Viana to Navarrete - May 15

Boy the weather sure has changed! Yesterday's high of 25 at noon was followed by dropping temps for the remainder of the day. This morning when I got up at 6 it was 9 degrees and sprinkling rain. I was glad I did not send forward my warm jacket! I was on my way by 7:15 with my mind set to walk the 9.2 km to Logrono before breakfast. Today's destination was Navarrete, which is 22.3 km away and hardly any climb so I thought an easy walk. It was a cold windy but luck seemed to be with me and while there was heavy rain ahead of me and behind me, I only noticed a sort of wet wind. I saw several partial rainbows this morning which cheered my spirits.

Logrono is the capital of La Roija and so is quite a large city with a population of 197,000.

By the time I got to Logrono I was starved, so I stopped at the first cafe I found hoping for a hueve y queso bocadilla (Egg and cheese on a bun), but the best could be done was a coffee and a muffin, which sufficed. Refuelled, I carried on through this rather large urban area.

Finding my way through Logrono was not easy as the way was not well marked in the core of the City, but locals were really good at helping me out when I took a wrong turn or was unsure which way to go. Once I was outside of the core, the way was a rather pleasant walking path, with benches along the way, for several kilometres all the way to an embalse (a reservoir) and park.

The rest of the route to Navarrete was easily done, just one major hill over a ridge and then down the valley to the approach to this hill town. I was able to check into the municipal Albergue (7 EUR) any about 1:45.

I found walking in the wind to be particularly tiring and it seems my body is hurting more today. So after my shower I made a nice lunch in the Albergue concina (kitchen) with a hunk of bread I had picked up in Logrono, a tin of tuna I had been carrying from Saint Jean and cheese and ham bought yesterday on the way to Viana. After that I napped for a couple of hours until 6 when the shops opened and went to the super mercado (supermarket) for some fruit for the road tomorrow and a short walk around town.

It must be my lucky day for there was another rainbow in the direction I came from today. I ate such a large lunch, I will just snack for dinner and after posting this blog, get an early night. Internet is really good here at the municipal Albergue, so I am able to upload lots of photos.

I am not sure how far I will go tomorrow, Najera is only 16.5 km ( with a bit of a peak to climb at Alto San Anton) but the next stopping point at Azofra has a fewer number of available beds in the albergues as it is a less popular stopping point. A vendor along the road mentioned that that he is seeing about 200 pilgrims a day along the route. There are well over 200 beds available in Najera but only 60 in Azofra as you can see from the chart below.

Posted with Blogsy