We left at 7:10 am, our record thus far, and it was still dark with a full moon. We had a protein drink and were lucky to find a gas station on the outskirts of Estella serving cafe and tea so we stopped. We reached the Irache Monastery with it's pilgrim wine fountain by 8:15 but did not see any wine flowing yet. Decided not to wait for the fountain to start. The fountain also has a web cam broadcasting live views of the fountain- just think we could have called you to check us out at the fountain!
The first part of the walk after that was through forests of pine and native holm oak trees.
In today's walk there was evidence of Moorish architecture, the 13th century Fuente de Los Moros with it's distinct arches in the quiet village of Azqueta. Almost looks like it could have been a bath the way the stairs go down to the water source.
The last half of the walk was through gently rolling hills of vineyards and hay fields called the Pass of the Goats. The last 5 kilos I did drag a bit because it had gotten hotter about 88F and there was no shade.
We arrived at Los Arcos at 1:30 which is our best time yet. We had stopped for 30 minutes for a lunch of bread, ham and cheese in the shadiest spot we could find. Even with this good time the albergue that we wanted was full, the pension was full, and as we were wandering some kind Spaniards called a friend that had rooms for rent. Turned out to be a darling restored townhouse near the Church. Great bathroom, washing machine, kitchen etc. We have since been joined by a Swedish lady and a German fellow. Britt, the Swede, has done the Camino before.
We had drinks out in the church plaza with Britt hoping some of the stores would open so we could get breakfast and lunch items for tomorrow. Nothing really opened so we have some packaged items and have to hope we find something on the way.
Tomorrow's walk to Logrono is a long one - 27.8 kilos 300 meters ascent. We will see how it goes but might stop at Viana which would have us then walking around 20 kilos. Again there are few water fountains and little shade and no regular food sources on this leg of the Camino. We have a mail drop care package to pick up at the Correos or post office in Logrono.
We just attended the pilgrim's blessing at the Church of Santa Maria which has Gothic cloisters and a 13th century statue of the Virgin. Absolutely stunning! Father was very good to at talking in 5 different languages to tell us about the church. We also got a sello.
Dinner though was not to be found by the majority of the peligrinos who were not cooking for themselves. The restaurant across from the church did 1 sitting for the perigrino meal and if you went to church you were out of luck. So it was potato chips and tortilla de patatas for dinner along with some white wine. Met a nice couple from Ontario, and he had done the Camino 2 years ago on his own at that time. He said it was much more crowded now.
No comments:
Post a Comment