This is Belorado. Taxied it to the next town.

This is our cute hotel we stayed in with a total of 7 rooms in it.
Today’s hike would have been mostly right along the road. Some people say this is their least favorite walk for that reason. Towards the end of the trail it leads into the mountains.

As you leave Santo Domingo it’s open fields with mountains all around you in the distance. Blue skies & sunny when we left… so clear we could see the top of the snow capped mountains.
Walked through green rolling hills. Hit a couple little towns. A sign on The Camino.

It’s unusually cold here for late May with temperatures in the 40′s & 50′s. 46 degrees today & light rain almost the whole way.
Made it to Belorado in 6 1/2 hours.

Scenes from today. Red rock in Najera.

The way.

Walked out of the city & into a part that was like the metroparks, shaded tree areas with picnic tables, past streams. There was a pond with guys fishing.
Vineyards for days… that’s all I’ve been seeing lately. No mountains today… yay!!
Stopped in Nararrete for lunch (almost the halfway point).

With Najera in the distance, you could see snow capped mountains on the left & flat mountains on the right.
Walked 7 hours today.

The way started with rolling hills. It rained for the first hour. It’s been in the 50′s… good temp for walking. Passed lots of vineyards. Walked through a valley which was the coldest part of the day.
The dirt trail was intertwining with the road around the mountains. Once we reached the top & it straightened out we saw Vienna ahead. There were old stone churches & crescents in the main plaza, Plaza de Flores. Stopped at Cafe San Juan to rest.
5 hours of walking today we took a taxi to Logrono… it was about 9km away. Saw pilgrims walking the trail when it ran close to the road.
I’m getting more accustom to the terrain & the walking for hours.

Spent a whole day in Logrono. It’s full of narrow streets (similar to Pamplona), with cafes, bakeries, hotels & different shops. And plazas with massive stone churches, monuments & fountains.

Traveled the American way today & jumped in a taxi to Los Arcos:) Took the freeway & saw the Camino trail on the right. Getting into more wine country. Passed a few wineries. The beginning looked more like a climb. Towards the end of the drive you see more valleys the rest of the way.
I’m doing the Camino not cause I love hiking. I’m doing it to have fun traveling & see all the cities along the way. And to complete it the whole way to Santiago… whether by walking or taxis.

Los Arcos is probably the smallest town we’ve stayed in. The buildings all look the same from (I’m sure centuries ago) to keep the history of this quant little town.

Same trails… uphill & downhill. When you walk through the town of Cirauqui there a stand with a stamp to punch your pilgrim passport. The place you stay at (either hotels or alburgues) will stamp it. And when you stop at a bar/restaurant ask if they have a stamp – most of them do.

Passed lots of horses. When we reached the highest point it started raining so we had to break out the ponchos for the 1st time.

We walked by gardens & olive trees. Reached the town of Villafuerta & I was done. My feet were hurting so bad. I just wanted to rest them for a good hour but didn’t. Two full days of walking is the longest I’ve traveled.

Got to Estella & our hotel was allll the way on the other side of the city:(

We left Pamplona at 7am. The Camino signs lead us through old city & out the old city walls. It was a gradual walk uphill out of the busy city of Pamplona. Walking past lots of apartment buildings & lots of passing traffic. Up ahead was “sunflower fields” (little yellow flowers) & “cereal fields” (wheat fields). You look up & see windmills all across the top of the mountain range.
We reached the top which had the copper-looking statues of all the people & animals walking the Camino. In the movie, ‘The Way’ it’s where the guy from Amsterdam says “you can do this on a bike?? Why are we walking it?!” This is the half way point.

The downhill wasn’t a bad incline just lots of rocks.

At the bottom we reached a small town (in ‘The Way’ it’s where the woman meets the guy from Amsterdam & asks him for sleeping pills). I’m referring to the movie so much cause I just watched it. We stopped at an alburgue & had a cafe la leche (coffee with milk) & a tortilla bocadilla (I’m living off these things the whole trip).
We made it to Puente de la Reina in 6 hours (including the 30 minute lunch break)
Celebrated by having sangrias with Beatrice from Hungary & Michael from Switzerland. & Awilda from Oregon.

When you walk like you have a stick up your butt it’s time for a break. We took a 20 minute taxi to Pamplona. If only the Camino trail was along side of the road I think you’d make it in half the time. It would have been another 6 1/2 hours of walking. Reading the itinerary, today’s trail was still steep trails through the mountains.

Myself & other pilgrims I’m meeting along the way are saying “no one ever said how difficult it actually is!” Consider yourself forewarned!:)
We’re kinda taking the easy way with half days walking & getting about 7 days off throughout the 41 days to Santiago.

Pamplona is where we got a full day off to spend in the city. It reminds me of a much smaller Barcelona with plazas, shopping, cafés & 5 stories buildings of double doors leading out to small balconies. We sat in the main plaza, Plaza del Castillo had a cappuccino at an outside table. Take pictures of the old city walls & the running of the bulls statue.

This is the last major city we’ll stop in until we get to Santiago.

Feeling exhausted this morning like yesterday was a dream. We got some breakfast & had to have our luggage downstairs by 8:30. We booked through a company that puts together packages for people walking the Camino. It includes: a hotel room in every city, luggage transfer from town to town (up to 40 pounds each) & meals at the hotels. It makes a big difference not having 40 pounds on your back like most walking this. That can slow down your walking pace & add more problems to your body.
One the walk today my knees were hurting & Mark’s feet but we kept walking. If you stop it just makes it worse. Got 3 hours into it (about half way to Zubiri).
Met up with Erin & Alex & we stopped at Cafe Juan (the only cafe in this little town) I ordered a “tortilla bocadilla” for lunch (a baguette with egg & potato… kinda like a slice of quiche).
After the 3 hours today we decided to take a 10 minute taxi to Zubiri.