Nájera, Spain

After a lovely breakfast at our pension with espresso, fresh juice, fruit and rolls, we began our trek at 8:30. We only walked another 10 miles, but a lot of up. We arrived here at 2:30, after stopping for our usual picnic lunch, but this time sardine and cheese sandwiches. We also had a stop at a Refrescos Truck to break up the hike. Norm went crazy photographing the wild flowers today, while I marveled at the absence of pain in my feet. Finally those blisters are healing. I’ve been using Vaseline and some nice German hiking socks with padded heels and balls to manage my blisters. We got here early enough to score a private room at the Alberque. We took a nap, then shopped for bread and fruit. We had paella at a cafe on the river. We walked around just a bit, seeing the red cliffs above the city until my feet screamed enough!

Navarrete, Spain and Canary Islands

Yesterday we hiked only a short 8 km distance to make it here. We hiked through a giant park outside of Logrono that went by a lake. The park was full of Spaniards hiking, jogging, and enjoying the sun. We arrived here by two, and easily found the Perigrinando Pension run by Roberto from Venezuela where we are staying. We found lunch, cannoli, at a neighborhood bar where we passed the afternoon with wine and conversation with the other pilgrims. After lunch, we rested, then went out and had a late dinner at an outdoor restaurant with the wind blowing so hard we held onto our wine glasses. We joined Barry and Chris who are from Santa Cruz, for dinner. I had a salad, and Norm had tapas. We’ll be eating breakfast here, then getting on the road by 8:30. Norm is getting concerned about the distance ahead, and how to schedule in a trip to Morrocco.