Camino de Santiago
The St Martin wine festival was going strong in Logrono, Spain when we arrived. Thus, available accommodations were severely limited. We found a hotel used by truckers, as noted by these pictures
Before the town woke up, we hit the Cathedral in Logrono which was spectacular.
We were there so early that we had to ask a nun for our stamp she led us to a back room that she was just unlocking… in fact she asked me to reach up and get the high door lock she couldn’t reach.
Terry knew that there was a “hidden Michelangelo” somewhere in the cathedral, so I asked the sister where it was. She led us to a big door she opened for us behind the altar.
Then she looked at each one of us very seriously. She could tell at a glance, that I was the most pious of the group, so she handed me the offering to hold as she opened the “vault”
Behind the vault doors was this lovely Michelangelo painting
We walked around the town some more (5 miles by the time we were done) and visited St Bartholomew’s church as well. You guessed it, 12th century. The outside doorway is the highlight.
We had to stick around for what the brochure in English called “the parade of the big heads”. Cabezudos in Spanish, these were big puppets built around an inside framework.
Every 50 yards or so, the person inside the “big headed people” frame would be exchanged with another team member (usually a strong teenager) who would twirl, and jump up and down.
We loved it and eventually jumped into the parade and followed it into the old town.
By that time the town came alive!! Thousands of people were now in the streets celebrating! It was crazy. We found Calle Laurel, where you get a drink, and a pinxtos. At each bar they had maybe 7-10 different pinxtos to choose from… you just point and smile, and tell them how many by holding up your fingers. They were quite good!
In Logrono’s Parque de Espelon there is a large equestrian statue of a 19th century general Baldomero Espartero. The horse he is riding has as much fame as he does. A popular expression here is “El tiene mas cojones que el caballo de Espartero” or He has more balls than Espartero’s horse, when describing someone who shows bravery or courage.
So by 1PM, we did not, in fact, have Mas cojones que el Cabala de Esparto, and decided to take a bus to get us 8 miles out of town to the next town of Navaretter. For $1.60 we got to watch the world go by and get that much closer to our next destination, which was Navarette
Getting off the bus, we walked another 6 miles to another hill town, Ventosa. After dinner we walked back to our albergue in the fog.
Today started with more misty mountains.
I’m taking pictures of the old churches we pass ,but not sharing them because there would be so many. At one high elevation point on today’s hike i saw four different little towns, each with a cool old church.
About 5 miles after first breakfast, we had second breakfast in the town of Najera. The highlight was a visit to the Santa Maria de Real Monastery there.
The legend is,that in 1044, Don Garcia was out falconing, when his falcon chased a dove into a thicket. He followed, and soon found a cave. Inside the cave he found both birds sitting peacefully on a statue of the Virgin Mary! Someone in the church eventually said “Y’know, I think we really got something here” and by 1100 the monastery was started.
This was a highlight of my trip so far!
There was just so much to take in and fortunately the nice admission folks let us store our backpacks with them.
Here is Don Diego El Bueno’s grave (Sir Diego the Good).
In the 1400 hundreds, the nobles of Najera would stop by his grave, and ask the effigy three times “Do you approve sir?” ‘bout any laws they were looking to pass. If no answer from Don Diego ( now dead for over 300 years) the head noble would say “As you say naught, it must be that it’s to your liking.” Hmmm. Got try that sometime.
We asked these nobles coming into town if this was true but they ignored us
Another 6 miles or so brought us to Azofra, our home for the night.
It absolutly poured on us for 20 minutes while walking, so hard I could not get my phone out to document it. But… what a great last two days!
… and thus we end the day soaking our feet in the pool at our albergue
