Random Notes from Logrono

Sometimes, I upload a blog post before I´ve had time to edit it in order to maintain the chronology because being on the road, or rather being on the Camino by foot, it´s not always possible to post everyday. Especially when the Tapas bars of Logrono are on our doorstep.

Some notes from my diary which I will probably come back to again.

May 10 The Day of Felipe and Sunshine

Our first day in full sun! We think and talk about Felipe all the time but today was special because Rosa was telling me about helping the nurses in Amsterdam as we walked along in the morning. How she helps to wash her Dad in the morning and to give him the fruit drink which Nelletje and Jo make for him. Ít´s yummy, I like it too,´she said. We were approaching a large white advertising board sign on a hill. ´Look Mum, that says Felipe.´Spray painted on in black in capital letters, perfectly, FELIPE.

11 May

After a 19 km walk from Los Arcos to Viana on the 10th May, the girls and I arrived at our hotel exhausted. The last 9 kms seem to have taken an eternity. As we came over a peak marked by the ruin of a pilgrim refuge from the middle ages, we encountered spectacular views of the vineyards of Rioja, the city of Logrono and mountains beyond but we hardly noticed them because there was also a sign indicating that we had another 3.8 kms to go. It didn´t seem possible. We had been convinced that our destination, Viana, was around the corner. The metatarsal bones of right foot had been killing me all day, the blister on my left heel was throbbing and Luna´s leg was aching again. When the linear forms of the town finally appeared as Rosa and I propelled ourselves along with our walking poles I feared that I was seeing a mirage. Not the oasis of a desert but the bell-shaped form of the the 12th century Iglesia de San Pedro.

I had booked the only hotel in town, the Palacio de Pujadas with a reknowned Pilgrim´s Menu for lunch and dinner at (3 courses for 9 Euros). Luna and Rosa asked if we could have a slow morning as Logrono, our destination for the following day was only! 9.5 kms. Simultaneously, we saw the sign on the polished mahogany reception desk, ´Massage for Pilgrims´. I didn´t hesitate and within a couple of minutes Veronica was booked for the next morning for the three of us.

There was a sense of distinguished desolation in the ruin of San Pedro, twenty or thirty metres from our hotel window. Behind the facade and entrance - built on the cusp of Romanesque and Renaissance - only emptiness.

That day walking two butterflies had followed us for a few kilometres: one, tiny and turquoise jumped around the dried mud track and the other with spotted orange wings smelled the flowers. After our massage with Veronica who was trained by a doctor7osteopath and is highly skilled - we were relieved of all our pains and ready for another day.

Note, 10 May:

Anyone who wants to do the Camino needs to do the necessary preparation and take responsibility for the journey themselves.