September 22 Viana
Day 8. 18 Kms. Los Arcos – Torres del Rio (no bull & no river) – Viana. We arrived in Viana @ 1230 and decided to take the afternoon off. Another lovely walk, a few Camino pilgrim memorials and enough wind turbines to give Don Quijote a breakdown. Cameron Cossart, a long time friend from Canberra who now lives in Melbourne, wandered in to the albergue while we were having lunch and introduced us to Jane who is walking with Marcus (?), a Serbian so our trail family is starting to form. It’s going to be an afternoon of touristy stuff and catching up. Plus a load of washing.
September 23 Navarrete, La Rioja, Spain
Day 9. 27 Km. Viana – Logrono – Navarrete. The endless procession. Apparently there are about 40K pilgrims walking the Camino this month. Cameron decided to stay in Logrono as a wine festival is on this weekend. And, yes, the altar at the Iglesia Santiago Real (16th century) is ALL gold.
September 24 Azofra
Day 10. 26Kms. Navarette- Ventosa (b/f – coffee, OJ and ham and omlette roll 😋) – Najera – Azofra. It takes a bit of getting used to setting out @ 0730 when it’s still dark but the walking is really just strolling along a Spanish rural footpath. We do some big Ks but we’re finished by early afternoon which leaves time for other pursuits. Speaking of which, there are hundreds of square kilometres of grape vines here which explains why quite good vino tinto is 3€ a bottle unless you really want to splurge and pay 4€. We had an interesting encounter when we walked in to Azofra. Azofra is a small village with a single road in and out, a plaza mayor, several bars, a mercado and a municipal albergue. As we walked in to town we stopped to say hello to a couple sitting on a doorstep. The woman said, “Oh, thank God, Australians. I haven’t heard an Australian accent for days.” Her name was Kirsty from Melbourne and her American friend was Mike. We introduced ourselves and Kirsty asked where we had walked from. It had been a long hot day and the heat was affecting us so Leo and I were both very foggy. I said that we weren’t sure and she asked us where we had had lunch. Leo said that we weren’t sure about that either. I think Kirsty thought we were having her on as she heatedly said, “You don’t know where you started from and you don’t know where you’ve been?” All I wanted was a shower, a bed somewhere and several cervezas so I said, “We don’t live in the past.” That cracked the ice. She became one of nuestra familia sendero muy querido, our much loved trail family.
September 25 Granon
Day 11. 24 Kms. Azofra – Ciruena – Santo Domingo de la Calzada – Granon. We left our albergue in the dark at about 0700 and wandered through dark country lanes making it up as we went along. We still had some serious NFI on how the Caminos worked. We just blindly followed the yellow arrows. Sunrises are marked by criss crossing contrails glowing. Ciruena was quite surreal. We stopped at the golf course for café americanos con tortillas in a very up market dining room. Afterwards we followed the yellow arrows through the town. It was very modern with quite new houses but they all had “se verde” signs (For Sale) and nobody around. It turns out the town was built as a golf resort then the GFC hit and nothing happened. It’s a very modern ghost town. We’re just going to cross in to Castille after meandering through La Riorja.
September 26 Villambistia, Castilla y Leon
Day 12. 24 Kms. Granon – Belorado – Villambistia. We had another day of rolling Spanish countryside and we find we’re averaging 4 – 5 km/h now so our 20 km+/day schedule is done just after lunch. The downside is sore feet but a shower and a lazy afternoon fix them.
September 26 Atapuerca, Province of Burgos
Day 13. 25 Kms. Villambistia – San Juan de Ortega – Atapuerca. We climbed up and across the Alto Pedraja (1120 m.) through gorgeous oak, spruce and pine forests before descending down. We seem to have become part of a very friendly multicultural group which is travelling much the same distances each day. Australians, Americans, Canadians, Irish and Germans. It’s nice to stop at a café and be welcomed by lots of hellos. 🙄
September 28 Burgos
Day 14. 20 Kms. Atapuerca – Villaval – Castanares – Burgos. We left our albergue @ 0715 and climbed the Alto to 1050 m. in the dark to a spectacular sunrise with silhouetted wind turbines. When it got light we discovered we had bordered a military training area. Spanish omelettes for breakfast then on to Burgos for two nights. And to celebrate Leo’s birthday with a dinner with the current usual suspects. Kirsty, Jane and Cameron.
Lighten The Trip Fantastic 