Najera-Capital of the Kingdom of Navarre

 

Another long day...18.5 miles, yet it didn't seem as bad as the other day when we did nearly the same mileage.  The difference is that we set out this morning knowing we had that many miles to walk and we planned out our day accordingly.  Our hotel had a really nice buffet breakfast laid out for us and the other quests.  Below are some pictures. Once we were full, we made our way out of the big city of Logrono walked along natural paths over the Rio Ebro and then up over Alto Grajera. We made our first stop in a small village of Navarette almost 8 miles into our day and had coffee and tea. We had lunch in Ventosa about 12.5 miles out.  Again today much of the walk was through the vineyards and we got to watch harvesting of grapes. We passed several wineries along the way, which reminded me a lot of the Napa Valley. We arrived into Najera about 4:30, had dinner at a cafe right next to the Rio Najerilla.

Today was our 9th straight day of walking; we've walked over 130 miles, that's an average of 14.5 miles each day.  The Pilgrims we have been seeing along the way are mostly young college aged kids in their twenties and then there are the newly retired folks.  So far, Lee has been the oldest one on the trail.  Lee turns 76 in a few weeks and most of the pilgrims can't believe it because she's in such good shape for her age. Several have stopped us to have their picture taken with her, it's hilarious! I have another confession to make, more often than not Lee is out in front of me on the trail and stops to wait for me to catch up.  Especially towards the end of the day, when I have kicked into slow...she speeding up!  She says it's because she can't wait to get her pack and boots off; but I know she's running on caffeine from all the expresso's she's been having!

There are a few things here that take time to get used to.  The showers can be hazardous.  Lee somehow managed to have one get away from her and I heard a scream, when I entered the bathroom to see what was the matter the ceiling, the walls, the floors (you name it) everything but Lee was wet. Also, a lot of the bathrooms have bidets, we've never used one before so I think it's time to give one a try.  Tonight before my bath I will try to figure out how it's used, I will report tomorrow on the experience. :)