Day 10: Viana - Navarrete

Today my new friend and I got a later start since we had our own space. We left the albergue at 8:30 and wanted to get a coffee before taking on the 9k to Logroño. Everything was closed or only serving their own pilgrims (breakfast didn't sound good at our place) so we headed out of town with leftover snacks for the night before and full waters from the town's fountain. Hmmm, not the same as coffee...

Above: Ch celebrates the gorgeous morning. 

It took us nearly 3 hours to make the trek to Logroño. The entering in and leaving of bigger cities is often the least scenic and inspiring part of the Camino. We passed factories and paralleled freeways. One highlight was passing from Navarra into La Rioja. I am now in a new region of Spain! 

The Logroño church was pretty special and I love how the camera captures the stained glass shadow next to the actual window. 

In Logroño it was most definitely lunch time as well as coffee time since the day before had only been snacks. 

Salad, sepia and mushrooms. 

It was also decision time. It wasn't early, or late, but 13 k lay between us and the next town. Energized from food and coffee and with a reservation (so we knew we had beds to go to), we decided to go for it. It was a nice shady walk out of Logroño, but we had plenty of time in the sun in the late Spanish afternoon. We arrived at 5:30, very late for the Camino. 

We were tired, thirsty and hungry... good thing we didn't need the hospital. ;)

We checked into a lovely albergue, run by a former pilgrim (who had been kind enough to save us a bunk bed), rested a little and headed out to explore Navarrete. 

A visit to the church, a wander through town and tapas for dinner rounded out the day. 

Haha, more Spanish food!!!

Here's where we will be sleeping tonight, um, I mean in just a few minutes! 

My spot up top!

Practicing Viparita Karani (legs up the wall) is highly recommended after a Camino day. 

Buenas noches. 

Kilometers walked: 23.70 (Fitbit), 21.61 (Buen Camino app). 

Day 9: Los Arcos - Viana

Aches, pains, blisters, knees, ankles, toes, sunburn...

BEDBUGS!!! Today's mini-obsession was bedbugs, or chinches. This is the dark side of the Camino and there are plenty of forum threads dedicated to the topic. While many pilgrims walk without incident, a few creepy stories are enough to get the paranoia flowing. 

Last year I sprayed my sleeping sheet and backpack and didn't have another worry or hear another word. This year, there are some rumors circulating: don't stay here, they were here, etc. 

After hearing another story in Los Arcos, Ch and I decided to take stronger preventative measures. We visited a pharmacy and spoke with a very helpful pharmacist who recommended another spray, while reminding us that they aren't dangerous (just bothersome) and that there are lots of other scarier bugs in nature (and we are in nature everyday on the Camino).

The Camino today was absolutely breathtaking. We saw the sky change from dark blue to pink to gray... and then later in the day - blue. You have to remember to take a moment to turn around and see the sunrise on the Camino - it's pretty much always behind you since we are heading west. An important reminder to pause and check out what's around. 

Here I am filling my water, a daily job on the Camino! There are fountains in most towns. You just have to be careful when there are longer stretches between towns. 

We encountered rock art along the way. 

Amazing views...

Ch and I "splurged" on a private room to have time to spray our stuff and to have a little privacy - something you don't get as much as you would think on the Camino - it's a very social place. If there are two of you, often a double isn't much more than the cost of two bunk beds in a big room. Here's the view from our room. 

The next Camino surprise for us was that the entire town was closed down for the annual fiesta. We checked out the festivities: parades, giants, everyone (I mean EVERYONE) dressed in white and red and some spectacles/running with young bulls (which I don't agree with, but that's another blog). 

No restaurants were open so we had snacks for dinner. Sorry mom. 

We slept tight and the bedbugs didn't bite. ;)

Kilometers walked: 22.26 (Fitbit), 18.33 (Buen Camino app). Plenty of walking around happened in Viana. :)