Today was about a 22 kilometer trip, from Navarrete to Azofra. We packed our stuff, left our bag and keys to the apartment at the office, and we were on our way. We were too early for breakfast, so we just started walking. Just on the outskirts of town, we passed the cemetery, apparently a rather old one. The first town today was Ventosa, about 6 kilometers from Navarrete. At about 9am, we reached Ventosa and spotted the Cafe Bar Buen Camino. I remembered stopping here in 2017 on my Camino. We had the usual breakfast of coffee and a sweet. We continued on, passing by the Iglesia de San Saturnino. We could tell we were in La Rioja from all the grape vineyards we passed. A couple hours later we entered Najera. We decided it ... read more

We left the albergue about 7am, stopping at the Panaderia de Los Arcos for some coffee and sweets. There were a lot of wheat fields with mountain backgrounds in the 7 kilometers between Los Arcos and Sansol, the first town along the way. It was fairly flat, compared to other days, so far. At the entrance to Sansol we stopped at the Tienda Colmado for another cup of coffee and some sweets, our second breakfast. Once we left Sansol, and Torres del Rio its neighbor behind, it would be almost 10 kilometers with nothing. Fortunately, there was a donativo about half way that had some soda, water and fruit. A donativo is a place where someone sets up with fruit, water, soda, etc., and usually you pay what you want to donate. In this case, everything ... read more

To avoid the afternoon heat, we were packed up and on our way by 6:30am. Since the hotel was at the entrance to town, we had to walk through town to get on the trail. Although it was early, we kept an eye open and spotted a tavern that was open, so we could have a cup of coffee. We finally left Puente La Reina, crossing the old bridge, and posing for a few shots. After about an hour and a half we entered Maneru. We decided to stop for another coffee at the Albergue El Canero. About an hour later we entered Cirauqui, where the Camino passes through an archway of an old building. They provide a stamp, so we got one. I haven't mention this before, but every albergue, most bar and restaurants, and ... read more

After a decent night's sleep, we got up, got our bags ready for transport, and headed downstairs for breakfast. The albergue had the usual toast, jam, orange juice, and coffee. They also had cereal with milk and a pastry. After breakfast, we headed out, crossing the bridge again, and this time turning right. Soon we could see Illarratz in the distance. As we entered the small town, there was a welcome spot to take a break. At about quarter til 9, we passed through Ezkirotz and continued on until Larrasoana. Larrasoana isn't actually on the Camino, but all you have to do is cross a bridge to enter the town, instead of turning left. We'd been walking about 2 hours, and there was a sign for Bar Amari, so we went for it. Well, there isn't ... read more

I slept for a few hours at a time, and had no problem getting up about 6am. We had decided to use the backpack service for our backpacks and take the small one. I'm glad we did! We dropped off the backpacks at the main office and strolled around outside until 7am when breakfast was served. It was anything special, just coffee (in a bowl!), bread, orange juice and jam for the bread. We finished our breakfast and were on our way before 7:30am. The trail started steep, and didn't change much, except to get even steeper! Just after 8:30am we reached the Virgen, so we stopped for a short break. There was no food truck, but we discovered later that apparently he parks further along the trail until just before noon, then moves to Virgen ... read more