Today was a long hot day and we were dragging ourselves into the Alberge in Azofra after 22.8 KM and 250 meters of ascent. The path was primarily on asphalt or red clay. I can only imagine how difficult it would have been to walk through that red clay in the rain!
We got up and out the door from our Albergue El Cantaro which ended up having all 10 beds in our room filled as well as another room with 4 beds and the private room. All of us sharing 2 bathrooms. We had with us a group of 4 Canadians, 2 Australians (part of a group that the other 4 were in the garage of the Albergue) and 2 French bikers. We agreed that we would put the lights on at 6am so that we could get an early start. David and I didn´t get out the door until 7:30 and while we had a protein shake, a little cafe con leche was needed. Had to hike 6 KM before there was a bar for breakfast. 10KM later we were in the town of Najera which is delightful. It is a shame that a perigrino has to rush through towns in order to get a bed for the night! We did stop for an hour to tour the Monstario Santa Maria el la Real ,which is the burial place for many of the Kings, Queens and Knights of Navarre. There is a legend associated with this church which was built on the site of a cave that the son of Sancho the Great, Don Garcia, followed his hunting falcon into this cave and found a stature of the Virgin Mary. This legend is also depicted in the alter carvings.
We got up and out the door from our Albergue El Cantaro which ended up having all 10 beds in our room filled as well as another room with 4 beds and the private room. All of us sharing 2 bathrooms. We had with us a group of 4 Canadians, 2 Australians (part of a group that the other 4 were in the garage of the Albergue) and 2 French bikers. We agreed that we would put the lights on at 6am so that we could get an early start. David and I didn´t get out the door until 7:30 and while we had a protein shake, a little cafe con leche was needed. Had to hike 6 KM before there was a bar for breakfast. 10KM later we were in the town of Najera which is delightful. It is a shame that a perigrino has to rush through towns in order to get a bed for the night! We did stop for an hour to tour the Monstario Santa Maria el la Real ,which is the burial place for many of the Kings, Queens and Knights of Navarre. There is a legend associated with this church which was built on the site of a cave that the son of Sancho the Great, Don Garcia, followed his hunting falcon into this cave and found a stature of the Virgin Mary. This legend is also depicted in the alter carvings.
We finally dragged into a municipal Albergue in Azofra at around 3pm. This was a nice Albergue with double rooms if you got there earlier...we were out in a dorm with 6 beds which we shared with a Korean couple. He is 70 years old and she is 65. They actually started in St. Jean! They are carrying the smallest back packs and move along at about the same pace we do.
The Albergue had a nice little foot soaking pool in the center of the courtyard with a fountain so it made for a very relaxing area to do the laundry, hang it out to dry and visit with fellow peregrinos. Within 20 minutes of our arrival the lady in charge of the Albergues came around asking if there was a Dr amongst us. This is when we heard that one of the group, a German fellow in his early 60s had died in the local bar while having his lunch. The police came and there was some difficulty because we could find perigrinos who could translate from German to English but none that could go from English to Spanish. No one could translate from German to Spanish so the fellow´s wife was having a difficult time dealing with everything naturally. There was a memorial service at the church that night that everyone went to.
Along the way there have been various memorials to fallen perigrinos of various nationalities and ages which have been respected by all those passing on the Camino.
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