Logroño to Nájera (29.0km)

Today was the first day without Sean. It was a sad first thought of the day, but oh well. Life goes on. I got up at 7:00 and got ready for the day. I'm honestly not sure how it always ends up taking an hour, but yet again, 8:00 happened to be the time Margaret and I were both ready to go. After a brief chat with the only other man who had stayed at our albergue last night, who had made it all the way to Santiago and was now walking back, we left the albergue.

Logroño is an interesting town. It's definitely sizable. The smaller towns are usually full of older folks and not many kids or teenagers, or even young adults for that matter. But Logroño was bustling with all kinds of young people last night: children playing soccer in the central plaza, young families about, teenagers in groups, and plenty of young adults on a night out. It had been packed. Now, on a Sunday morning, the streets were quiet and peaceful. I really dislike the loud bustle of the big city, so the slow Sunday morning was a really nice experience.

Margaret and I decided to find a cafe for breakfast, and we looked around for a few minutes. Most shops are closed on Sundays, but we found this very nice cafe and went inside. I got a cafe con leche and an egg, cheese, and bacon sandwich. It was probably the best breakfast yet. And all for €4!

Margaret and I ate in relative silence, sometimes remarking on how we missed Sean. He really was a big part of our trip, and it's odd to not have him around anymore, even if it's just for breakfast.

After breakfast, we started our walk. It was a long, long walk. Very very long. Definitely the most I've ever walked in one day in my entire life. The walk was supposed to be 29 kilometers, but due to missing some yellow arrows, I accidentally added a few kilometers onto it. So we probably walked more like 34 kilometers.

The walk started off pretty nice. Logroño is a very nice place, with clean streets and kind residents. Or maybe that was just the population that was out on a Sunday morning. Either way, I heard countless "Buen Camino"'s, which basically means "Good journey" or "Good way!" That's really more of a small town thing, but I guess the Logroño is fond of pilgrims.

In one instance, early into the walk, a Spanish man passed and asked "Camino?" I said yes, and he then spoke a quick flurry of Spanish that I couldn't understand. He realized talking wouldn't help much, so in pantomime he communicated that we had missed a turn and weren't on the right path. He then decided to just guide us back to the correct path himself, and upon finding a yellow arrow on the ground, he pantomimed the idea that we need to follow the arrows, and not go a different direction than the arrows were pointing. I thought that was funny. He was very nice to go out of his way to show us back to the right path! Many people on the Way truly care about the wellbeing of pilgrims, which is beautiful to see.

After some a bit, the city was behind us and we were on a popular walking/running trail. Running must be big in Logroño, because we were passed by countless runners. Margaret and I talked pretty consistently, reflecting on our favorite moments of the Camino so far, or our favorite moments with Sean. It was a nice peaceful morning, and the weather was fantastic.

We passed by a small lake, and next to it found some of the weirdest looking squirrels I have ever seen. They had long fuzzy ears and were sort of a reddish brown. They were very cute, so I decided to feed them some nuts. When they approached, they would stand up and put one hand on their chest, and I could imagine them saying "for me??" It was pretty funny.

After feeding the squirrels a few nuts, we continued on. After a little while longer, we came across a section of fence above the freeway where people had taken sticks and made a cross out of them in the fence. I had read about this, and so I took a moment to find some nice sticks and place them in the shape of a cross, joining the countless other pilgrims who have done so before me. It was a nice reminder over such a busy freeway.

Sometimes Margaret and I would talk, and sometimes we would be silent and think. I really love the time that I have to myself to just reflect on life, the Camino, my role in the world, the future, God, and any other relevant topic. The time of daily prayer is becoming very special to me and I am enjoying it more each day.

After a little while longer, we came upon another small town. It was very pretty, and well maintained. We passed by a cathedral, and so of course I had to go in. I tried the door and thankfully it was open! It was gorgeous inside. As usual, a huge gold wall dominated the front of the church. Many other beautiful scenes were depicted either in statues or paintings. It was nice to just take a moment and take it all in.

After a few minutes in the cathedral, it was time for lunch. Because we were only 12 kilometers in and still had about 17 to go, we just stopped in a grocery store and grabbed some food to go. I got some ham, yogurt, and a few oranges. We ate our food outside, then after grabbing another cafe con leche to go, it was time to continue on.

The rest of the day was very long. It was another 5 hours before we finally made it to the albergue. Plenty of that time was spent in silence, but Margaret and I also passed the time telling favorite jokes or asking some fun riddles. Those are some of my favorite things to do on long car rides, and they work just as well when walking. I learned some good new riddles and jokes, and a few new road trip games as well, so I'm excited to use them at home.

We did stop at one small side town, which had a nice looking church on a hill. Unfortunately the church was closed, but it was still a fun town to walk through. Very small, very quirky looking. It also seemed that quite literally entire town was at one cafe.

Later, out of the blue, we came upon two friendly kittens! It was the best. The smallest one was very affectionate, and so he let me handle him however I wanted. I got to pick him up and carry him like a baby, or over my shoulder, or put him on my lap. He was very curious and also obviously very familiar with humans. At a certain point, he climbed onto my bag that I had put down and started sniffing my baguette. Out of curiosity, I broke a piece off for him and let him smell it. He immediately started tearing off chunks and eating it as fast as possible, so he was clearly hungry. The other kitten came over and started doing the same. I broke off some chunks for them both and fed them, which was very cute to watch.

After playing with the kittens for a bit, Margaret and I continued on. We continued down an alternate path, which ended up adding a bit more distance, and then even more since we accidentally missed our turn. But I'm glad we took that route, because it was better than following the freeway. Honestly, anything is better than following the freeway. I didn't take many photos, because to be honest, the closer we got to the city, the uglier the surroundings got. I definitely think I've been spoiled with constant stunning views so far!

After a few more kilometers and some more random conversations, Margaret and I finally made it to Nájera, our destination city. It was pretty ugly too at first, until we crossed a small river. Then, all of a sudden, the city became beautiful and clean. Who knows what caused that? Thankfully our albergue for the night was right across the river, and we checked in the latest we have yet - 5:30. So that was about 8 hours of walking, accounting for the stops. Quite the tiring day!

As soon as we entered the albergue, I heard the sweet sound of perfect English. Accompanying it was a huge smile from a few ladies running the albergue. They quickly stopped whatever they were doing and ran to the front desk to help us. Then, I got asked the best question you could ever get asked after a 20 mile walk: "would you like to be involved in the pilgrim's dinner?" It was a whopping €4; and add the price of a bed for the night - €6 - and my total came out to €10. Oh how the Camino can bless you!

After a nice shower and some time spent writing my blog, time flew and dinner time, 7:30, was soon upon us. And what an experience it was. All of a sudden, there were at least 10 people who spoke perfect english all sitting at a table together. I couldn't believe it. There was a young man named Sam from Australia, three kind older ladies from Scotland, and a man named Le from South Korea. The couple from Canada who run the albergue and had cooked dinner joined us to eat as well, along with one other lady who helps run the albergue. After a funny prayer before dinner, we all dug in. It was a kind of bean and chorizo stew from Galicia, a region in Spain, and it was glorious. I had two bowls and enjoyed great conversation with new faces. Everyone was very kind and we all talked about our experiences so far. The Canadian man named Tom has done 25 Caminos, with his longer ones reaching three to six months. He was very interesting to talk to and had many good tips. Sam, the Australian man, is a security guard and told us some funny stories from working security at a rodeo. Le couldn't speak much English, but that didn't stop one of the nice Scottish ladies from using Google translate back and forth to bring him into the conversation. It was a great time.

Funnily enough, Sam told us that there's a group of about 20 people that are exactly one day ahead of us. He was walking with them from Roncesvalles, but had to hang back today due to a stomach bug. They had all made friends and walked in smaller groups, rejoining every night since every town only has one open albergue usually. Odds are, they'll take a rest day sometime soon and Sam, and presumably us too, will be able to join up with them.

What a difference a day makes! Still, I wouldn't trade my experience so far for anything. The last week walking with Sean and Margaret has been gold. I've loved the time the three of us have spent together. But I'm also excited to meet some new people and make new friends while walking!

After a great dinner and good conversation, I got ready for bed and then finished writing this blog post. I called Mikayla for a little bit, which was very nice. I got to tell her about my special pilgrims dinner and my long walking day. It's such a nice way to end the day by talking with her.

Finally, I prayed my rosary while in bed. I reflected on what a beautiful thing community is. Even though I didn't know any of these people, our dinner was still amazing because of the connection that we all have through the Camino. Thank you God for these beautiful souls, and thank you for the community that the Camino creates! Full of joy and contentment, I finally went to bed.