Again today was a long walk at 29 km from Logrono to Najera. I woke up and had the same feeling from yesterday of need of alone time and not in the best mood. I did my packing, there were breakfast at the hotel with nice americano coffee - and boring toast - but it worked - and I started walking on my own at 7:00. Really nice to start the day alone and just walk with own thoughts.
I soon arrived at the country side and came to a nice recreation area with a big lake where people were fishing. See the video below as well. I started to focus on the present and the bad mood from the morning disappeared and same enjoyment from previous days came back. It was really nice to have the alone time and just enjoy the present.
The area we are walking has started to have lots of wines and is the main area for the Rioja wines and I passed several wine farms.
After walking for a couple of hours, the need for alone time started to fade, and after 13 km, finally a coffee place appeared. Here I took two rounds of breakfast. First a double expresso with milk and a bacon/egg sandwich and orange juice, and second another expresso with milk and a large chocklade cake.
I need the energy and do not feel hunger, so I eat as much as I can until I am full. The coffee break was nice and I met Kathryn from Colorado again.
Kathryn was the social worker that me and Colin met at a coffee shop some days before. She unfortunately had to go back to US to work and will come back next year to finish the camino. Some people are not able to take 5 weeks off and need to do the trek over multiple journeys.
After coffee, I continued walking alone - and I had a lot of energy today and made great progress. I called my mom on facetime and showed the wine yards, and also called Jesper, my good friend that will meet me on the track in about two weeks and gave him packaging advices. I brought too much clothes, and the electronics I am carrying is adding weight as well. But we all suffer for the guilty pleasures we have. In my case it is the ipad and a kindle, and a charger and powerback that adds 2 kg. I met a dutch that brought a camera at 1.5 kg, so it just depends on what you prefer.
A few km before Najera, I met Lara again, the german girl just 19 years old, and we walked the last 5 km together. It was great again to discuss the camino and the friendships we are building along the way. Lara is in another group than I and we both enjoy the cameratery with the groups very much and try to keep together with the group.
Finally in the town, we went to a hostel to get beds. We arrived early, already at 13:00, so we thought beds would not be a problem. But the place only had two beds left - all others had been reserved, so we were very lucky to get the last two ones. All other hostels in the town were similarly occupied very quickly and many of our friends did not get a bed. However, the camino is great, so when pilgrims do not get accommodations, typically the fire station is opened, so pilgrims can sleep at the floor there. In this case there was not a fire station, but instead the public gym was opened so people could stay there. Colin the Irishman had booked an airb&b and invited one of the others to stay with him. People are so nice to each other and really want to help , it is so great to see.
After unpacking and getting a shower, I went out and explored the city - and found the square with a restaurant. I met the “bolded Italian guy” which name I cannot remember and we talked about hostels and the need to book in advance, even though we do not want to.
I went to the restaurant and ordered pinchos and a beer and started to look for accomendation.
I sent my location to Colin that was just behind and we ate pinchos and took the beer together at the square.
We also booked accomendations for the next two days to avoid strees and shared with the group. I ended up sitting at the square for 6 hours - more camino friends kept coming, both all the old ones and new ones as well - Rachel from California that I met yesterday and Tarik from Germany came. I had not really talked to Tarik before, but now got the chance. We had so much fun and great conversations, and perhaps got a glass of local wine too much with consideration that 22 km is ahead of us tomorrow at 6:00. Such an enjoyable afternoon with great company, great wine, fantastic pinchos and the sun shining.
Now I am at the hotel writing this at 21:00 and will soon be in bed ready for a new adventure tomorrow.