Viana to Navarrete

You may be one of the five or six people reading this blog, who think that for somebody with two degrees and several years of postgrad I am remarkably incoherent with bad grammar. You need to know the most of the time I'm doing this with speech to text, and while I try and do a rough edit by the end of the day, some of the days just don't allow for this.

For me this was the most enjoyable walking day so far. The views were not as gorgeous as they were up in the Pyrenees,  but the roads were easy, the hills gentle, the stops restful and most of the walk through a cultivated green space between Logroño and Navarrete.  The other thing that I noticed they were coming increasingly friendly wishing us buenas Dias or Buen Camino many many times through the day. It was very encouraging and warmed my heart (especially as we were leaving Logroño, where the Camino route was not terribly well marked).

This morning we watched workers setting up for the wine festival of the Rioja region in Logroño, and by this afternoon noticed the harvesters in the fields. My compatriots engaged the harvesters in some conversation, and ended up walking away with about 2 pounds of grapes plus some photographs. All I got was a picture!  But they brought me some grapes to the place where I was resting, and an afternoon snack of half a pound of grapes right from the vine is unbelievably wonderful.

We are also in one of the nicest albergues we have encountered to date. We are in an essentially private room with six bunks (although we have some questions that the other two will be occupied), two complete restrooms, a kitchen with washing facilities, and this for nine euros per person for the night. The Pilgrim's meal across the way comes well recommended we are going to dine at about 730 or so, depending on when the Pilgrims mass might be.

I Think I've hit my stride for walking. 22 or 23 kilometres day is not brutal, I'm able  to do these much smaller hills without dying, and the rest at the end of the afternoon is wonderful.  I have become quite enamored of San Miguel or Estella beer!

But at supper, it is Vino Tinto, preferably a Rioja.  Our young actor friend Emily, quoting a show she had been in recently said "a man who drinks Rioja is a bull in bed."  Ole!

Today's music:  Come we that love the Lord (v 4 "we're marching through Emmamuel's ground to greater realms on high.") ... And Wayne Dirksen's tune!

Today's paces:  35,006

Tomorrow's prayer intentions:  Beth Marcoux....friend of my travelling companions whose funeral is at 10..."may she rest in peace and rise in glory!"  And with the circle of life, some thoughts of joy for Courtney and Deanna as they are married!