Walked another 33 kilometres today, from Torres del Rio to Navarreta. Making a total of 829 kilometres. (I am announcing this total to Julie, which comes somehow as a surprise to me. To her too. She says: ‘It’s amazing, you should be very very chuffed.’)
The walk out of Torres was going up and windy. As windy as it has been since my first days of walking. I was prepared for storm and fully geared up, which meant I was basically a two by two metre plastic wrap that the wind could play with. And it did, although I somehow managed to go forward.
Someway up to the village of Viana I caught up with Paul. He’s from Cheddar country, England, close to Bristol. He had started a day ahead of me and had been walking with a small group of delightful people that I got to know a little bit on the way to Logrona, the capital of La Rioja.
I spent a good amount of time with Arie, from Amsterdam. A very nice guy with the gentlest lines in his tanned face. He was walking the Camino as part of a recuperation plan. They found out he had cancer about a year ago. He went through some serious chemo. Was considered clean in september and had his last operations in december. And now he’s walking here. With a serious backpack and everything. It makes ones own experience a little humble.
This nice group stayed in Logrona, while I had planned to walk on for a little more. I stopped for a little lunch at one of the little bars in Logrona. This is the place where my Spanish friend who I met a few days ago and whith whom I had the most silent bonding of my life – he, no english, me, no espanol – turned out to have lunch himself. He got up out of his chair and seemed delighted to see me again. His name is Jose, and he’s from Guadelajara.
Had a little tortilla and a glass of nice wine, just like Jose, for the full price of €2,50. Not bad.
I wasn’t sure if he really enjoyed walking with me, so I pressed on and walked the last part by myself. Parts of the path were pretty muddy, and the icey rain caused just enough discomfort to also make this stage memorable enough.
But I didn’t mind. We had figured out that we were getting to be close to the hotel restaurant of the Bodegas of Marques de Riscal. It is a lovely Frank Gehry design in the La Rioja hills where we had a memorable lunch a few years ago when we were on vacation in this area. Julie arranged a dinner this time. We just had a cocktail in the bar, and pretty soon we will be attending the dinner. The wind is blowing its head off, as Julie would say, the temperature is heading towards zero, but our hearts are warmed by the fact that we indulge into a little extravagance.
Of course we know the Camino is about suffering, but tonight we’ll take a little break from it. Anyway, still 598 kilometres of suffering ahead of me.
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