April 22 - Day 9

Day 9 - Logrono to Navarette- 13 km

I maybe had the best sleep yet. Rachel and I shared a room with two beds. Quiet AND dark! And comfortable beds. And we didn’t have to leave early for our “rest day”.

So, the plan today is a modified rest day. That means a leisurely Sunday walk in the park to the next town, then stop and rest.

It was still a 13 km day, interesting that doesn’t seem like much any more. Leaving Logrono was actually pretty nice, mostly through a city park. Then shortly after leaving the city, we entered a great park with a reservoir, walking on a multi-use trail. Being Sunday morning there were bikers, joggers, walkers, and of course pilgrims. Like at home, people smile and greet each other, except here it is Buenos Dias and Buen Camino. It reminded me of Sunday runs back home. (Shoutout to Namao Runners!)

At the reservoir there were people fishing (and a lady with a book and a glass of vino, I think she had the right idea).

Best part of the park was a building with washrooms and a coffee shop! So we had a rest break about half way through our walk. Nice.

The rest of the walk wasn’t quite so nice, but not bad either. Mostly vineyards on one or both sides of the trail, or highway on one side. And of course a few hills. A bit overcast today but still warm.

We arrived in Navarette about Noon. Perfect. Remember this is our rest day!

After our shower we treated ourselves to washing our clothes in a washing machine instead of hand washing, then hung them on the clothesline to dry. And they dried just in time before a short thunder shower.

Shower and laundry done, a bit of relaxing with some Rioja vino with new friends. Great way to spend the afternoon.

I even had a chat with my husband Greg over the internet. Technology is pretty amazing, how we can all stay connected.

Dinner was an adventure though. Not much open on Sunday, plus it was raining so we didn’t want to go too far. The first place we tried was a bit divey but the next looked promising. There was a language barrier but we eventually ordered some tapas and vino. And it was cheap!

On the way back to the albergue we stopped at the cathedral. WOW! Spectacular! This was cool, you put a Euro into a box and the whole front of the church is illuminated. And it is all ornate and golden.

Back to our room, kind of seems weird, still early but ready for bed.

Today’s lesson: walking a shorter distance is a good alternate to a complete day of rest (though we will surely do that also when ready).