Day 8, Friday, August 30th, 2019: Sansol to Logroño
It was hard for Terri to rest as the room was quite warm and the aches and pains of the day would not let go. I, on the other hand, slept like the dead!
We had a nice breakfast at the casa and headed downhill in the dark. What we have learned is if we have a big downhill, it is usually followed by a big up hill! Today for the pattern and we were soon huffing and puffing up another long hill in the cool dark morning.
This morning, we went 7 miles before stopping for a coffee in the town of Viana. We met a couple from Virginia, but before we could learn their names, we were approached by a woman and a man asking if we were “The American couple who travel around in an RV?” We answered that we were and they introduced themselves as Mark and Mo (short for Maureen) from Australia, and told us that they were doing the same thing in Australia!
Mo is an artist working in a medium known as Encaustic (painting with beeswax!) and Mark is a reformed IT project manager who chose to give up the rat-race 5 years ago to save his sanity and his marriage. They travel around teaching Encaustic techniques. What a cool way to live!
From Viana it was on to Logroño, another 6 miles ahead. The day got warm fast and we arrived to the bustling metropolis of Logroño around noon. We had decided to book a hotel room at a Spanish chain called NH and were allowed to check in early. So nice to have AC on one of the hottest days of the Camino so far.
We showered and made our way to the Calle Laurel, an entire street of pinxos (Basque for tapas) restaurants! We chose Riberra and had a wonderful lunch of meat and vegetable pinxos and lovely Rioja wine. We had been walking through the lovely vineyards of this famous Spanish wine region all day.
We went back and had a siesta, but not before finding a place for me to buy a belt. I have been losing a bit of weight and needed a new one!
In the evening, we wandered back out to town and found some lovely Mediterranean food for dinner, and ran into our Sicilian friend Katarina. She was on her last night on The Camino and had reconnected with some friends who were also finishing up and heading home the next day. We bade her farewell and went back for a quiet comfortable night of rest.
Today’s “Camino Lesson:” Try new things. Even if it is just to experience a new type of food, life contains a bounty of new things if you are open to trying. When we were last in Spain, pinxos, with all the variety and exotic flavors, were a fantastic experience. With so much to choose from, we found some new flavors and textures on this visit.
The church in Torres del Rio
Another beautiful sunrise in Spain. My favorite part of the day.
Good morning, Viana!
Our choice for Pinxos on Calle Laurel
Tan delicioso!
