April 19 - Day 6

Day 6 - Puente le Reina to Estella- 21 km

We decided to leave earlier today as it gets very warm by early afternoon. We were on our way by about 7:00.

We crossed on the famous Puente le Reina bridge (built by the queen in the 11th century - literally "bridge of the queen"). Off we went into the countryside, past crops of unknown grains, olive groves, vineyards, and even a big haystack. Beautiful scenery.

A few more ups and downs but not as much as yesterday. We went up to a hillside city named Cirauqui. Amazing from a distance but not much to see there. Another stamp for our pilgrim passport.

Next up was Lorca, a pretty village where we stopped for cafe con leche and snacks. As we were leaving, the “pan” truck was making deliveries and a lady cane out of her yard to get some bread. What a yard! Gorgeous flowers! And she said “entrada” so we went in and took a few pictures. Wow!

Then in Villatuerte we stopped in a lovely church. It was an unexpected and almost overwhelming beauty. And a cool (as in get out of the hot sun) spot to relax as well.

A few more km and we made it to Estella. This time we did not book ahead so we kept walking. We were going past the Officio de turismo, so we stopped in for some advice. Got some good handouts, stopped for the night at the Capuchinos Albergue. Great place, we got a room for four (we are a group of four at present). Today was a good day to dry laundry In the yard - sunny with a breeze.

We ended up going to the nearby supermarket twice, once for snacks and to look around, and the other time with an actual shopping list for breakfast and a plan for lunch. We will eat well tomorrow- stay tuned!

Rachel and I had the pilgrim meal at the Albergue and visited with our Camino family (I will talk more about this at some point but not today). Then we had a very short walk to figure out where to go tomorrow and got ready for bed.

Today’s lesson: there are a lot of horse farms in this part of Spain but not a lot of horse riders. What kind of meat is on that pilgrim menu?

Cafe con leche and tortilla 3.20 Euro

Albergue 13 E

Snacks 3 E

Food for tomorrow 3.60 E

Pilgrim dinner 11 E