Well woke up early, ate some yogurt and a peach, was all ready to go and got a bloody nose. I haven't had one of these in years. So I pinched it for a while then stuffed a tissue in it and left. Walking out this morning was a wonderful bronze sculpture of a guy throwing ceramics on a kick wheel. Leaving town there was a 13th Century gate on the cemetery which had been relocated from the ruins of the old Albergue I saw while coming into town yesterday. About this time I witnessed a glorious sunrise. My day was off to a splendid start.
I was not sure when I left if I would walk just 5 miles to Ventosa or 11.4 to Najera. I decided to leave it up to my knee, bloody nose and blister. It was only about 9 am when I got to Ventosa, I found a bar with wifi so I could send yesterday's blog and catch up on the news from home. I felt cut off yesterday with no wifi. Now today I have wifi, Internet and my data is working for the first time in weeks. I feel overwhelmed with all these options.
Everything was feeling ok in Ventosa so I decided to go for it. It was long, but I made it. This Provence I'm walking through is Rioja which is like the Napa Valley of Spain. The whole walk today the vista was miles and miles of grapes as far as the eye can see.
Today my knee hurt but it wasn't screaming and my blister hurt but it wasn't screaming either. When it got tough I had to do it one step at a time. One step at a time. Today I was praying for Daniel (remember my mission to carry this guys name on a paper to Santiago?) to work the steps by saying Dan with right foot, iel with left foot, one with right foot, two with left foot, etc. So I prayed for Daniel a lot. I think I'll include you guys on future days.
I got to Najera, found an Albergue, took a shower, did my laundry and then did something I've been thinking about for a couple of days. I went to the Oficina de Correos and sent my sandals and sleeping bag home to reduce the weight in my pack which will reduce the weight on my knees and feet. I haven't been using the sleeping bag because it is hot and/or most of the albergues have blankets. Also, I have a light sleeping sheet. The sandals are a problem with my knee out of whack and the rocky terrain because they don't have enough support. So that took 4.5 pounds out of my pack. I'm also going to stop using my camel back and just carry my refillable bottle because there are fountains (fuentes) along the way. That takes another 2.5 to 3.5 pounds out of the pack. So it should feel lighter tomorrow and hopefully that will help my knees.
There's a lovely river here. I stopped and had patatas bravas and a coca cola light. I'm going to have dinner there tonight. They have a Pilgrim's meal for 10€.
I believe I still have some kid karma to work off. First there were the drunken teenagers in Salamanca last winter and tonight I'm in a Albergue with a catholic high school church group from Italy!! They are young so they wander in and out of each others rooms, one of which also happens to be my room too. Oh well. And did I mention there is only one bathroom with the shower and toilet for each 24 people. Yikes!
I went and had dinner by the river. The dinner was not as good as last night's, but it was ok. The river view was very nice. I walked around a little and came back and talked to my new friend Juan Antonio from Gran Canary in the Canary Islands. He wanted to make sure I knew that the Canary Islands were part of Spain. I assured him I knew this. He speaks no English and he speaks Spanish very fast. So it makes for intetesting conversation. He has been on the Camino Seven Days, so he's going pretty fast.
Well it's time for bed. The priest told me he's getting them up at 5am. So I don't need to set my alarm. lol
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