Day 9 – Logrono

A more reasonable 21km today.  A good deal of it on hard pavement though.

A small octagonal chapel. The inside is very acoustic.  Visitors are encouraged to sing.  In respect for the sanctity of the place,  I just looked at the frescoes inside and departed quietly.

On the wall outside was this interesting vertical sundial.

Most of the underpasses have lots of political and artistic graffiti.  This one had an encouraging waypoint marking.

The official Camino waypoints come in a variety of forms.  Some are cement posts with a plaque displaying a scallop shell.  In towns the plaque may be glued to the side of a building or embedded in the sidewalk.  These are spaced anywhere from a dozen meters to several kilometers apart.  They are augmented with yellow spray painted arrows found on signposts, trees, guard rails, or just on the street.  You have to be observant because if you miss one you can wander off of the Camino pretty quickly. 

One advantage of having so many pilgrims at this time of year is that if you miss a marker, another pilgrim behind you (or a local in a few of my own cases) will set you right. 

I’m staying tonight in an old stone church with about a dozen bunk beds in a basement room.  I got here early enough to secure a bottom bunk.  The bed, dinner, and a light breakfast is available for a completely voluntary “donativo “.   I dropped about what I would have paid at a private alburgue in to the box. 

It’s supposed to rain again tomorrow.  Could be a muddy slog. 

-jgp