Regaining the Camino is like seeing a good friend after a year's absence. You pick up where you left off and take it from there.
The morning was overcast — always fine by us. Even by day 2, it's quite clear that this 421km segment of the Camino is largely going to be flat. We're not going to be walking on little narrow mountain paths. We were able to make good time in the morning because it was so, so flat — going at least 5km/hour.
The 12th-century church in Torres del Rio is a gem. It's a beautiful octagonal church with exquisite acoustics (I had to try them out). Sadly, it is a museum and not a church insofar as it is no longer used for worship. The church is quite reminiscent of the funerary chapel at Eunate, outside of Puenta la Reina, a three-day walk back east. We bumped into two women cyclists from Montana, who were pretty much going at the same pace as the walkers because it was hilly enough still. There are a lot more people from the US this time than previous years. Perhaps it's because we are walking later.
Outside of Torres del Rio, we started walking through lots of vineyards. We are in La Rioja, wine country (nice to have at night), so grapes are everywhere.
Coming down into Logroño, we came upon Felice's daughter, who had just set up shop again after a downpour. Her mother, from 1982 until her death in 1995 at age 92, would greet pilgrims with love, water and figs (as the stamp from her indicates). Her daughter continues the tradition, by greeting pilgrims and dispensing the same. I said she was famous (she is in several books), and she said no, it was the pilgrims who had made her famous.
Then we walked down into Logroño, where we would spend the night at a pension. After settling in, we walked over to the cathedral. If you look hard, you can see a stork on the right-hand side of the bell tower. They are considered good luck and a town takes pride in their presence. But don't EVER stand below a stork nest!!! We watched a plume of stork guano come streaming down and had we been nearby we would have been coated.
By day's end I wrote in my journal: 'The party is over. I have a blister on my left pinky toe, despite coating it with benzoin beforehand. I just wait for the right one to catch up. Legs are very tired as well. The end of the day they were getting tight."
