After a good, but expensive breakfast in the hotel Jim and I parted company, he to his bus, Bilbao and home, me to 604Km of El Camino. It had been good to have his company for a few days, now it was up to me to find new playmates.

The walk out of Logroņo was reasonably interesting (I am one of a small band that enjoys the entry/exit into towns as much as the countryside, as it reveals so much about the place.) First of all I solved the lunch problem by visiting a bakery for bread and a supermarket for bananas and cheese (It has even owned up to being processed cheese).

Nursing a small, but significant hangover I join a long path that went out of town. On it apart from 'grims, were locals doing walking exercise. ......all with sparkling white shoes.

I then passed a lake and we were then into vineyards. You have to say that The Rioja region of Spain takes its wine very seriously. The vines were kept immaculately, the grapes plump and sweet (they provided breakfast for 3 days...I was not alone in this minor act of .....let us not say theft....'sampling' seems so much more appropriate) the Oakwood yards were neat and well ordered. As I first entered the vines there was a team out with scientific instruments seeing if the grapes were ready to harvest (They agreed with me that in that field they were....what wisdom, my 'sampling' had paid off )

The church at Navarrete was open..... they were restoring the alter front with gold. Once again a mind-numbing display of gold, wonderful but totally over the top. Also in the church was a large picture of Christ on the cross in a petticoat, there were two German teachers in the church, who I later walked with.... we all wondered what the background was to that little masterpiece and what lateral bit of theological wisdom had led to it.

The hostel was full of Germans...obviously the place was highlighted in their Camino book.... run by a lovely Austrian lady. I had a top bunk and was relieved that there was a diminutive Swedish lady underneath me. Snorers are generally overweight men over 50. However this lady was the Scandinavian champion of snoring.

Today's bit of wisdom, apart from do not sleep above diminutive Swedish ladies, is avoid walking 20Km with a hangover.