No sleep or at least that’s how it feels, awake and unable to get back to sleep again and it’s early like 4:00 AM. Getup and remove myself to the kitchen. Heinrich is there, the German guy from the bar. We chat a bit and I let him use the internet as he wants to make sure he gets a message to his wife, and leave early today to do a two stage walk direct to Logrono to buy her a Birthday Present and onto somewhere else to stay for the night. Comparing your rate of walking is not good, others will be walking further and quicker, some will be walking less far and slower and combinations of both. Get used to it. Decide to right some blog and end up failing 
three times
for different reasons and as usual realising that there’s a good reason for all three failures as my frustration at losing what I’ve written through computer and user error is replaced by the sure and certain knowledge that I lost those entries because I needed to keep thinking about it before I put it down, because the first versions were insulting or ill considered, the lack of sleep was making me crazy and bad tempered and I don’t want to take that out on anyone.
Decide to do a shorter day in the hope of seeing people I know again and resting up of course ahem, although it’s becoming clear that it’s easy to miss people terribly that you barely know when they aren’t around but I feel conflicted when they are because it’s hard for me to tell them why I’m here, it’s the one thing that I didn’t see as a problem because I was going to keep myself to myself, my reasons my own, my quest highly personal, my mission to walk alone and give my Spirituality and my connection to nature a proper prolonged chance to re-emerge and rebuild. It felt right to want to see someone again because you enjoy their company, when you’re trying to find your way on a quest that is already one fifth completed and unsure of whether they represent a challenge to overcome or sidestep, are they another opportunity to learn a lesson from the past or just someone whose company you enjoy who happens to be on the same journey?
Stephen arrives in Logrono after I’ve already surveyed the area and possible Pilgrim Hostels, visited the Santiago Church, eaten pastries and sweets and bought strawberry’s as well as all provisions for the following day and also managed to arrive outside a Mobile Phone shop as they shut for Siesta, no charger for me yet. Start queueing outside the Refugio to wait for them to open when I hear that Astrid and Inna (not sure how you spell it) are round the corner. Popping round to offer a cheery if slightly awkward smile as I’d left them in Los Arcos yesterday and a fresh Strawberry, I get the nod that the Refugio is open at last and we all pile in.
Find the people running it miserable gits, the Municipal refuges seem to attract job worths and people who aren’t overly enthusiastic at
times, the smaller places are definitely more atmospheric, cosier plus I don’t really like the towns anyway, although Logrono is better than most. Historic but with a great vibe and energy, the square is full of kids playing after school, everyone’s bustling to the shops or somewhere. Getting bored of attaching my solar charger to my rucksack and hoping for three consecutive days of unbroken sunshine, I buy a Spanish phone charger, the girl in the shop not only opens the package to ensure it fits my phone, she even plugs it into the wall to check that it’s working for me, now that’s what I call customer service. The Pick and Mix shop beckons and I’m starting to realise that the Spanish have a certain flair, whatever they are doing, even here there is an air of professionalism that doesn’t apply very often where I shop anymore.
Getting back to the Refugio I try to make the most of the kitchen, although I end up with ham and cheese sandwiches, peanuts and fruit for afters. The guys on the table next are awaiting a sumptuous looking Paella which has my nostrils aching and my lips wet, I get on with cutting the watermelon up, the strawberry’s cleaned and cut and red wine shared out, cheese is portioned out as is bread when others arrive for an impromptu party. We end up slightly sloshed on two bottles of the cheapest nicest wine I’ve ever had. Bought from what looked like a very smart wine shop, the cheapest bottles were two Euros a piece but I wasn’t counting, here in the Capital of the Rioja region. Inna won’t stop giggling, perhaps it was the wine, I assumed after she said “I’ll have the bottle” that she drank it regularly which is the only reason why I didn’t offer her any, just topped the glass up when empty. If it wasn’t the wine I can only assume that my powers of massage had loosened her up, giving her shoulders and neck a good workout was my good deed for the day, it set a trend for my Camino.
three times
for different reasons and as usual realising that there’s a good reason for all three failures as my frustration at losing what I’ve written through computer and user error is replaced by the sure and certain knowledge that I lost those entries because I needed to keep thinking about it before I put it down, because the first versions were insulting or ill considered, the lack of sleep was making me crazy and bad tempered and I don’t want to take that out on anyone.
Decide to do a shorter day in the hope of seeing people I know again and resting up of course ahem, although it’s becoming clear that it’s easy to miss people terribly that you barely know when they aren’t around but I feel conflicted when they are because it’s hard for me to tell them why I’m here, it’s the one thing that I didn’t see as a problem because I was going to keep myself to myself, my reasons my own, my quest highly personal, my mission to walk alone and give my Spirituality and my connection to nature a proper prolonged chance to re-emerge and rebuild. It felt right to want to see someone again because you enjoy their company, when you’re trying to find your way on a quest that is already one fifth completed and unsure of whether they represent a challenge to overcome or sidestep, are they another opportunity to learn a lesson from the past or just someone whose company you enjoy who happens to be on the same journey?
Stephen arrives in Logrono after I’ve already surveyed the area and possible Pilgrim Hostels, visited the Santiago Church, eaten pastries and sweets and bought strawberry’s as well as all provisions for the following day and also managed to arrive outside a Mobile Phone shop as they shut for Siesta, no charger for me yet. Start queueing outside the Refugio to wait for them to open when I hear that Astrid and Inna (not sure how you spell it) are round the corner. Popping round to offer a cheery if slightly awkward smile as I’d left them in Los Arcos yesterday and a fresh Strawberry, I get the nod that the Refugio is open at last and we all pile in.
Find the people running it miserable gits, the Municipal refuges seem to attract job worths and people who aren’t overly enthusiastic at
times, the smaller places are definitely more atmospheric, cosier plus I don’t really like the towns anyway, although Logrono is better than most. Historic but with a great vibe and energy, the square is full of kids playing after school, everyone’s bustling to the shops or somewhere. Getting bored of attaching my solar charger to my rucksack and hoping for three consecutive days of unbroken sunshine, I buy a Spanish phone charger, the girl in the shop not only opens the package to ensure it fits my phone, she even plugs it into the wall to check that it’s working for me, now that’s what I call customer service. The Pick and Mix shop beckons and I’m starting to realise that the Spanish have a certain flair, whatever they are doing, even here there is an air of professionalism that doesn’t apply very often where I shop anymore.
Getting back to the Refugio I try to make the most of the kitchen, although I end up with ham and cheese sandwiches, peanuts and fruit for afters. The guys on the table next are awaiting a sumptuous looking Paella which has my nostrils aching and my lips wet, I get on with cutting the watermelon up, the strawberry’s cleaned and cut and red wine shared out, cheese is portioned out as is bread when others arrive for an impromptu party. We end up slightly sloshed on two bottles of the cheapest nicest wine I’ve ever had. Bought from what looked like a very smart wine shop, the cheapest bottles were two Euros a piece but I wasn’t counting, here in the Capital of the Rioja region. Inna won’t stop giggling, perhaps it was the wine, I assumed after she said “I’ll have the bottle” that she drank it regularly which is the only reason why I didn’t offer her any, just topped the glass up when empty. If it wasn’t the wine I can only assume that my powers of massage had loosened her up, giving her shoulders and neck a good workout was my good deed for the day, it set a trend for my Camino.
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