5:15am I ping awake with the first buzz of someone’s alarm. They do not wake, and I do not go back to sleep. 5:30 and the alarm goes again. By the third or fourth buzz, the owner fumbles for her phone. 5:45 she starts rattling plastic bags and who.knows.what.else and I decide to get up.
By the time I get outside I have stopped grumbling inside about how she shouldn’t have set an alarm if she wasnt going to get up and that when everyone else was still asleep she should have taken all her gear into a common space to rattle around with!
By the time I reach the city limits the sun is rising
There is a lot of crossing over and under roads
Although most of the walk was near roads, it was still ruralish
Logroño appeared over the hill and I noticed the tall buildings dwarf the cathedral which surely once would have been the tallest part of the skyline.
Speaking of the cathedral….soaring heights….
And the church the albergue is affiliated with, complete with the Santiago cross stained glass window, hosts pilgrim prayers each evening.
One and a half hours before the albergue opens half of the 30 beds are already taken…we have all heard this is a great one, and because reservations are not allowed, you have to queue. In true pilgrim spirit we offer to watch the bags of those who turn up starving and want to go and find food before everything closes at 2 when we can check in. Where else in the world would you entrust a full backpack to total strangers?
On this Camino, in order to limit my walking I am trying to not walk around too much at the end of the day, but in Logroño I wanted to see the Plaza where there is a giant version of the board game I am cross stitching. I didn’t even have to look for it… I stumbled across it….right next to the albergue!
And when I nipped up the road to the supermarket (given that dinner will not be served until 8pm, which admittedly is early for Spain)….
And one bizarre video
Video car wash
solowalk 2024 