Parque del Espolón

After recovering from our 12-hour day on the Camino that ended with an exciting rainstorm and Bull run on Sunday, Trina and I decided it was time for a break, and one of our guidebooks recommended Logroño as a perfect rest stop. We got a ride on the highway A12 from our truck stop hotel to our two night rest stop in Logrono and checked into two nice private rooms located right in the center of town.

My feet are in need of a break due to my pinky toes being very swollen and blisters are trying to form on my heel. Trina is fighting off a cold, probably from the sick New Zealand woman sharing our room of five beds in the Magical Albergi. She was coughing and admitted to being very ill and a nurse, one would think she should have known better than to be in a communal place. But, maybe there was nowhere else for her to go. Maybe she couldn't afford to take a taxi to the next town? Who knows. Anyway both of us now have sinus symptoms and I'm hoping it's just allergies. We've been walking through wildflowers for over a week and our bodies are adapting to this new environment and activity level. It'll be alright.

In addition to resting up for our walk through the Rioja region, we have decided to use our two days of Camino "time off " to do some needed trip planning and other chores. First we had lunch at the classic Cafe Moderno, a vintage diner experience with lots of locals enjoying the 3 course lunch menu with vino.

After a long lunch of salad, soup, chicken and fish, we strolled to check out the neighborhood and found we're staying right up from the famous Calle del Laurel a lively pedestrian Street in Logroño's old town featuring over 50 restaurants & tapas bars serving traditional pinchos. We tried a BBQ sandwich pincho on the way home with a cafe con leche, then went back to our hotel for a nap.

We rallied around 5:00 and set out for the pharmacy, pop into the cathedral for a look at their famous art collection, and then to do our laundry while we plan the next stages of our trip through Sunday. We sat down in a bar on the corner and drank the Rioja de la Casa which came with a small bowl of pork rinds. Yum! We made reservations at the next 4 Camino stages in two hotels, one albergi, and splurging with a shared room at a Parador. We are breaking up our stages into smaller sections so that we do not overdo it. We have realized that 28 km in one day, with the assents and descents is too much for us at this time. And we are trying to get synced back up with two of the ladies that we walked with from St Jean who are one day behind is.

Even though we didn't walk Monday, we made a lot of progress, including getting an excellent night's sleep in what would be considered a luxurious room comparatively speaking. There is a small Nespresso machine quietly luring me to get out of this very comfortable bed, that, truth be told, I could lie in all day. But, this town looks really interesting and it seems a shame to not spend some time exploring it. And there is an art deco cafe right next door with a lovely desayuno calling my name.

Now that we have walked from the Navarra region into Rioja, I looked at booking a half day wine tour today, but we decided that may be too much to do if we want to successfully get back to our pilgrim life tomorrow.

Today we will decide whether we will ship some items onward to Santiago at the post office to lighten our load. We will get our bags ready to take to the Albergi for transport tomorrow, and we will enjoy tapas and hopefully meeting up with our fellow Pilgrim Friends who are arriving in town today. And we will also rest so our bodies can carry us for the next 600 plus km.

We are enjoying the journey.Read more