Today we took in the delights of Burgos. yesterday was the last day of a festival and the crowds were choking our progress.....so we joined in. The boulevard of stalls along the riverside sold traditional dolce (sweets), cakes, a variety of cheeses from a variety of animals, cured meats, weapons, yes weapons, and a range of artifacts and authentic souvenirs made in Pakistan and China. Jewellery and leather goods were also available and were local. All the stall holders wore traditional attire enhancing the markets theme. Knights of some persuasion on horses paraded and damsels wander the streets. It was a great night of colour, sights, traditional music and an exotic blend of food smells; sensory overload. We started today with a sleep in until 9am and after a shower we went downstairs for a breakfast ... read more

Today's stage was a pleasant 7.2 km walk to Granon along country paths through ploughed wheat fields. We had a coffee and caught up with Jan, the Dutch nomad who sleeps outside. He slept in the square last night and was woken by the police this morning; gently but no coffee. Our sleep last night was the worst we had. In a room of about 20 people the nocturnal noises can be overbearing. Combine that with bunks that screech like rusty gates even if you think about moving and you can form a picture. We walked through 5 small villages today and, being a Saturday, we had a chance to see a little village life. As we left San Domenico there was a family preparing a seasons passata sauce and had a pretty good system going ... read more

Today we are walking to Najera about 19 kms from Navarette. It was a thriving furniture making town in the 1970s and '80s but the 1990s saw a downturn and there are only a few factories left. We left Navarette at about 8am as it is was only a short walk and walked up the main road for about 600 metres before turning left on a track that took us through vineyards and olive groves. We saw African workers picking grapes alongside some Spanish men, ready for the famous wine presses of La Rioja and we sampled a couple of grapes near the track and they were very sweet. The path today is a combination of gravel farm roads and rich red earth tracks along the vineyards. The weather was warm but pleasant and with Sue's ... read more

We left Estella after having a caffe con leche at a modern bar which was once part of a grand railway station and headed west ( where else) along good paths leading to the Monasterio Irache . This was about 3 kms of walking from Estella and is famous for having a double drinking fountain, one with water and one with red wine, promising health and happiness to all pilgrims who drink from it. It was still early but health and happiness are too good to pass up on so we filled a water bottle with wine, had a sip and moved on. We continued on gravel tracks bordered by ancient stone walls on one side and beautiful country side on the other. In the distance the light coloured cliffs separating the Basque Country from Spain ... read more

Today we start from Pamplona and walk to Puente La Reina, a total of about 24 kms. We left our accommodation at 7 am in a taxi and were dropped at the point to continue our walk. Not much point walking through an area of suburban Pamplona that we had already traipsed through numerous times, so a taxi was the order of the day. Starting in the dark, the town lights illuminated the path enough to continue walking and we made good progress despite Sue having numerous blisters and I had a developing problem with a toe that became worse during the day. It's a family blog so no photos are shown. More pain than anything from having your feet constantly compressed into the toe of the boots on steep rocky declines. Still, there's plenty of ... read more