Startpoint: Viana; Endpoint: Logrono; Distance walked: 10km; steps taken: 15,764. Condition: quite nice actually.

We had a very short walk today to end in Logrono, where, by pure coincidence and no planning on our part, there happens to be a festival happening. As Logrono is the capital of the Rioja province, the festival, by pure coincidence and no planning on our part, happens to be a wine festival.

After a lovely pilgrims’ meal in Viana last night, where the vegetarian option was a fried egg for starters followed by scrambled eggs as a main, we got a good night’s sleep and started early this morning. On the road we met a man selling coffees and teas. He had signs up in different languages letting pilgrims know that the bank had repossessed his house. He was trying to earn a bit of extra money by giving coffee to pilgrims and asking for donations. I misread one of the signs that said ‘Vasilevo Donationas Gracias’ or something similar and thought he was also offering free vaseline, which I thought was a very clever idea. Unfortunately I was incorrect, but we gave him a reasonable donation anyway. Who knows if his story is true; he was very enterprising regardless.

We have been passing a lot of ripening fruit over the past few days: blackberries, elderberries, grapes, olives. I thought I had found some blueberries that everyone else had missed; I tasted one. I was wrong. Today we passed some figtrees and a Belgian girl we were walking with took some figs. I didn’t take any fruit; I was too shocked by the small size of the leaves. Whoever wrote Genesis has a future in erotic literature.

Everything was still closed when we arrived in Logrono, so we couldn’t check in anywhere. We had a cup of coffee and planned the walks for the next week. 6 days easy walks should get us to Burgas in time for Dad to catch a bus to Madrid for a day before he flies home. No more short days or festivals till then though.

We checked into a hostel where we’re sharing a small room with a street artist who’s working the festival. He told us he draws caricatures of the people at the festival. He offered to draw one of Dad if he met us on the street, but I think it’s unfair to ask him to try and improve on perfection – Dad already looks like a caricature of Sean Connery. He was also mistaken for Nigel Mansell once, but that was in the Isle of Mann, so it might not count.

Dad brought me into a church today. It was the oldest church in Logrono and had a 30 foot high and 15 foot wide solid gold ornamental wall behind the altar. They offered free biscuits to hungry pilgrims. At the door we were asked for a donation to the cost of keeping the gold polished and shiny.

In the main square this morning they were selling food that was being cooked on the spot. There were two queues: a long one for tripe and a short one for mushrooms. We opted for the shorter queue. For €2 we also got a small bottle of Rioja wine with the mushrooms on toast. That €2 is as close as we’ve come to a rip-off in Spain. We drank the wine as we wandered around the stalls and looked at the buildings.

Later we bought some sweet pastries. We asked the woman what they were and she told us they were six for the price of five, so we bought two. As we left she handed us each a handful of salty nuts with the shells still on. We ate the shells and all, but we’re not sure we were supposed too. They were crunchy.

Dad and I had a disagreement about an item we saw in a shop window. I said it was a clock, but he maintains it was a watch on a stand. We were unable to come to a resolution. This might break the fellowship.

Tonight there will be more wine, music and fireworks, so we found a hostel where there is no curfew. We still have to walk 20k tomorrow, but we may push our bedtime until 11pm or even 11.30pm given the day that’s in it.

We’ve become such a rebellious brace of revelers since beginning our life on the road. Where will the madness end…

Buen Camino + Viva la Rioja!