"Sunshine; been keeping me up for days"
-Elliott Smith
Compared to yesterday´s trudge through a shadeless hell, today´s walk was almost pleasant. My feet are still protesting the whole idea of walking 20km a day, but I´ve learned to ignore them when I´m walking and pay attention to them when I´m not. I might need to stay an extra day in Logroño to really hear them out and make sure they´re ok with the rest of this little trek.
The walk from Los Arcos started early; at about 6:30am, just before the sun rose. As a result, it was nice and cool, and very comfortable (weather-wise) to walk in. Throughout the rest of the day, it did warm up, but while the trail went through lots of farmland and wineries, there always seemed to be a bit of shade when most needed. Just before noon, I crossed over the hill between Los Arcos and Logroño and...I could see everything for miles. Funny how it energizes you to be able to see your goal, even though it still may be in the far distance. I estimated an hour and a half to get to Viana, based on where it looked like it was. It wasn´t until three hours later that I got there. Not that I was poised to set any land speed records in the first place, but my injured feet are really slowing me down. That being said, there were plenty of beds left in the albergue - a really nice one too. It´s built on the side of the ruined cathedral of San Pedro, and is an old, old building with triple bunks (fortunately, I only got stuck on the 2nd level).
Walking into town, it was pretty obvious that something was up. Too many people in clean white clothes and red hankerchiefs around their necks for this to be just a regular day. Turns out, there was a fiesta going on; the fiesta de los santos patronales. The entire little town was abuzz with activity, and it was just as well that I got a bed in the albergue, ´cause there wasn´t a hotel room to be had in the entire city. Later, while having dinner outside a little bar, we (myself and the four English and americans I was having dinner with) found ourselves in the middle of a parade route. Was quite funny watching these immense paper-maché statues lumber down the street, preceeded by a giant-headed honor guard with foam sticks which they´d use to ritualistically smack children with (not joking). After the parade passed us by, the owner of the bar treated us all to a glass of pacharán, the local drink in Navarra. It was pinkish, sweet, and tasted very slightly of anise. It wasn´t until I had my third that I realized that it also had quite a bit of alcohol in it. Between that and the three beers and two wines I had over dinner, it´s a wonder I made it back to the albergue at all. Drinking lots of water right now so I don´t feel it as much tomorrow.
Hoping my feet heal up a bit tonight...I´m walking with a pronounced limp, and it´s starting to affect my knees and ankles. If it´s this bad tomorrow, I might have to find alternative transportation into Logroño, and then back again once I´m better (so I can still say I walked the entire way). Either way, I´ll be there tomorrow and will hopefully be able to update this blog then.
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