my blisters in front of a wedding crowd (well, I didn´t know they were about to descend on the main square!) and decided to head for another village away from the busy centre. In Azofra I was greeted by a Stork that lives on the top of the local church, just as the clouds gathered and a storm whipped open the wooden shutters. Luckily I was inside a very modern hostel when the heavens opened, so I had escaped the rain.

It was at this point, alone and tired, that I was told a bomb had gone off in Mallorca, and was advised not to head to Burgos where bombs had gone off a couple of days earlier. I read more into it and decided to carry on regardless as nothing was going to stop me from getting to Santiago de Compostela! That evening I cooked with a few other people in the hostel and went to bed at 9pm, probably the earliest I had been to bed for years!

On Sunday morning I left for the next town, but didn´t expect further rain. I couldn´t put up with being soaked any longer so got out my very attractive khaki green poncho. I was admired by many people, and women swooned when I walked past. Luckily by the time I arrived in the town centre of the next town the rain had stopped and my embarassment faded. I had a quick coffee and some toast before visiting the cockerel and hen that live in the local cathedral (google search Santo Domingo de la Calzada if you´re bored and want to learn more) then headed for my destination for Sunday afternoon at the edge of the Rioja region.

My best day so far was on Sunday evening where I stayed in a little village called Grañon. The pilgrim hostel there is in the church tower, and is by donation only. There are no beds, just roll mats, but everyone eats together at the top of the tower before heading for the church. The atmosphere there was fantastic. Although a little noisy (mainly due to the bells) everyone was really friendly and the food made by fellow ITALIAN pilgrims. It goes without saying that the food was fantastic, even though I was recruited to wash up afterwards! We then took ourselves through a passageway into the church where we talked about our day in candlelight. It´s a tradition that everyone says a part of the service in their own language then finish by giving everyone else a big hug! It was a great way to finish the week and I fell asleep next to a noisy Italian priest and a noisy spanish guy looking forward to the week ahead.