A relatively lazy day again really. We were a bit concerned last night as the festival in the main square was very loud, plus every 10 minutes or so a brass band made its way up the narrow street our hostel was on and right past our window. At one point they played 'Roll Out The Barrel', that quintessentially Spanish tune (not), and I even thought I heard the 'Match of the Day' theme tune but I could have been mistaken. Fortunately, at 10:30pm, everything suddenly fell silent and the crowds quietly disappeared, so we ended up sleeping pretty well. In the morning I could hear the pilgrims leaving in stages. There's always a bunch that leaves around 6am, then the next lot go at 7am, and then 8am. On the odd occasion there might be one or two hardcore types that leave before 6. We left at 8:30! And only because that was when everybody had to be out by! We decided to go to a café a few doors away to have our usual Camino breakfast, though everyone does it slightly differently. It comprises 'tostada con tomate y jamon' (toasted baguette with tomato salsa and iberico ham, plus usually a drizzle of olive oil), a 'zumo de naranja' (orange juice - the freshly squeezed from a machine is amazing) and a 'caffe con leche' (coffee with milk). The walk is very easy today, hence our unwillingness to hurry, and is essentially, from one end to the other, the same dirt/gravel track winding through fields and between hills. I've read and heard comments that stages like this are 'boring', but I think they're just as beautiful as majestic forests and waterfalls and whatever else might be seen as exciting. Shortly after leaving Nájera, the vineyards are suddenly exchanged for either virgin farmland, ready for use, or fields of things like sunflowers or vegetables. Early on We'd picked a huge bunch of red grapes to carry with us, sensing it could be our last chance, and had placed them carefully in a carrier bag which was tied to my backpack. This bunch weighed -probably- around a kilo, and tended to swing about as I walked, which risked ruining the grapes. For much of the way, therefore, I had to reach my hand behind me and carefully stop the bag from swinging. I did find reaching back and gently cradling a soft, weighty sack as I walked along slightly unsettling though, so I sang the theme tune to Fraggle Rock over and over in my head to stop me from thinking about it! There are two towns along the way, at equal points, so we stopped at both. The first is Azofra, where we stopped at Bar Sevilla, and the second is Cirueña, where we stopped at Bar Jacobeo for a much-needed grumpy service. Santo Domingo de la Calzada is another very small town. The 'old town', based around the cathedral and monastery, is pretty with its carved stone walls and medieval gargoyles. There are many bars and restaurants, but only one supermarket. Our hostel, The Room Concept (yet another rubbish name) is 6 private rooms, with only one shared toilet and shower, so tomorrow morning could be interesting!

Walking

Rioja, Spain

time : Sep 17, 2024 9:07 AM

duration : 5h 44m 12s

distance : 22 km

total_ascent : 526 m

highest_point : 812 m

avg_speed : 4.6 km/h

user_id : fineartjones

user_firstname : Neil

user_lastname : Jones

A relatively lazy day again really. We were a bit concerned last night as the festival in the main square was very loud, plus every 10 minutes or so a brass band made its way up the narrow street our hostel was on and right past our window. At one point they played 'Roll Out The Barrel', that quintessentially Spanish tune (not), and I even thought I heard the 'Match of the Day' theme tune but I could have been mistaken. Fortunately, at 10:30pm, everything suddenly fell silent and the crowds quietly disappeared, so we ended up sleeping pretty well. In the morning I could hear the pilgrims leaving in stages. There's always a bunch that leaves around 6am, then the next lot go at 7am, and then 8am. On the odd occasion there might be one or two hardcore types that leave before 6. We left at 8:30! And only because that was when everybody had to be out by! We decided to go to a café a few doors away to have our usual Camino breakfast, though everyone does it slightly differently. It comprises 'tostada con tomate y jamon' (toasted baguette with tomato salsa and iberico ham, plus usually a drizzle of olive oil), a 'zumo de naranja' (orange juice - the freshly squeezed from a machine is amazing) and a 'caffe con leche' (coffee with milk). The walk is very easy today, hence our unwillingness to hurry, and is essentially, from one end to the other, the same dirt/gravel track winding through fields and between hills. I've read and heard comments that stages like this are 'boring', but I think they're just as beautiful as majestic forests and waterfalls and whatever else might be seen as exciting. Shortly after leaving Nájera, the vineyards are suddenly exchanged for either virgin farmland, ready for use, or fields of things like sunflowers or vegetables. Early on We'd picked a huge bunch of red grapes to carry with us, sensing it could be our last chance, and had placed them carefully in a carrier bag which was tied to my backpack. This bunch weighed -probably- around a kilo, and tended to swing about as I walked, which risked ruining the grapes. For much of the way, therefore, I had to reach my hand behind me and carefully stop the bag from swinging. I did find reaching back and gently cradling a soft, weighty sack as I walked along slightly unsettling though, so I sang the theme tune to Fraggle Rock over and over in my head to stop me from thinking about it! There are two towns along the way, at equal points, so we stopped at both. The first is Azofra, where we stopped at Bar Sevilla, and the second is Cirueña, where we stopped at Bar Jacobeo for a much-needed grumpy service. Santo Domingo de la Calzada is another very small town. The 'old town', based around the cathedral and monastery, is pretty with its carved stone walls and medieval gargoyles. There are many bars and restaurants, but only one supermarket. Our hostel, The Room Concept (yet another rubbish name) is 6 private rooms, with only one shared toilet and shower, so tomorrow morning could be interesting!