Another side effect of a rest day is that you get to meet a whole new group of people. If you walk more or less at the standard pace, you tend to meet the same people each day, give or a take a few stragglers and Speedy Gonzalezes. And even those you haven't met before may have met some of the others before. On Saturday night I took everyone out to the tapas street in Logroņo (c/Laurel) and though we had only known each other for a week, we all got on very well and had a great evening. But when I checked into the hostel on Sunday afternoon (after spending Saturday night in a private hotel), everyone was new.
The walk out of Logroņo goes through a beautiful lake and park area. If you pass through it in the morning you are likely to encounter a number of joggers and dog-walkers. I walked for some time with a man called Sare (or that's what it sounded like) and his very well-behaved cocker spaniel, Brutus. Sare showed me the wild garlic growing by the path - he pulled it up and though the bulbs hadn't started to grow yet, they definitely smelled of garlic. Sare also told me, though I will take these assertions with a pinch of salt until I find proof to back them up, that the first recorded use of Spanish was in the La Rioja region, and that there are more Spanish kings buried in the San Millan monastery than in El Escorial.
The rest of the day's walking was less eventful - factories and a major highway blotted much of the journey, with the rest of the way dominated by the now obligatory vineyards.
I started to feel some tightness in my right foot and so decided to stop early, in Ventosa, rather than make the mistake I made last time of pushing myself when injured. Ventosa is an average looking little ghost town, but the albergue is great. With only six beds in my room, I'm looking forward to a quieter night's sleep than usual!
ĄBuen camino!
thanks for the tapas information for Logrono. I’ll look for them when I’m there. I’ve already made a note in my camino guide and marked the street on my map book too. Glad to see you are not punishing youself with major walking when you need rest. And don’t be surprised when you meet up with some of your fellow walkers again in a week or two. They’ll take a rest somewhere else and you can walk with them again. It happens all the time.
I’m following your progress with great interest and certainly wish you well.
You must have better luck finding efficient Internet facilities than I did when I did the Camino in 2007. Links were often painfully slow and/or keyboards did not work properly. It certainly did not make for long posts. Are you carrying a laptop as well as your other hiking gear, perchance? Extra weight is not good for the hips, knees and feet.
Buen Camino!
c/Laurel…what memories of my 17 & 18 year old self had there!
Riojanos are extremely proud of the region and I too was told it is the root of the Spanish language, right there in Logrono. For what it is worth, through the years I’ve been told by both Spaniards from other regions and South Americans I speak a excellent form of Spanish, so considering I learned from the Riojanos, there might be more to it than local myth.
Buen Camino.