Off Wandering, Again

Tudela might be a small town, but it's big in history.  We arrived here yesterday, and have spent the day having a rest. I have spent some of the day at the physio, where I had my tendonitis (Achilles) treated. What has been happening over the past few days?  I walked alone into Calahorra, a very old town, and sadly, somewhat decrepit.  I was alone because neither Pam nor Julie wanted to walk it, and I decided I didn't really want to sit around waiting for the train to come, so off I set. Leaving Alcanadre and the obligatory " shadow" photo! A little further on I was still enjoying the vistas of vineyards. The first few kilometres were quite pleasant.  The air was cool, the light was great, with interesting clouds colouring the sky.  Then the path crossed the freeway, and for many kilometres I trudged alongside it, trying not to let the traffic noises distract me!  Phillipe, the French pilgrim, didn't like it at all - but I guess the similaritie...

Leaving  Logroño  was just as I expected!  The night had been long and noisy, and as we left, the streets were still busy, with many people yet to head home!  We actually caught the bus out of the suburbs to the village of Varea , making life easier by not trudging along endless streets.  We shared the bus with at least 7 young people who had yet to get home from the celebrations!  Both Julie and Pam had a very poor night's sleep with the endless noise  from the street below, and even beyond our street.   The simple little church at Varea . Each day brings a new treat.  The treat yesterday was coming into the village of Agoncillo .  We knew nothing about this village and the walk into the village itself seemed endless as we headed towards the Church, where we were hoping there would be a bar.  We not only found a bar, but a very old church AND a castle, complete with what was once a moat. The castle, with its moat, and the...

The grape harvest is about to start, and here in Navarra they way it is marked is to have a festival!  Presumably when the harvest ends there will be another celebration of some sort.  The crowds are huge here, and again we had trouble getting a bed, but Pam and Julie did well and sorted one for us. Bands played this afternoon in the streets (so Pam and Julie tell me) and this evening bands have been marching past our window along with throngs of people. Even as I write the bands are still parading past and wonderful sounds of a brass band float up to us.  The noise is fairly cacophonous, especially in the square where a rock band was playing on a stage. Julie has just said that the noise should stop soon (it's 10.30) - I had to enlighten her.  It will be interesting to see when it stops, but judging on past experience I am assuming it well may be 2-3 am, and we will probably pass stragglers going home when we are heading out.  The Spanish know how to enjoy ...

....... and so we are in Fuenmayor , staying in a very swish apartment with three bedrooms which means we each have a room to ourselves tonight. I began walking from Genevilla soon after 8.30 this morning, leaving Pam and Julie behind as they had decided to give the mountain a miss.  Instead they caught a lift with Guy (pronounced Gee), our host for last night.  The plan was that he would drop them at the village of Kripán , from where they would walk the last 11.5 kms.  I planned, and did, walk the 27 kms.  The only thing is that we all got lost, and consequently I walked just over 29kms! Sue and Jeremy heading into Cabredo .  It was soon after this that we started climbing the mountain. The view from the the top looking back towards where we stayed. The path after leaving Lapoblación skirts around  the bottom of the mountains, more or less following the contours. There was one stetch, only small, of about 1.5 kms where the signs disappe...