Day 9 To Navarrete
Day 9 September 17 Destination Navarrete = 623 km to go. Entered Cominidad La Rioja today - I strongly believe this will be one of my two favorite regions along with the other being Galicia. A big 31000 step day is still pretty much my self imposed maximum to keep from getting injured or wrecking something … this is clearly apparent to me now. It is a beautiful thing to be awakened by the church bell tower next door through the open window sounding off the hour instead of the 3 iPhones and random synthesized alarms in my shared room with my friends. Today is 1 of 4 days of climbing before a ‘quick’ tiny descent onto La Meseta - nine days of contemplative flat (which will start chapter 2 (capitulo Dos) of my blog)
“Am I a human being on a spiritual journey or a spiritual being on a human journey”
An enjoyable stretch with Herr Holger where the camino parallels a hiway for a stretch
Spent about 20 minutes in wonderful silence (eyes closed) in this beautiful sanctuary. Had the place to myself believe it or not-most opt for a photo outside without entering.
Iglesia de Santiago in Logroño. (1500s).
I guess I am ‘officially’ a pilgrim now that I have my concha shell with cruz de Santiago stamped on it (everyone follows this tradition). Today I found myself stopping frequently to take my pack off and catch my breath
Often times markers between markers are vague, eroded, quite old and faded, and difficult to see - when all else fails head west
Official Rose de Santiago - created & donated to the people of the Logroño by Michel Adam. A recent and ongoing hybridization and combination of roses from different cities and villages along the Camino with the goal to make this a symbolic rose of the entire Camino. This is the second thing that made my day - I picked this one especially for my lovely wife who is holding down the fort while I am gone 😘
My walking tribe (Susanna, Kathy, Holger, Lars) for the first 90 minutes - there after I walked alone until three - I will see them again in a couple of days in Najera
The roadside art installation was pretty cool and inspired
