Spain
Viana

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    • Day 8

      Auf der Suche nach meinem Stein

      April 30, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

      Laut Erzählungen und Tradition soll auf dem langen Weg ein großes Kreuz sich befinden, an welchem jeder (s)einen Stein symbolisch ablegt, und mit Hilfe von Gott und Vertrauen an ihn, seine Sorgen, Geschichte, oder was auch immer der Sinn ist, dort lässt.

      Auch ich bin auf der Suche nach meinem Stein und ich weiß auch schon meinen Inhalt und Sinn den ich da lassen möchte, mit einem Teil der zum kreisschließen gehört.

      Ein paar Steine die mir zunächst ins Auge stachen hab ich schon in der Hosentasche und irgendwann entscheide ich mich welcher es sein wird. Er soll mich von nun an begleiten, meine Gedanken aufnehmen und dort seinen Platz finden.

      Zudem habe ich noch einen Stein gesammelt. Aber diese Geschichte erzähle ich an einer anderen Stelle. 😔
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    • Day 11

      Los Arcos to Logrono - part two

      April 2 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

      It's the longest day yet, distance wise, and if you don't want to do the whole 27.8km stage, your one option is to stay in Viana, at the 18.4km mark instead. As the following stage is 29km, there's no making up that ~10km tomorrow, it basically means you turn two days into three by walking the first half of one, the second half of one and first half of the other, then the second half of the other. Messy.

      I've been a sanctimonious prick when it comes to doling out the platitudes to others - listen to your body, take it easy, etc. So when my left quad started giving me gipp on the approach to Viana you'd think I'd have stopped. No, apparently a pilgrim in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by a bigger force than that.

      Cursing that decision almost immediately, I soon rounded a corner and saw Jovan and another pilgrim - he clearly likes company when he walks - and internally groaned as he ditched her taking a photo to come walk with me again. My feet hurt, my legs hurt, my pack felt heavy, and it was all industrial concrete noise.

      Once in the albergue, mercifully, very close to the edge of town, I repeated my party trick of selecting the worst possible shower. Best I can compare it to is if you left a juice box at room temperature for a while then stabbed it with a fork and held it over your head. Half dressed and fuming, I turned on the one next to it out of interest and thought about stabbing some more as the water came out strong and hot.

      Now, my highly technical towel only really has about three-quarters of a dry in it at the best of times. Perhaps it's made for a much smaller person? I'm not sure where you'd find one. So in choosing to start the shower process again, I was going to have to ask a lot from it. When the time came, the towel looked at me incredulously and suggested I speak to the union. When they didn't show up, the towel threw itself in and slapped about me, wet and cold.

      Today's lesson, which the towel has since provided in writing as a formal complaint: test the shower before committing.

      I'm now sitting in the kitchen waiting for my hair to dry as I strongly suspect Spain sides with Italy in considering going outside with wet hair the most unhealthy thing you can do, up to and including swallowing fireworks. We'll see if I can stand up after, and go from there.
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    • Day 10

      Day 8 - To Los Arcos

      September 16, 2022 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

      Day 8 - To Los Arcos
      21.6 km; Temp 21-22°C;
      Difficulty rating 2/3.
      A sidenote, if you click on the map at the top of my trip and then zoom in you will see each stop I make.

      This morning only 3 km out of Estella was an amazing wine fountain!
      “Bodegas Irache”. I am well into the wine vineyards now, and I went through more beautiful forest paths today. Notice the yellow arrow on the tree, guiding our way. A church atop a mountain has me wondering why it was built there and how many people actually attend. I was lucky enough to hear the bell ringing from such a vast distance.
      The intense walking every day makes me thankful for my water being so accessible; that I don’t have to search/reach for it. Alas I arrived in Los Arcos. It was so quiet!! I guess it was still siesta time. But the guard dog was on duty. There was a really amazing church in Los Arcos where I hoped to attend. But there was no mass yesterday. So I lit candles.
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    • Day 12

      Day 9 - Viana to Navarrete

      May 24, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      At a glance:
      Highlight: the incredible gilt work in the Church of the Assumption in Navarrete.
      Food highlights: chocolate dipped cookies
      Kilometres walked: 27.11
      # of steps: 35,307
      Elevation gain: an easy 150m

      We are in Rioja, land of grapes and wine. We passed an experimental vineyard of white Tempranillo grapes, a genetic mutation of the traditional red grape. They were experimenting something or other....our Spanish is challenged by research projects ...but each row of vines was carefully marked.
      We were overconfident today, day 9 with no blisters. We ignored our usual rule of taking a break, airing our feet every hour and changing our socks at lunch. Both Trudy and i now have a blister each on our heels.
      Tomorrow we have to get to the Municipal Albergue in Azofra before 3pm, 23k away, else we lose our reservation.
      We are in a private hostel tonight, 2 beds, shared bathroom, a pillow case and bottom sheet, no towels, access to a kitchen for a total of €38.
      Empanadas (ham and cheese) potato chips and cookies for dinner. No lunch, just chocolate and an orange and a few sunflower seeds.
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    • Day 11

      Inglesia Santa Maria de la Asuncion

      May 28, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

      The church of Santa María de la Asunción located in Viana ( Navarra , Spain ) is a religious building built between 1250 and 1312. 
      Of course my interest was to find the grave of Cesare Borgia the son of Pope Alexander VI and for all purposes the Machiavellian Prince

      César Borgia died during a treacherous ambush, in Viana, on March 12, 1507. 
      Initially buried in a Sepulcher inside the church in the sixteenth century his remains were dragged out and buried in the plaza before church
      later on reburied again at the top platform of the steps to the church with the inscription that you see here
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    • Day 14

      Viana

      September 18, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      Kolejny piękny dzień. Pomimo krótszego odcinka jesteśmy bardzo fizycznie zmęczeni ale jest dobra rzecz w głowie i sercu. Nasze ulubione kolory w postaci żółtych strzałek lub niebiesko-zoltych plakietek dają kierunek w przyszłość. Pomału widujemy tych samych ludzi i odwiedzamy się czasami na 100 metrów czasami na dłużej a czasami przy kawie.Dzisiaj było chyba 8 mocnych podejść na szczęście krótkich no i oczywiście tyle samo zejść. Końcówka ciężka bo w pełnym słońcu już bez wody na szczęście zrekompensowało nam całkowicie piękna Viana.
      Z ciekawostek po pierwsze to świątynia w Torres del Rio w kształcie ośmioboku (czyli templariusze) z XII wieku bardzo przypominająca świątynię Eunate do której nie mogliśmy wejść a tutaj mozna było wszystko zobaczyć. W środku nic nie przypomina kościoła ale wręcz przeciwnie arabski mihrab
      Viana to przeurocze malutkie miasteczko leżące na granicy Nawarry i Kastylii. Było ono świadkiem wielu walk pomiędzy oboma krainami. Cezar Borgia zginął w czasie oblężenia miasta a był on synem późniejszego papieża Aleksandra VI.
      W starym mieście jest piękny kościół Santa Maria de la Asuncion z główną fundacja gotycka ale z barokowa okrasa, posiada wiele skarbów i jedna z naw jest poświęcona Sw. Jakubowi pogromcy Maurów - Santiago Matamoros. Ten motyw będzie się jeszcze pojawiał później. To tyle z ciekawostek.😊
      Jutro wchodzimy do krainy win.😁😍❤️
      I thought we were in wine country already for at least 3 days😍! Everywhere around were grapevines with different types of grapes, mainly the dark tiny ones, people are growing them on the balconies and above the garages, too! It looks beautiful ❤️
      They have been lifesavers for us, when on the road we needed some extra sugar, numerous times we just grabbed cluster of 🍇 to fullfil the carbs deficiency 😋. Same with figs, blackberries and almonds, all just in the reach of the hand...
      As they say: don't praise the day before the sun sets, after yesterday's kind day to my feet, today I developed first 2 blisters😳. Dr Tom just finished wound care for them, and hopefully today won't be a painful day😊. I'm posting few more pic from last day in a new footprint 👣. Thank you All for walking with us🥰❤️
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    • Torres del Río to Viana

      September 21, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      Today's route was just a short 11km walk to Viana, a smallish city of about 4000 people.

      Most pilgrims were pressing on to Logroño, a much bigger place, to catch “La Peña de las Uvas”, the pressing of the grapes. We have a preference for the smaller cities. Likely we’ll have breakfast in Logroño tomorrow on the way through.

      It was quite cool when we started walking, about 10C. But sunny and dry and shorts and short sleeved shirt felt great. Perfect weather for walking.

      There was a bit of up and down on a good track through grape and olive growing areas; a stop for a coffee and snack in the bush at Casita Lucia. We arrived at Viana at lunchtime. After getting some necessities from the pharmacy, we had a fine lunch of tortilla with ham, and Coke Zero.

      At 2pm we checked in to Palácio de Pujadas, which is in fact somewhat palatial. Very comfortable anyway, right on the main street and Camino.

      Kevin read that yesterday was World Paella Day and had failed to observe it appropriately so he hopes to make up for that tonight. John will refrain.

      On this leg we left Navarra province and crossed into La Rioja. We think that explains the lack of dual Spanish/Basque signage. Perhaps we’ve left Basque territory.
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    • Day 15

      Adios Navarra

      September 26, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      I was off early and caught the sun rise coming out of Los Arcos. I managed to keep pace with other pilgrims for most of the day for the first time and had to get in a queue for food at the first cafe in Sansol because I was still surrounded by people. I managed to walk 18 km for the first time on the Camino and was in my next accommodation around two o'clock, which was much faster that I was doing earlier in the week.

      Everyday on the Camino so far has been beautiful. Olive groves give way to golden fields already harvested, endless villages with their magnificent bell towers and a smattering of Benedictine monasteries on hilltops. To the north all day were the cliffs of another mountain range and south further hills abound. A wise pilgrim has explained that the Camino is never flat and each day we climb up hill and down dale repeatedly.

      We share the path with many locals walking their dogs and their families, with school children on excursions, with the occasional crazy cyclists and apparently with a bunch of old guys doing a horseback Camino.

      Tonight I spend my last night in the Spanish State of Navarra and the Basque part of Spain. To celebrate I'm staying at the palace, well in a location where there was once a palace. Now it's just a modern hotel built inside the stone facade with bedrooms decorated in regal colours.

      But I soaked in the bath forever My feet are much better and I now only have localised sore spots rather than my whole feet dying, at least that was the case for 15 km. I did struggle with the last three, but I don't have another day longer than today for more than three weeks and lots of shorter days coming up. I might brave carrying my full pack for the 9km into Logrono tomorrow.

      (Sorry about the duplicate photos, can't delete them and to tired to repost the whole thing)
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    • Day 7

      Viana

      July 29, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      On my way to Logroño, I started the day walking with an older German couple. They started walking in Munich!!! That would be 2,700k to Santiago, and they have done over 2/3 of the way, in a bit over 3 months. They started with very heavy packs, as they had to be equipped for the snow. Then they shipped the winter gear home. Legends!
      At one point they decided to stop for a coffee, but I kept going. I walked the rest of the way on my own, at a slow and steady pace.
      I stopped here for a break and a snack at Viana. It was getting very hot, and just sitting in the shade for a while felt great.
      Although I was walking on my own, I exchanged many 'buen caminos' with other walkers, and I could recognise some faces. Then, at rest stops, we can count on those familiar people to look after the backpack while one goes to the toilet, for example. We may not know each other's names, but we're all part of the same big thing and we look after each other.
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    • Day 11

      Day 8 Viana

      April 18 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      Olive trees! There are tons here and they make the most tasty oil. We decides not to take a rest day tomorrow so we walked only 18 km today. Checked in just after noon. Tomorrow we plan on 20km. We are just not sure what shape we'll be in if we do the 28km scheduled.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Viana, فيانا, Вијана, Вьяна, Віана, 比亚纳

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