I met up with Andy and Eric for a wine and Pintxos evening. We caught up the group of athletes who we had met the evening before, in the first bar. Andy’s father in law used to coach Olympic athletes and Andy recognised Brendan Foster. I had to check who he was, whoops, although I was not the only one! This guy is 72, an Olympian and walking the Camino with a group of mates. He was not impressed with the Pintxos, having just walked 30km what good is this snack he needs proper food!!
In the next bar Frank and Marie joined us, they are heading on tomorrow so we may not see them for a few days but it was good to catch up and share more pictures and stories. We also met up with another couple who we had met earlier. Katherine is from Canada and her husband Hans Pieter (HP) is from Austria. Every time we had passed them during the day yesterday they had been eating, they were very efficiently bring their own picnics and stop every couple of hours, very civilised. They were great fun too.
Last night though appeared to be a comparison of blisters, there are some shocking ones. I keep touching wood as my feet so far have no blisters and overall I feel pretty good, so I am keeping very quiet.
This morning I planned my own little tour and wandered around Logrono soaking up the atmosphere. Like all Spanish towns there are a selection of Churches. I visited the Inglesia de San Bartolomé, this is the oldest church in Logrono built in the 12th century, gothic style again. I then visited the Inglesia de Santiago el Real, this is a 16th century church with a Pilgrim path, I thought this was a stunning church. It is one of the oldest baroque style of church in Logrono and a group of 4 pilgrims performed a short prayer in song which was very atmospheric. I then walked around the streets, Logrono is very pretty although not on the same scale as Pamplona which was stunning.
The mercato was very impressive, with loads of stalls selling all cuts of meat, a whole stall for salted codfish, and loads of fruit and veg stalls as well as a great fishmonger. Some of the tomatoes are melon size!
I then stopped in at the ConCatedral de Sante María de la Redonda. It has a baroque appearance and twin towers which are very attractive. I found it disappointing inside to be honest, it was very dark and not very welcoming but it was my third Church visit of the morning!
Met up with the young crowd in the square having a coffee while I wrote my postcards. They are also having a rest day, which surprised me somewhat, don’t know why. They all met up on the route and now party every night, properly party till the next morning, then keep walking!! A mix of Americans and English.
After my cultural morning, Eric, Andy and I met to choose a picnic of cheese, jambon, bread, roasted peppers and red wine. We took our picnic off to the river, fashioned 3 wine glasses from water bottles, now a thing, and had a lovely picnic tasting the best of Rioja red wines recommended by a local wine producer, what a great way to spend a free afternoon. We did also manage to spot the pilgrims fountain too which was great to see.
Andy popped back to the hotel for a nap and Eric and I wandered through town having a coffee which progressed to beer tasting in a brewery. The world was put to rights this afternoon.
Tomorrow is another long walking day 29km.