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Hi to you all,
Sorry that I have deleted some of the messages which I was supposed to have saved on my blog and now I don´t seem able to accept the messages that have arrived as it does not seem to give me that option. Nevermind!
I think I last wrote on day 2.....well a lot has happened since then.
The provence of Navara was truly beautiful. The people were very religious with many christian statues and pictures of Mary or Jesus above the entrances to their homes. One town we approached had a lovely large statue of Mary which was adorned with fresh flowers and seats around it. I guess the villagers came out to pray at this spot.
We managed to get lost in Pamplona and were not able to visit the cathedral as it was Monday and things are often closed. We had a great albergue that night at Cizur Menor and met some very intersting people including a lawyer from Spain, judge from Brazil (just a young guy), a number of Scandanavian people and a young Italian train driver. Many Dutch and French people doing the walk. Apparently there is an elderley couple somewhere along the way. He is 83 and she is 77!! and they have done the walk a number of times.
We had lovely weather and a beautiful walk to Puente la Reina which is a lovely old village with many shops and two beautiful churches. The pilgrims´dinner for about 8 euro consisted of quail-salad-fruit and a mug of wine!
The next day we caught a bus to Estella. It was a lovely clear morning with lots of historic places along the way. The walk from Estella to Los Orcas was hot and exhausting and the place was a dump. No room at the inn so it was a cab (BMW with speeds up to 160ks along f´way) to Viana where we stayed at a fab. hotel with a bath!! Lovely place.
Walked from Viana to Logrono where we visited a lovely street famous for its tapas bars. Certainly worth locating. It was then on to Navarette where the inn was full but we finally found a private albergue which was wonderful. Great facilities.
The next day on the Najera. It was not so interesting as we followed a f´way for a good part of the way however, we have walked through the most beautiful scenery. Acres and acres of wheat and grapevines. We are now in the La Rioja area which is a famous grape growing area and we seem to have lost a lot of the religious feeling. Even the Camino is not so well signposted. However, every village has one or two churches and most seem to have storks sitting in their huge nests.
By the time we reache Najera were were feeling the worse for wear. Marian has had trouble with her knee and my feet were very sore. Upon taking my boots off I realised I had a huge blister on one of my little toes! We then caught the bus to Belorado and stayed last night at a wonderful place some German girls had recommended. It was such a cute pension and Belorado is a lovely place with a very interesting village square. A shame we can´t stay on tonight as they are gearing up for a huge festival this w-end. We will hang around until 2pm when we will get the bus to Burgos.
We knew we would have to take time on the bus so this has been a good break for us.
I am sorry if some of you find this tedious to read but it saves me sending the family separate emails and I know some of you are following us on the map.
The weather is now cooler. This morning was 13 deg. and they do get snow up here in the winter but it is certainly not unpleasant.
This country is not big on service. We have to drag our bags on and off the bus while the driver watches!! However, a lot of people are very friendly and appreciate our attempt at Spanish an go out of their way to show us what we are looking for.
I hope this finds you all well and enjoying your long weekend. It is hard to know what is going on in the rest of the world as papers and TV around this area are all in Spanish.
Lots of love to you all,
Catherine Anne
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Megan McColl
non-member comment
Good going!
That was a great journal entry, thank you! You are both doing so well. I guess when you get on a bus for awhile it is a welcome rest. Hope the knee and toe are feeling better. I bet it was great to arrive at the hotel and be able to have a bath. Penny is in Nice with Melanie, John and Natalie having a wonderful time. Team NZ won the first race last night by 8 seconds!!! It is going to be nail biting sailing I feel :) Keep on with the great walking and thank you for the great update. I am following you on the map so it is all very interesting. Much love Megan xx