Mendigorria, Spain

We were on the trail by 7:30 joining a stream of pilgrims who all had the same idea as us. We met a couple, Karen and Steve, and hiked a way with them chatting. After a time, I discovered my water bladder leaked which ended the conversation as we had to stop to deal with it. Luckily it was warm enough already and a wet back wasn’t bad. We adjusted the wet bladder and kept on going. It was supposed to be an easy day, but while we were hiking it didn’t feel too easy. We passed a pair of cute young women on a grassy knoll who had their boots off and all their first aid gear out to treat each other’s blisters. “We have a foot hospital” they joked. We passed through several villages, seeing again the donkey with his pilgrim owner resting in a local park. Every time we passed a park in a village, it was occupied with clusters of resting pilgrims. We stopped at a children’s playground to prepare our usual picnic. This time we had apricots that we’d found at a mercado earlier. As we ate lunch, I saw pilgrim after pilgrim stop at the water fountain to fill their water bottles even though the sign said the water wasn’t potable! It seemed odd no one heeded the sign. I didn’t risk it, but filled my water supply at a market. Eventually we walked into Estella, and found Hostel Christina where we are staying. Norm’s in the bath, I’m in bed writing after my bath. I washed some of my clothes, and have them hung on the balcony. Today marks one week that we’ve been on the Camino. Tomorrow we will hike to Los Arcos. I think we’ll pass the wine fountain. After a rest, we went out to find dinner. On the street we discovered there was a country fair in progress with mariachi music, and a farmers market. We tried all the free samples, bought some tinned oysters for the road, and found some macaroons to munch. We ate dinner at one of the restaurants. It was salmon tonight, with salad and ice cream for dessert plus all the wine we could want.