We walk and we walk and we walk…

 Posted by VQT

We left our hotel at 7:30 and we walked 5.5 miles before finding a cafe.  Mapquest to our destination of Najera showed a drive time of 16 minutes and a walk time of 4.5 hours   With our breakfast stop and stopping for photos it was surprisingly accurate.  

Me (VQT) walking down a gravel road.  We’ve been on miles and miles of gravel roads the past few days. 

VQT holding a small gherkin pickle can next to a vending machine. There is a story behind this photo.  3 years ago we bought a can of gherkin pickles from a machine and were so excited to have them to put on our cheese & bread (no mayo or mustard in Spain) sandwich.  Since then I’ve checked every machine on all of our Caminos and alas no pickles until today.  Now we need a dry cheese and bread sandwich. 

LP and VQT shadows.  Very breezy today.  

Vineyards stretching away as far as you can see.  

A church in the distance.  

A stone bench and an olive tree.  I’d love to have this in my garden but I live in the wrong climate. 

A stone cross on the wayside.  



Comments

  1. CDZSeptember 6, 2025 at 8:01 AM

    5.5 miles - working up an appetite. That’s the Peter morning walk. You are definitely in wine country. Beautiful scenery.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 6, 2025 at 9:09 AM

    Beautiful scenery and congrats on the pickles!
    Cheryl P

    ReplyDelete
  3. To Dog With LoveSeptember 7, 2025 at 6:21 AM

    Interesting vending machine and I laughed at your “very breezy” description (the wind blown silhouette). Beautiful scenery!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are we there yet?

Image
 Posted by LP Today was 14 miles, not too hilly (but enough hilly to make us believe we achieved something), cool in the morning, hotter and sunnier as the day progressed - it took us about 5 hours (with a few brief breaks) and when we arrived at our destination, we stopped at the first bar/cafe along with a bunch of other pilgrims - now we have completed approximately 60 miles in 5 days….only another 400 to go! Photo - teapot and teacup sign outside cafe Photo - LP and VQT, with Tina from Germany, at dinner last night - we had the “pilgrim’s menu” = 15 euros each for salad, pasta, fresh fruit (melon) and red wine - we were so hungry we ate it all  Photo - Camino Arrow sign…..crocheted  Photo - graffiti of heart and smiley face  Photo - green door covered in graffiti  Photo - green door with “for sale” sign Photo - delightful house and garden with vines and geraniums  Photo - graffiti of a menacing face  Photo - VQT at green grocers (we bought bananas)...
Read more

Day 2. Sept 2nd

Image
 Posted by VQT Headed to Estella.  When we were here 3 years ago we had booked a room at a self check in hotel - using the kiosk challenged us beyond normal cuss words. But there was a reward - a vegetarian restaurant down the street.  This year when we were booking rooms we reserved a room in Estella and we realized it was at the (curse word) self check in hotel!  We are mentally prepared for the kiosk and hopeful the vegetarian restaurant is still there.   Stopped for lunch and a beer   We have 4 to 5 miles still to walk.  Sights along the way    Very fancy water fountain.  Almost all the small towns have a fountain for Camino pilgrims to use.   Baby snails.    More baby snails.    Fields of dead sunflowers.  Right before seeing these dead flowers we walked past a very dense hedge filled with birds.  Merlin identified the song as Eurasian linnets.  We never saw them.   Owl planter in the mid...
Read more

Wanderlust

Image
 Posted by LP VQT sitting at cafe in Madrid airport under a sign that says “Wanderlust (n) a strong desire or urge to travel and explore the world” As we walk out of the city, we see the bright blue sky above the bell tower of the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela  Liz (met last year on Portugues Camino), LP, VQT and Michelle (met this year on the Primitivo Camino) outside the restaurant we ate lunch together yesterday/Thursday  LP, VQT, Michelle and Liz enjoying dinner at The Green Room (a veggie restaurant!) on Wednesday evening  We’ve walked, we’ve celebrated…..we are ready to be home :) HUGE and HEARTFELT thanks to everyone who supported us to have this wonderful adventure - I recognize it is a privilege to spend a month walking and exploring (also finding our way, negotiating various challenges, looking for the next place to rest, eat, sleep and do laundry, etc.!) - special appreciation to GJA (previously identified as the most supportive spouse in the world),...
Read more