Day 8

The rooster did not crow, at least not from his perch underneath our window! If you're confused, you must not have read the ending of Day 7.

Not much to say about this day--we slept in until about 8, then got up and enjoyed breakfast at the Hostel Ezequiel where we were staying. Here, a continental breakfast consisted of fresh orange juice, a croissant, two giant slices of toast and your choice of coffee. Each coffee shop we have seen has a machine into which a rack or whole oranges feed. They are crushed and squashed and fresh juice comes out the bottom while the peels are eventually ejected. Of course there was plenty of butter and jam to go along with the bread. When we got back upstairs to our room, we were treated to a fine view out of our window:

We had enjoyed our private room and bath and felt somewhat refreshed. Sharon has blisters at several strategic locations but has been treating them each day. We're wearing hiking boots inside our properly fitted hiking shoes but she still developed blisters, as well as a rash on her calves.

Still, she's not near as bad off as the French girl we saw in Los Arcos who had enormous bandages coming out from inside her sandals and she could barely limp along. Foot ailments are a big part of the Camino!

We were hleped considerably by the hotellier who had checked us in. He had told me his name was Esteban, just like mine. I was having trouble getting my telephone app to work there, so he suggested I download Google Hangouts to my iPhone and take advantage of their free phone calls. We discussed the advantages of Samsung vs. iPhone and Apple versus PC and I think I was able to understand most of what he said!

So today's Camino was shortened considerably as we caught the bus in Los Arcos and travelled to the large city of Logrono, leaving behind the Navarra region and entering the region of La Rioja where much of Spain's wine is produced.

By taking the bus we missed walking 28.6 kms, or nearly 18 miles. I can't say we missed it very much, but the view was gorgeous. We saw pilgrims walking the Camino and guess who we should see--Grandpa Juan and his son! I felt a little bad that we were on the bus while this 74 year old gentleman was trekking away, walking a little humped over on his walking stick. A little.

We arrived in Logrono and the bus pulled in to the central bus station. We reclaimed our backpacks from underneath and set off in search of our hostel. We only had to ask two people for directions. The first had told us to go up to the intersection he was indicating, take a right and go until you get to the end of the street. When you get there, he said, ask someone else to finish telling us. I'm glad he didn't have the sense of humor that would have sent us opn a wild goose chase, but sure enough his instructions worked fine and we were soon checking in.

This hostel had a real oddity, something we had never seen in this part of Europe. It had an American washing machine, top load with instructions in English! Same for the dryer. If there's one thing Americans have perfected, it's the clothes washer/dryer. And since we hadn't washed clothes in three days, we were glad to be there early and find the machine open.

We were right on the Calle Portales and our hostel practically adjoined the Cathedral. While it was taller than the one in Los Arcos and had two spires instead of one, the inside was not as nicely done as the one in Los Arcos. Here are a few snapshots.

It was considerably darker than the one we had seen earlier, and perhaps a little larger seating area. There is another church in town dating to the 12th century, but we didn't get over there. I snapped a few pix of the neighborhood, which is made up of several walking streets here in the old part of town. As a large city, it was bustling with people and we could have watched them go by all day! Here are a couple more photos of our neighborhood:

We had lunch about 2, as is the custom around here, but it was nothing famous. Sharon had a chicken sandwich, which consisted of several slices of chicken breast and ham covered in melted cheese and "special sauce." She could only eat half of it and we remarked that we could have made a meal of the sandwich alone if we had ordered fries with it.  I ordered the pilgrim meal and chose the sausage and ham. It came with fries, peppers and a salad of eggs, tuna, onions and lettuce. A simple meal for a simple pilgrim like me!

Nap time was enjoyable today and this hostel is really nice. Our clothes had been washed and somebody hung them on one of the drying racks for us, but we pitched them into the dryer to finish them off. Clean clothes, a blessing we so often overlook!

It was funny in a town so large to run into people we had already met, but we saw several familiar faces. We also met another couple from Arizona, Roy and Cathy. They had heard tell of the other couple from Arizona but hadn't meet them yet. I enjoyed a nice visit with them and we both shared some of the secrets we had learned thus far. Cathy's feet and legs were hurting her also, as did everyone's who had walked from Los Arcos.  Theere was a young italian lady who sat down and visited while she waited for her leg massage from the hostel masseuse. I marked an appointment for Sharon for 5:15 and she said it really helped her legs.

After the massage, we walked up and down Calle Portales and soon dropped in to a coffee shop directly across from our hostel and there sat Joyce! It is fascinating how you meet and meet people again! We enjoyed a cup of hot tea and killed time until we could order dinner, which wouldn't be available at the earliest at 8 p.m. I snapped a pic of Sharon enjoying her tea with the entry to our hostel in the background:

So we hung out long enough and then got up and wandered down the street looking for the restaurant that would suit us the best. And boy was one of us in for a surprise!

I believe it was the Bar/Restaurant Cadena where we finally wound up. We walked in and found a booth and soon the waiter appeared with the menu. We studied it carefully and as Sharon loves shrimp and seafood, she saw what interested her.

Please, would someone with internet access look up and translate the Spanish word "chulas" and post the answer here? The word "gambas" she recognized as shrimp, but the other word was a mystery. Maybe it would be a kind of fish or octopus or something. Imagine her surprise when the waiter brought out her plate and it looked like this:

"Holy smokes, Sharon," I said encouragingly, "you got a plate of sea worms with your shrimp!" Somehow my encouragement wasn't very encouraging!

For all the world, they looked like some kind of underwater roundworm, and for a moment I thought I saw one move! Shades of an Indiana Jones movie! But she's a brave girl so she gingerly coaxed one up on to her fork. It didn't wriggle off so she took a bite. Then a mouthful:

As of this writing, the chugas have all stayed in place. We think that they were either shredded squid or octopus. But if someone could check it out, we would appreciate it.

I opted for a light supper, the pilgrim menu featuring hamburger. I hope it will hold me through the night:

It only had one hamburger patty, but it did have two fried eggs, which I had missed at lunch. French fries, a chunk of tuna and green salad completed the little plate.

It had begun to rain a little late in the afternoon and we were a bit concerned about tomorrow. John Brierly has written the definitive book on the Camino, and we have the travel version. Here's what he says about tomorrow's walk:

"The natural pathways now turn to the rich red clay soil of La Rioja--beautiful in the sun and a nightmare in the wet as it clings to footwear like a leech!"

Not promising, but maybe it won't rain tomorrow.

The bathroom and showers are down the hall, and we learned something important about this hostel: there is one toilet paper dispenser situated between the two toilets. Before you step in and close the door, make sure you have completed your paper work!

As I started out the door, Sharon asked me to turn on the TV in the room. I switched it on and flipped a channel or two. My buddy James Calhoun would be perfectly at home here!

¡Entonces, buenas noches y hasta mañana!