Distance: 22.1km, Steps: 35,234 Time: 8hrs

I was utterly exhausted last night, from the pain in my Achilles to over eating at dinner. The lights were still on in our bunk room when I popped a couple of ibuprofen tablets & went to bed at 8.30pm. I must have went out like a light & slept through to early morning waking up thinking I was back home already & feeling confused, then realising I was in an Albergue in Spain! Mr D filled me in on the nights shenanigans. There was people yelling loudly in the next room. A doctor came in to check on a young man whom was quite unwell in our room. There was a loud snorer in the room & the older German man that had spent the afternoon chatting constantly to a young German lady, decided to shine his light around the room to spot the culprit & shone the light straight into Mr D’s face. He was not amused!

We got up at 6am, being the only ones awake & packing up. Even when we left at 7am everyone was still in bed. Unlike yesterday morning when everyone was up before sparrows fart, we were the last up at 6.08am! My Achilles was definitely much better, still felt sore but not painful as yesterday. I started off slowly to see how I would go getting to Logrono first, a big city 11kms away. Upon getting my boots from the washing room, noticed a man sleeping on the floor in the middle of the room in his sleeping bag with his dog! Maybe he had sneaked in, maybe no beds were available & he was offered that room.

We set off in the dark with only one other Pilgrim in front where normally there would be a constant flow of Pilgrims at that hour. We ate chorizo on the way for breakfast starters & arrived in Logrono by 10am. I noticed going in and out of the city that all the Camino shell markers had been stolen from the posts!

My ankle was holding up well so we decided we would press on, but first have breakfast & shop by the Farmacia ( my favourite place these days ) & supermarket. Well dressed women went by leaving a strong perfume scent in their wake making me feel my “smell” must be pretty average! Two young Pilgrim ladies in their early twenties were walking the same way as us. They informed us that someone had come into their Albergue early that morning & stolen their passports, money & phone. In fact 10 people had their documents stolen. The police have been there all morning so far dealing with the case that was only a block away from us.  The ladies were now having to organise passports & such to replace them. That is the worst thing to happen to anyone. One of them said ” I can’t believe they would rob Pilgrims! ” She also was walking with trouble as she commented one of her knees had gone & she was walking with one knee.

Moving on from the unpleasant news, Mr D settled on breakfast at a rather upmarket chic cafe. I had taken off my boot to inspect my foot & the waiter got quite upset with me doing this inside, he quickly motioned me to put my boot back on. Well, not making friends here we left Logrono behind but even that took awhile & the sun had become quite warm. Mr D was exhausted just getting through Logrono & we still had another 12kms to go! He would stop, take off his boots to let his feet air, then we would continue.

Lunch was at Cafe Cabana del Tio by the lake. It was a beautiful spot alright. We enjoyed a light lunch with a cold glass of coke with a lemon slice – so refreshing! We could of easily stayed all afternoon there it was too nice to leave.

However we moved on, walking uphill on hard road under a hot sun. A young man easily passed us pulling along his trolley containing all his gear. He has been on the road for 4.5 months so far. He carries a tent & all on his trolley & zips up those hills like it’s nothing!

Close to our destination we came across hundreds  of crosses made out of strips of bark from the sawmill on top of Alto de la Grajera all strung along the fence. We arrived in Navarrete, a nice small town & took awhile to find an Albergue. We settled on one & it’s very nice inside & quiet. There was us & the Germans from yesterday. The older man we found out is 80 years old & doesn’t look it! He couldn’t speak much English so the young German lady translated what he would say. We enjoyed a dinner at the Albergue with just us 4 as no one else had come. Mr D would ask how many hours of sleep the German man needs & we would get a whole rundown on his daily home routine with his wife instead! The conversations were hilarious to say the least, & I could see the man liked to talk – a lot! Hence his constant chatter in German yesterday afternoon. Meanwhile the young German lady buys tins of cat food to feed the stray kittens & cats wandering around as she feels sorry for them. The Albergue owner said “You really think the dogs & cats are starving here?!”

Well it was a pretty good day. My Achilles has held up pretty good. Mr D is pleased we hit a milestone today getting to Logrono. And there was only 4 of us in the Albergue, but we just had a late couple arrived at 9.30pm. They have walked 32kms today as they took the wrong turn & got lost. They both look completely knackered – the woman can hardly walk!