Day 10: Viana to Logroño

"Bail out, bail out...the skin is shed"
-Auteurs

First off, new pictures are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/36308626@N00/sets/

Shit, what a night, and what a day. When I turned in to sleep (which usually takes me a while), I discovered I was surrounded by the most ruthless snorers on the planet. I mean ridiculous snoring; so much so that it could have been a parody. Bach´s concierto in "Zzz". The two soloists were particularly adept at switching duties throughout the night. One would do his 30 minute solo, stop, and then the second would start in on his. It was like some twisted whale-song. So much so that I entertained thoughts of dunking them both in a large tank of water and holding them down so that I could hear it as it was intended. And so I could hear how it ends.

Anyways, after two hours of this, I decided enough was enough, and I grabbed my stuff and left just as the third movement was starting. I ended up sleeping in the garden of the albergue, where I could finally get (and ruin) some peace. Seriously, now that I fully understand how obnoxious loud snoring can be, I´m going to see if I can have mine fixed up once I get home.

I awoke to find my toes in even worse shape than the night before. I knew then that I wouldn´t be able to walk to Logroño. I did manage to stay around long enough to watch the running of the bulls though. No pictures, as it would be difficult to catch the action. Besides, I was too morbidly fascinated with the scene in front of me to think of pictures. Freaking nuts. It´s bad enough that there´s a drunken mob running from angry, (essentially) wild animals, that are drugged up to the eyeballs, but it seems that´s not enough to satiate the local need for insanity. People were tossing little firecrackers into the street as the toro´s passed, scaring the holy living shit out of the bulls, the runners, and at least one spectator (when a firecracker went off in front of me and caught the attention of a bull).

Having finished with that madness, I headed back to the albergue to figure out how I could get to Logroño. Three calls to the cab company later, and I gave up on trying to get a taxi. Went the the local bus stop to see if I could catch a bus to the city...busses didn´t run on Sunday. Oh well. No choice now. Managed to walk the 12km into Logrono, and crossed my first provincial border here. I had walked the length of Navarra (150km or so). Knowing that I really shouldn´t push it with my feet, I checked into a hotel here for a couple of days to see if I can heal up a bit. Seems to be helping. Next stage, whenever that is, will be to either Nájera or Ventosa.