Camino Day 5, Estella to Torres del Rio

 Last night I treated myself to a ‘non pilgrim meal’ in the centre of Estella.  I also had evening entertainment of watching a fight.  I was making a (rare) ‘phone call home and Husbando heard the fight before I was aware of it.  By the time I had finished my call the police had turned up, arrested one man and set off in pursuit of the second one.  

After all that excitement I made my way back to my hotel room (oh - the joy of being able to spread out my belongings and just leave them there) via a supermarket to pick up some ice cream.  I had high hopes of a great night’s sleep, so set my alarm for ‘Oh my God - it’s early’ and went to sleep.  I must have needed the sleep as, for the first time ever since I have used my ‘phone as an alarm clock, my alarm did not go off!  I woke up at 5.15am so was automatically behind where I wanted to be.  Getting ready with the lights on is much faster though, so I was out of the door before 6am. 

I think my hotel room power socket must have been haunted as my head torch, which had been on charge all night, refused to work.  Luckily the path was fairly even and I could rely on my ‘phone torch.  This was just as well as my toe was very painful.  I stopped at a pharmacy today - it seems that what I thought was a stubbed toe is actually an insect bite that has been aggravated or - as the pharmacist said ‘enraged’ - by all the walking.  He gave me a bottle of iodine solution to make sure it doesn’t get infected.  

Today’s walk was relatively flat, I stopped at the Irache wine fountain. Who doesn’t want a glass of indifferent red wine at 6.30am?  Not many people around - just me and an Italian lady, we decided that it was too early to call home and tell our friends to log into the webcam, so took photos and went on our way.  

My breakfast stop at Azquetta had the most amazing view.  I could have sat there for ages looking at it!  But alas, I had to move on.  There is a choice of routes on this section - a shorter and a slightly longer one that takes in the town of Villamayor de Monjardin - can you guess which one I took?  I think the extra distance was worth it for the beautiful church and the ‘medieval cistern.’

If the landscape yesterday was beautiful, today’s at least equalled it, vine yards and olive trees, beautiful churches, pretty, sleepy towns.  Spain feels like a relic of the recent past, never more so that when sitting with an ice cold beer listening to 1980s power ballads (they weren’t all bad!) I’ve taken loads of photos - but none of them really do justice to either the towns or the landscapes.  I wish I could draw - I used to be able to but, like most skills, if you don’t use it… I’ve had chats today with Australians, America (just this minute spoken to someone in a 2023 Boston marathon shirt!), Germans, Spaniards, Italians and French people.  I am yet to meet anyone from the United Kingdom.  I mentioned this to someone I was talking to - they hadn’t met any either! Very odd! 

My attempt at not planning too far ahead is going well.  I am booking a bed a day ahead, because not knowing where I am aiming for every day would drive me mad and because I have decided that sending some of my luggage on to the next stop is a bloody good idea.  Leaving early in the morning means I get to my destination early enough to snaffle a bottom bunk, do my laundry and then relax.  My aim is to arrive feeling as though I don’t want to walk anymore today.  So far I have judged it just about right.  I am not sure about tomorrow.  Navarrete is 32km away, the town before, Logroño, is 20Km away.  20km feels too short but 32km is 20 miles…. Ah well, bed is booked so Navarrete it is! 

UPDATE:  Just after posting this, Laurent from Calvados arrived.  He said he had been thinking about me when it was raining yesterday - wondering if, being British, I preferred it to the heat!  We chatted about the Camino, teaching (he is a college professor) and other people we had met along the way before he left to walk another 10km.  His beard has grown - which reminds me of my friend returning from his Camino with a beard last year, and of my son asking if I was going to grow a beard while I was here! (Only if my HRT runs out!)