Logroño to Navarrete

There´s nothing to do, but that´s okay, because it´s too hot to do anything.

Last night I had fun going out for tapas on Calle Laurel in Logroño (apparently it´s a thing... they sell Tshirts saying "I went to Laurel Street" [in Spanish, of course]). There were some quite disgusting little shish kebob things that I managed to avoid. There were several weddings going on in town, and also several bachelorette parties all dressed in matching outfits going around being crazy. It seemed like a party town, for sure!

Today the three people closest to me in my dorm room got up and were out before 5. Yikes! I was not ready for that, but of course couldn't go back to sleep, so I got a slow start and was on the road by 7. It was a slow walk, but pretty, through a regional park, with a pond with ducks and fishermen, and nice paved asphalt trail.

Along the way there was this guy all set up with apples and plums and cookies, free for the pilgrims passing. His name was Marcelino and apparently he's a camino legend. He walked all the way from Jerusalem to Santiago with a burro and a dog, and he helped paint the yellow arrows all along the way. And he LOVED talking to pilgrims. Interesting guy.

There was also an interesting spot where the trail went by a chain link fence, on a ridge up parallel to the highway, and for about half a mile or so, until the end of the fence, pilgrims have woven sticks into the chain link to form crosses. Just thousands of them. Random but beautiful.

I came into Navarrete around 10:30, and if I'd psyched up for it earlier, I could have continued at least the next 4km to the next town. But I was ready for a break day. The problem is, it's Sunday, and it's a small town. NOTHING is open. I put down my bag, had a cafe con leche and una pincha de tortilla, then walked around, then went to the 1:00 mass (huge gold altarpiece covering the whole front of the church) then waited some more, talked to some new Americans that just started the camino today and are only going a few days, waited some more. Next time I might just keep going, because there's not much to do but walk when the hostel opens late.

So... I think I'm going to go make dinner in the hostel kitchen. The pilgrim menu served at the bars/restaurants is a good deal at 9-12 euros for salad, main course, dessert and wine, but it's still cheaper to cook some pasta in the kitchen for a few euros. It's too hot to eat, anyway.