Ninth Day On The Camino Wednesday, September 26, 2018

We got up at 6:00 AM and were out the door of the alburgue by 7:00 AM. The alburgue was off the Camino in the heart of Logroño. Good for exploring Logroño, but bad for finding the Camino early in the morning when the city is still asleep and there is no one around to ask directions. I saw a couple with backpacks who were looking at a map. I figured they were pilgrims who knew what they were doing so I decided to follow them. They wandered around Logroño for about 15 minutes with me 10 yards behind them trying to act like I was not following them. Then they made an entirely unexpected move. They ducked into the Dublin.

You can’t even imagine my surprise at this turn of events. Now what do I do. It’s about 7:15 AM, I am totally lost in Logroño and my guides just decided to go bar hopping. I got mad and decided to follow them into this Irish bar and have a WTF conversation with them. I went in and introduced myself and described my plight. They introduced themselves as Seamus and Bridget from the City of Dublin, Ireland. They had Googled “Best Irish bar in Logroño to get an early breakfast” and the Dublin was Google’s top recommendation. They invited me to join them for breakfast and assured me that after breakfast they would guide me to the Camino and out of town. I was hungry so I decided to accept their invitation to breakfast. We had a tortilla with potatoes. Of course with potatoes, it is an Irish pub and you know how much the Irish like their potatoes. We also had to wash the tortilla down with a couple of pints of Guinness. It is an Irish pub and you know how much the Irish love their Guinness. We had a shot of Jamison for the road, bade farewell to the barkeep, and made our way to the Camino. After a couple of woozy kilometers I had to stop and take a nap. I gave Seamus a hearty handshake and Bridget a very suave air kiss on both cheeks and off they went down the Camino.

After a 30 minute nap I awoke rested, refreshed and ready to tackle the Camino and the almost 30 kilometer hike ahead of me.

This is a beautiful lake in a park just outside Logroño.

This is a donation fruit stand on the Camino in the park just outside Logroño. The guy who looks like Santa Claus is the proprietor. I told him about my problem with the Spanish “don’t touch the fruit” rule. He told me that it is a stupid rule and he does not follow this rule at his fruit stand. He encouraged me to touch all his bananas and then pick out the best one. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed visiting this guy’s fruit stand without fear of retribution or reprisal from a snotty fruit stand owner. From now on I am only going to get my fruit from donation fruit stands.

Great news! I found a golf course on the Camino. This is the clubhouse.

It doesn’t look like much on the outside, but the pro shop and the snack bar weren’t half bad. The pro, who bore a striking resemblance to Carl in Caddyshack, said he had a ladies tournament going on this morning but he could get me out for a quick nine holes at about noon. I told him I couldn’t wait around that long and thanked him for his hospitality. As I was walking out the door I noticed he had a theater/7 Eleven type hot dog machine with a couple of dogs cooking on the rollers. I asked him if the hot dogs were Hebrew National All Beef Franks. He looked at me like I was crazy and said that they were local hot dogs, made with 100% pork and they used every part of the pig 🐷, including the squeal, to make them. I just can’t get away from pig products in Spain. I politely declined his offer to make me a dog for the road and headed back to the Camino.

This is a view of the park and the lake with Logroño in the distance.

This is Navarette, the first village I encountered during my morning hike along the Way. I had a second, no alcohol, breakfast there. I also visited the magnificent 16th century Church of the Assumption. This church has a four story carved and gold leaf covered altar piece. We lit a candle and said a prayer for Anna who is back in the hospital.

Navarette is about 11 kilometers from Logrono. After that it is an 18 kilometer slog to the next town and final resting place for the day, Najera.

Navarette is where we leave Navarre and enter Rioja. As I am sure you aware, Rioja is a famous wine producing region.

We walked through lush vineyards like this from Navarette to Najera. I feasted on grapes from the vineyards adjacent to the Camino, and they were ambrosial.

This is a shrine on the side of the Camino in one of the vineyards. We stopped and said a prayer for Anna. Notice the animal to the saint’s left, on the right hand side of the picture. Yep, it’s a cow, a beef cow 🥩, not a dairy 🥛 cow. The Spaniards in this neck of the woods have a patron saint for beef cows but they are trying to tell me there is no beef for me or any other Pilgrim. I am getting real tired of this “hide the beef” game the Spanish are playing. Do I need to interrupt my Camino and fly to Texas to get a steak 🥩 and a loaded baked potato 🥔? I have one question for you wiley Spaniards, “Where’s the Beef?”

About 200 kilometers down and about 600 kilometers to go.

I arrived in Najera and checked into the Municipal Alburgue. Ninety beds in one room. It is about half full. No sign of Vlad the Inhaler so far and it is getting late

I hope everyone had a great Wednesday

Good night from Najera, Spain.