Now in Viana - another perfect day

A slightly shorter day today…we clocked up 19.28 kms, upon arrival at Viana, and 29,064 steps. But we worked fairly hard…we kept going down to a river level, and up to a hill town on the other side….i have lost track of how many serious uphill bursts we had, and by the end assuming this was the last, and then another would loom up. This sounds like a serious complaint, but in fact it was all amazing and perfect, despite the effort! Each day we say “ this is the best day so far..”…The weather has been kind …cool in the morning and evenings, (not like the first 2 days when it was seriously cold in the mornings) and today rose well into the 20s by afternoon, and it felt hot. We continued through vast panoramas of vineyards and grain fields and olive groves, always encircled with mountains, some of them snow capped…we keep trying to work out what ranges they are, but it all is spectacular. Today we walked through Torres del Rio with its UNESCO octagonal church, and before that, just on the other side of the river was Sansol. Lovely small towns.

We arrived at Viana about 4.30 I think, and are staying at a lovely hotel, a Palacio! I’ve stayed here several times before and my iPad and phone immediately latched on to the wifi which is very convenient! Dinner was here, and delicious - I had a white bean sort of soup, and a fish (white flesh, no bones and not too much, with that delicious Spanish sauce made of red sweet peppers…can’t remember the name…and almost finished it all. The bean dish on the other hand was huge, and if I had eaten it all wouldn’t have been able to eat anything else…Rachel was the same, it’s not just me!! But all lovely, and ended with a panacotta with berries on top…yum. All this is included with wine (always tinto), water and bread…not bad for €16.50, except we weren’t paying because it is included with our board. After dinner we went to a pilgrim mass in a chapel of the enormous church…well it was a mass that blessed pilgrims after. Very calm.

Tomorrow we stroll into Logroño and the Rioja…only about 10 kms, and we spend 2 nights there…a laundromat will be on the programme, and I know exactly where to find my favourite chiperones à la plancha!! Off to sleep.Leia mais