Day 8 - Walking from Los Arcos to Viana (19.5km)

Another bright sunny day and I might have gotten a bit of sunburn. The path twisted through farmland and I might actually now say that it was rolling hills. When I first started out there was a lot of fog and it was almost eery because you couldn´t see very far into the distance.

It was a quiet day of walking and I stopped in Viana just outside the big city of Logrono. I am sort of following an itinerary mapped out by the Amis du Chemin de Saint Jacques des Pyrenees-Atlantique (www.aucoeurduchemin.org). It averages 20-25km a day which is far enough for me. When I got to the albergue it was closed, but there was a sign on the door explaining that I had to call the municipal police. A kind lady walked me to the town hall and a police man told me he would be by in ten minutes and about an hour later he showed up. Because I was the first person there I sort of became the hospitalerio and let people in when they arrived. There were only four of us but there was room for a lot more with the bunks three tiers high. Two of the group were cyclists and they figured it would take them about 10 days to get to Santiago. It was nice to find a dryer because if you handwash clothes everynight they don´t usually dry sitting in a cold room overnight. Practically there is only so much you can pin to your back pack to have dry while you are walking. It was funny when we were sorting the clothes out at the end because one man got some of my underwear, but in the end we all had our things.

The plan is to go to Naverrete tonight. I just crossed the border from the region or communidad of Navarra and I am now in Rioja. I learned that there are 17 regions in Spain and about 52 provinces (these are smaller than regions). It is a little bit confusing if you think in Canadian terms. Hasta luego !