Viana to Navarette

So we left the lovely town of Viana behind shortly before 8 in the morning, since this was to be a 20+ kms day.  A backward glance at the ruins of San Pedro as we leave...

And then looking ahead as we walk through wide open fields as well as some narrow forested trails on the way to the city of Logrono...

I'd have to say this was the least beautiful day scenery wise so far, as we spent a lot of time making our way through this city of Logrono, with a population of 130,000+.  As we enter the city, I had to take this picture of the bridge leading into the city...

We stopped for coffee at an outdoor cafe, and as we made our way through the city, this mural caught our eye looking back.  The stamps on this dude's body are the stamps we pick up at each stop along the way on our pilgrim's passports.  We need the passports to receive our El Camino certificates at the end in Santiago.

Once we got through Logrono, we had a picnic lunch in a park, where we met a furry friend who looks quite different from its compadres in our backyard at home...

..as well as some beautiful wild lilies...

...and a small group of firemen putting out a peat fire in the park...

As we finally approach our day's rest stop, in the middle of an important wine region known as La Rioja, we discover the ruins of an ancient pilgrim's hospital...

...and we take a brief rest with fellow pilgrims for the last short haul into the town of Navarette.  We have come to know the ones pictured here as well as many others along the way, as we run into each other over and again.  We feel like we're becoming family!

We are now comfortably settled in a small hotel in the middle of town, with the view pictured below...

We visited the church pictured above, as we heard someone practising on its pipe organ.  Incredible acoustics, but a church so ornate inside with so much gold overlay and statues that we are grateful for the Reformation.  Enough said about that!  It is almost impossible to imagine the human cost and sacrifice it took to create and build these immense cathedrals you find even in such small towns.

We are now anticipating dinner with a group of us and determined to find somewhere to eat where we don't have to wait until 8!

Distance today: 22.7 kms

Time on the road: 5:50

Total distance to date: 178.7 kms

Walking days remaining: 28