Ventosa to Azofra

Last night, six of us sat down to a lovely dinner at the hotel: an American couple, a Greek couple who live and work half the year in Switzerland, a Brazilian lad and myself. The Senora produced a delicious meal: a salad of many ingredients, a paella and a cinnamon custard. It was a lovely evening: everybody spoke English and we had a long debate about the relative merits of boots for the Camino.

Portion of salad.

This morning it was only 6 degrees outside and I was reluctant to leave my nice warm bed. The Jacotrans rule is that your bag has to be downstairs and ready to be collected by 8.00 am, so I couldn’t linger too long.
My room faced east and there was a brilliant sunrise just after 7.00 am. It promised to be a glorious day.

Hotel Las Aguedas : my room is the one on the top floor, just below the TV aerial.

 Ventosa has done a lot of work improving the Camino: a wide and smooth track making its way eastwards through the vineyards.

The white building is a winery; Najera can be seen in the distance behind.

The vines are just shooting.

I spoke to a woman who was making an anxious inspection of her vines. She told me she was worried because no baby grapes had appeared.

The sun was out over Najera, getting closer.

This structure is a landmark: Poya de Roldan and commemorates a mythical battle between a pilgrim and a giant in medieval times. An Italian girl took my photo.

Ancient pedestrian bridge over a rushing stream.

Just after this, I came to a rest area with picnic benches and tables, so I stopped to eat a pear that had been ripening in my bag for a week. Two dogs were roaming around freely, hoping to pick up a morsel from the pilgrims. Their mistress was sitting in the sun reading a book. They were a similar breed to greyhounds, so I had a word with her and pointed to my beanie. She said they were actually a breed called Branco de Weimar:

When I arrived in Najera it was just about lunchtime. I knew a good spot to eat near the river:

It’s the white building to the left of the bridge. I ordered an egg and mushroom sandwich and a beer to keep me going, as I had some serious sightseeing to do before leaving town. I could have stayed in Najera, but all the nice places were fully booked, which is why I opted for Azofra.

After lunch I made my way to the Monastery of Santa Maria la Real. It was founded after a vision of the Madonna appeared in a cave, set into the red sandstone cliffs, for which Najera is famous:

This is the sarcophagus of Bianca of Navarre, mother of Alfonso VIII, who died in childbirth aged 18:

What a sad story.

More pics from the monastery follow:

Beautiful tracery all round the cloister, each one different.

Navarrete to Ventosa

On the way out of town, the Camino went alongside a main road for a while. A bitterly cold wind was whistling along it from the west. I was glad of my gloves and beanie. We passed the local cemetery, where the Romanesque entrance had been rescued from the pilgrim hospital on the other side of Navarrete:

The vines seem to be growing in exceedingly stony ground in these parts:

That structure seems to be part of the reticulation system.


Some years ago, the Camino was re-routed to avoid Ventosa, in order to shorten the route to Najera. Now the residents of Ventosa are fighting back. They have erected this picturesque sign and the Camino seems to be back to its original historic route:

It’s actually a much better way, along a quiet country road. Previously we were walking alongside a busy highway with lorries thundering past.

Lunch in El Bar Camino: squid sandwich w mayo.

Just about every pilgrim stops at this bar. It holds prime position at the entrance to town. My hotel, Las Aquedas, is on the other side, overlooking a quiet little square. It is beautiful inside, and I have a nice attic room, though the Senora is a bit frugal with the heating.

Logrono to Navarrete

Another cold day on the Camino! The Way leaves town by way of a wide tree-lined boulevard, with grass on either side and apartment blocks at the edge. Lots of space for exercise and dog-walking. When I was last here, it was a lovely day and lots of keep-fit Logrono ladies were returning from their early morning walk. Now, in poor weather, not so many. I also remember a small rose garden, planted with a special Santiago rose (too early in the season to be in flower today):

We passed by a really nice camping site in the midst of pinewoods. Nobody was camping and the squirrels had the place to themselves, scampering about up and down the trees. It was difficult to get them to pose for a photo:



Next we came to a large reservoir, with men fishing from the dam wall. They did not appear to be catching anything. This was because there was a small pond away from the main reservoir where all the big fish could escape to:

I remembered a nice cafe overlooking the water, where I hoped to enjoy a hot cup of coffee. Now it was all closed up, another victim of the pandemic perhaps. This is the view:

Fortunately there was a kiosk a little further along, where I bought a banana:

Almond tree laden with nuts.

Looking back towards Logrono and the reservoir.



These bulls advertising Veterano Osborne used to be everywhere in Spain where they could be seen from motorways. Now they are few and far between. This one stands high above a factory that produces pellets for wood-burning stoves out of scrap timber.

Winery just outside Navarrete.

Viana to Logrono

The freezing cold weather has returned today and rain is forecast for tonight. I slept well at the Palacio last night and didn’t wake up till 8.30 am. I must have been tired! This meant I missed the early morning bus into Logrono, so I decided to be really lazy and take a taxi. My destination was Hotel Calle Major, where I’ve stayed before: very central and convenient with helpful staff.

I began with a quick visit to the Cathedral, very Baroque in style, so not to my taste. A Mass was in progress so I sat down and observed it for a while (it was cold outside). Then I wanted to find a supermarket to stock up on a few essentials: green teabags, packet soup and some fruit. This was a model supermarket: I’ve never seen one so good anywhere in the world. For future reference, it’s called Mercadona. Beautifully laid out and stocking everything you could possibly need (including nail clippers, which I’d forgotten to pack).

Cathedral

Fish counter at Mercadona.

Logrono has plenty of visitors, regular tourists strolling around not just pilgrims. It’s full of people walking along the pedestrian streets in the old town in spite of the miserable weather. There are more people wearing masks in this town, even though they don’t have to.

The Camino is marked with Logrono’s own unique brass plaques set into the pavement:

Pilgrim statue.

…later:

 

I found a restaurant that was serving dinner early. There was a bullfight showing on TV that I couldn’t help watching. The event was taking place in pouring rain. The spectators were sitting there with their umbrellas up and some had pizza boxes over their heads! The ring was a sea of mud, and the bullfighter had to change his shoes at one point, in order to gain traction.

Fish soup for Primero.

Lenguado for Secundo.

This is the restaurant.

Viana evening stroll

The Palacio is just across the road from a ruined fortress church; (Caesare Borgia was buried here). Behind the church are the town’s ramparts with a panoramic view over Logrono and mountains beyond.

Sad to see the damage done to the rose window.

View from the ramparts.

Wall paintings restored.


Dinner at 8.00 pm: mushroom risotto followed by grilled Merluza (hake):

Torres del Rio to Viana

One more beautiful day! After all that rain at the start of this Camino, I couldn’t wish for a better experience than today: blue skies and sunshine all the way. The trail was a bit tough, though, only about 11 kms but constantly up and down. The guide book calls it “the knee wrecker.” One of my knees is already a bit wrecked, so I trod carefully and slowly. Coming down is always the worst.

Leaving Torres, going past the cemetery.

Just keeping heading west, with the sun behind you.


Looking north towards the mountains.

On such a clear day, we could see for miles. On previous trips I can never remember seeing the sprawl of Logrono so far in the distance. It’s actually just off to the right of this picture, but I was more interested in recording the perfectly straight lines of the vines, pruned and ready to sprout:

An ancient olive grove.

A landmark on the highest point:

Nuestra Senora del Poyo (570m).

An English couple liked the look of my tiny daypack. From a distance, it looked like a lovely present tied up with a bow, they said.

Viana getting closer…

…and closer.

Finally arrived at about 1.30 pm. What a shock to discover the town was absolutely packed. I remembered it was Sunday and also May Day. Every man and his dog for miles around had come to see the dancing, listen to the brass band (see my Instagram) or just to eat and drink at a pavement cafe. I had to fight my way through the crowds on the main street.



My destination was right at the far end of town: the Palacio de Pujadas. Yes, well-heeled pilgrims can stay at a palace! But I had no choice except to join the queue for a drink. The woman ahead of me was ordering EIGHT pints of beer and a massive plate of food. When it was my turn, I ordered a modest glass of white wine and a couple of tapas (an octopus skewer and some tuna w onion). Not a bad lunch!