Day 8

May 21st

Viana - Navarette (albergue municipal) - 22km

Marcelino El Peregrino

 Today we pass by Logrono, a  large university city with a population around 130.000, capital of La Rioja. Very good wines come from this region. Around 8 or 9 am we stopped to have some breakfast in Logrono, it was cold this morning and seems like no one lives here or maybe is too early and everyone still sleeping. 

The city is very well maintained, the camino signs here are everywhere. We kept on going, my legs are more used to the walk but Kevin still complains about his blisters and his knees. He would stop anywhere today and take a break in Logrono but I wanted to go, leave the city and all the insanity that comes with. Walking inside of a city makes me much tired cause you walk, walk, walk and it seems you still there. Right when you are leaving Logrono you pass through large and nice park. Kevin was so angry today that I couldn't take and had to walk miles in front of him, almost running so I could enjoy my walk. Somewhere near the Alto de la Grajera Marcelino el peregrino was there offering pilgrims snacks and walking sticks made from wood. I stopped there for a while so I could wait for Kevin and talk to him and the girl from Romenia that was there too. He said he knows Paulo Coelho and he walked with him through the camino. The Camino is really amazing! Some point near Navarette I stopped under a tree and waited longer for Kevin because I started to get worried about him. Many people passed by and waived while I was there thinking about life and how nice it is to be able to walk here. The girl from Romenia stopped there with me for a while too and later she left giving me a hug. Around 1 pm I saw Kevin coming and limping. Poor thing! He was mad still but the pain was bigger. I asked him if he would like to stay in Navarette today and he agreed. When we got to the albergue it was close still and was a line of backpacks there. Kevin sat there and waited while I went to the bar next door to have some lunch. I was starving. Kevin was so tired that he preferred to stay sleeping. It was a delicious meal, the menu del dia with a glass of Rioja wine. While the time was passing, more people arrived to the bar, Paul from Germany that was very sick in Cirauqui, he is here and feeling better, celebrating life with a beer. The other Germans and the Austrian boy. Stanley from England as well. I went to the church in the afternoon and when I got back Kevin was sitting at the bar and smiling next to Stanley, Paul and our Australian friend. They decided to go to a restaurant inside a hotel here where Stanley said it is very good. So we went all together. As I had such a big meal I only had some snacks that were delicious and as I saw the talking was going too far I left early. It was an amazing time!