Day 8

Wednesday September 22, 2010

Day 8 on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela

Viana to Navarrete

Dear Blog Readers,

After eating a light breakfast at the hotel, leave Viana at about 8:10 a.m.  Pack a sandwich and apple lunch for on the road.

Today it is very overcast and clouds hang low, trekking across the country with no burning sunshine and heat is good.  Make good time over the up and downhills on the way to the City of Logroño, pop. 150,000.  Trek for about two hours before making it to the outer industrial area of Logroño.

The City is huge. Camino travels through the older part of the City, where there is a lovely Church of Santiago dedicated to the pilgrims.  The churches here are out of this universe, ornate, gilded and large with jaw dropping interiors and art work, making our own churches at home look rather lame.

This should have been an easy trek day, but once in the City the going gets very tough.  Travel though the streets are hard, feet, legs and knees hurt like mad.  Had not realized just how much I appreciate the dirt tracks in comparison to the paved sidewalks.

Most of the other Pilgrims complain about the trek.  Everyone is exhausted.  We walk through a park which goes on for kms. and kms. At the end of the park I sit and have my sandwich lunch.  Outside the city is a very polluted lake, no one seems able to appreciate the scenery.  Finally out of the park and on to the next town, 10 kms. away.  I jump out of my skin as I walk passed a vineyard being harvested. A cannon in a vineyard explodes as I walk by.  Boy, did that bring back memories of being in the Okanagan!

Another factor to add to the Pilgrims misery - the sun comes out with a vengeance!  It gets hot and sticky. Finally arrive in Navarrete around 2:30 p.m. Trek 22.4 kms Steps didn´t work today.  Off to Najera tomorrow, only 17 kms or so, praise the Lord, a short day - (I hope)!

Blessings from the Camino,

Yasmin

p.s. The 29th. is Raise a Reader Day - thanks to all the volunteers!

My personal thoughts for today -An interesting thing, on the dirt Camino path alongside the highway to Navarrete there is a fence for about 2 kms. covered in hand made crosses.  Pilgrims of yesterdays used whatever was available and made crosses and stuck them into the wine fence.  I add my cross to the thousands.