Well everyone, sadly Dan’s feet have gotten the better of him and he needs to take a couple of rest days from walking…broken blisters that are starting to mend, but need to be pampered!  He took a taxi to Viana, and arrived safe and sound in 30 minutes… A distance that will take me 2 days to cover!!!

In the meantime Sandra, Judith and I headed off on our journey today.  First stop was Estella, the seat of the kings of Navarra.  We got there about 9:20, and decided to wait until the church opened at 10.  This church that held the royal coronations was not only beautiful in it’s simplicity, but was one of the most peaceful and acoustically perfect places we’ve seen… We entered to Gregorian chants being piped through the sanctuary… Surreal!

We left Estella around 11-11:30, and pushed on to the Benedictine Fuerte de Vino… Offering each pilgrim a taste of the wine of Irace as a blessing for their trip… I managed to get enough to bring Dan a taste as well!

After the fountain, we pushed on to a beautiful mountain village called Villamayor… If Dan had been with us, we would have stated there for the night, but we needed to make tracks so we stayed just for lunch instead… While their we run into Francesco once again!! He was staying there as he did not want to make his knees any worse!  It was such a nice surprise!

You’ve got to admit, he looks a lot like Petar!

We left Villamayor at 2:20, starting out on a long stretch (12km) without any villages or hostels before Los Argos… One of the great challenges of the day… My legs were strong and my feet (with new bindings) were fine until about half way through the last stretch, then the familiar screaming started…not to worry, the 3 of us were in the same boat, so for the last 3 painful Kms we took our minds off it by singing songs…can be quite a challenge finding something that a Canadian, Scot and German all know!  Turns out Puff the magic dragon is international!

  

Well, time to get these poor tired feet to bed!  Tomorrow, we’re on to Viana… A medical town that promises some Knights Templar history!  Until Tomorrow!!