Under the Milky Way 8: From Los Arcos to Logrono

6/5, Day 8, Monday, From Los Arcos to Logrono, 28 km or so

(Image source: Google Images and a picture of a flyer from the Pilgrims’ Office)

 7am, another clear day. I felt mighty lucky that I didn’t have to walk on muddy trails today. The weather forecast had been predicting 50% chance of rain, thus I always had the rain gear readily available. Somehow, our good luck persisted most of the time, and rain always “waited” until most of us (almost) finished. How considerate!  

Close to the first town before I knew it. Sansol, population around 100. All of a sudden, I thought of café con leche (coffee with milk). About time for breakfast, I suppose. So I picked up my pace…

I walked with T for quite some distance today. We posed this way and that, and looked so silly! A British native, T was walking the Camino Frances for the second time. Last time was last fall, when she and her elder sister walked together. She saw so many beautiful spring flowers, and the weather was so fair that she was thinking of walking with her sister again next spring or early summer!  

 

Today’s breakfast: a cup of café con leche, a ham and cheese sandwich – nice and warm, high calories and high protein, neglecting the bad (:-)) This could be counted as my lunch as well, I thought, and I could always munch on something else from the backpack, right?  

 

Got a few ascendings again today. I was glad that I had the handy-dandy trekking poles with me.

In recent years, this young couple from Switzerland, full of energy and vitality, had been living in different countries, moving to a new country every one or two years, looking for meaning and passion for life. In order to find jobs they would truly enjoy, they uprooted themselves from their home country,  worked and traveled in various parts of the world. They marched along side by side, their steps and the tapping of their trekking poles in sync. What a romantic and idealistic pair!

Arrived at another town, Viana, population about 4,000. 9.3 more kilometers would take me to today’s destination.

A young man “dragged” his father onto the Camino, the handsome young fellow from Pennsylvania! His amazing and rich song voice echoed around the ancient opera house ruins, so that, for a moment, one felt as if being entertained in an elegant and tasteful opera house! His singing seeped through the old stone wall, taking us listeners to an ancient time and place, wandering…  

Camino art is thick in the air. 

Such simple wall paintings showed their unique beauty.  

The matching blisters on my toes remained their. They appeared so pumped and shiny as if they were threatening to burst. If they did do that, and if I got infected, then my plans had to be altered! I didn’t want to think about it. Rather, I must take action for the blistered to get worse. The thought of using needles and thread to pop them, etc. freaked me out. Instead, in the town of Viana, I walked into a shoe store, asked the store owner to find me a pair of hiking sandals, and walked out with the sandals on in less than 10 minutes! Thus, trail runners in, sandals out! I didn’t even need the shoe box!! Never in my life had I made a purchase as fast and decisively as this. Now I should be whole-heartedly happy! May the blisters evaporate in the air, in the field, or dissolve on their own, and cheer me on to the end of my Walk!!

(From Google images)

The slopes seem to reach high,
Where the clouds draped the edge of the sky.
I feel like a fairy down a winding trail,
Until I step into vineyards and hear all the tales.  

Just when hunger and thirst hit, came salvation.

Arrived! A room with 26 beds, with mixed genders. 

My confession here: I never dared to try the municipal albergues or donativos. 
No reservations would be accepted, early-bird style only. If luggage needs to be transported, those places normally do not accept those services. Let’s say that I was less of a risk-taker, and truly didn’t want to race for a bed on a daily basis. Imagine that I had to think of/wonder where my bed would be that night, I wouldn’t be able to focus on the Way, or enjoy the process. How did other people do what I dared not to try?

Souvenirs from the blacksmith a couple of days ago. Jennifer from Florida bought one as well. 

I walked into this church, asked for blessings. 

 

Interpreting a Chinese saying while wishing for smooth sailing, achievement and success – mere diligence might not always help one achieve success, it takes “天時地利人和”, meaning one has to be with the right people, in the right place, and at the right time. When all is said and done, God’s blessings would be cherished.

After checking in, a few of us went out for a stroll in town, had our massive dinner from the pilgrims’ menu – appetizers, red wine, entrees, desserts. We had so much food that we had to “roll” ourselves back to the albergue!

For a good day’s walk the next day, we’d better stuff in more in the evening! – We were such an indulgent and impulsive bunch! What an awful way to stay healthy!!  

Today’s step counts: 42,409，19.53 miles, 31.4 km

Keywords of the day: 
Sing out loud and strong