Day 11 ~ Logroño to Ventosa

Today started out pretty normally. Except that the second we shut the apartment door, Bruce discovered he left his sticks behind. So, I contacted the owner and requested they be transported with our bags to the next destination.

We walked out of Logroño along a really nice hike and bike trail up to a beautiful lake where we stopped and had some coffee. Then we continued along a paved road thru vineyards with super ripe grapes. We haven’t seen one person harvesting these grapes, and some are starting to fall off the vine, or wither and turn into raisins. Not sure when they do the harvesting, but we are pretty sure it should be right about now. This past weekend there was supposed to be a wine festival in Logroño, which was cancelled because of Covid. So, wouldn’t that mean the harvesting of grapes, too?

We met and American! She currently lives in Barcelona. We walked with her most of the way, and she pointed out some really cool things along the way that we would have missed: a chain link fence with some wooden crosses all placed there by peregrinos, and the giant bull on the hill. She also told us that we can eat as many grapes as we want. It’s not illegal to ‘take what you can carry’ from the fields. Hmm…so, a ripe tomato or two from the next garden we see is fair game?

We are making much better time now. We are going longer and longer stretches before we need to stop, take off our packs, and stretch a bit.

On our last kilometer into Ventosa, there were a bunch of photographs on billboards up into town. I think it was an art show of some type. We arrived in Ventosa after two coffee brakes around 2:15. Only to find out that the Albergue San Saturnino was closed, and had been all season. 🤬 They didn’t bother to contact us at all. The neighbors told us there was a hotel 50 meters up the road. Thankfully, our bags had been dropped off there, along with Bruce’s sticks, and we were allowed to check in. Normally, we wouldn’t have been allowed without a reservation, but the Señora took pity on us. We had our temperatures taken, took our shoes off at the door, gelled up, and presented our passports. Not sure what we would have done otherwise.

Several interesting facts: the population of the town is 170. During the ‘normal’ camino season, there can be up to 700 peregrinos here at one time. Yikes. I cannot imagine. And while I’m irritated that the Albergue San Saturnino didn’t contact us, I’m happy to not have all those people here. Our hotel is a restored 17th century mansion. Pretty nice digs, that’s for sure. And only €60.

We showered and went out to “the” bar that’s open and had a beer or two and eventually dinner. Met a South African who had called the Albergue de Saturnino that morning and spoke to someone who said they had one room left. He shows up, and sees the closed sign and comes to the bar, where we chat about our shared experience. Because it was starting to rain, he decided to call a taxi instead of walk to the next town 11 km away.

Tomorrow we head to Cirueña, about 15 miles away. It will be our farthest distance yet. Thankfully, my shoes seems to be working well. No blisters.

20 Sep 2020 ~ 28,845 steps ~ 11.4 miles ~ 75º F partly cloudy