Our day started with a luxurious packing with lights on and spreading our clean clothes out to pack… Can’t do that when you share a room with 6-20 other people!!! Our Alberque had a breakfast of sorts with it as well… Toast, butter jam and coffee with a bit of muesli… Dan and I had some cheese and chorizo left from the day before so we added a little protien to or mix…

As we left on our journey we saw the spectacular bridge that was the namesake of our host town.  Stunning!

Once out of town, it was fields of barley and rye and wheat with poppies lining the way!

 Our day today is intentially short as both Dan and I are suffering from Blistered(Dan) and bruised feet… It’s pitiful when all you can think about is getting your boots off and rubbing some soothing Arnica cream onto them… Forget sightseeing, getting our feet up at the end of the day is absolute dreamland… I’m hoping we’ll get our walking feet soon… My legs are feeling great… Just the bottoms of my feet are giving me problems…but life could be much worse!

Some of our biggest challenges when we walk is when a lovely gravel path turns into a path filled with large round stones, some buried in dirt, others loose… Balance is critical, and no matter what you do, those darn stones will find a way to bite a part of your foot!  Thank God for our walking poles… We each have 2, and as a result can lean up to 20% of our weigh onto our arms and off our feet…below you’ll see yet another challenge of today, a 2000 year old Roman road.   The built it using flat stones laid perpendicular to the surface… Sounds logical, gives long wear, only different types of stone wear at different rates, leaving a pretty treacherous path for pilgrims…

Soon it was time for a little break, and who did we find resting on a Norman bridge, but Francesco.  His knees were still  bothering him, so Sandra laid him out on the spot for a Bowen treatment…

We are so thankful she continues to walk with us!!! At the end of today’s walk she treated both Dan and I to get the circulation moving the swelling of our feet and within 10 minutes of elevated rest, we were able to walk without significant pain!!! It’s a Godsend!

Here is a picture of the bridge we crossed to get to our Albergue… Again, it was built in the 11th century to help pilgrims cross the river… Amazing that we walk the path of so many millions before us!

Our Albergue tonight is another private one… Only 6 people in the room, and no bunk beds!!! Hallelujah!!! Just imagine trying to climb up narrow ladder rungs with feet that are screaming at you!!! We also opted to have dinner and breakfast here…not a lot of choices in town, and after a quick walk about the place with Sandra earlier, I do NOT want to walk anywhere else today!!!

Tomorrow we are thinking of another short day (10-12 km)… Estella is our next town, and was the seat of the Navarra Kings… We’ll have a look at the castle and the church where they were corronated, then when we leave Nabarro and enter Rioja, we will come to the famous wine fountain…our intention is to probably stay in Villamayor de Monjardin, A) because Joce said it was amazing and B) because we would have to go another 11 km before we got to a decent Albergue… In the meantime here we are enjoying our evening meal…until tomorrow!