Day 6 Logrono-Navarette - 12km

"Knock Knock"

The door of our hospital room is flung open by the volunteer at the albergue. He wants to if we are ready to leave yet. Thankfully we are already up and dressed. Glancing over his shoulder as he pushes into our room we see the loft room is already full of empty beds. We are the last pilgrims remaining again.

It is still not 8am and we still have plenty of time till we should be forced out the door but this volunteer wants us out quicksmart so he can go about his day.

Good morning and welcome to another day on the camino!!

Struggling with blisters and our heavy packs as we walk down all the flights of stairs the volunteer walks next to us with an unimpressed look on his face, not offering to help carry anything. Thanks so much.

He shows us straight to the large wooden doors but we need to pick up our hiking boots from the rack. Ignoring his expression we sit down in the hallway and slowly and painfully put our boots on. There is no way we are leaving without having even put our shoes on.

As we exit out the large wooden doors we almost trip over two pilgrims who have been sleeping on the doorstep all night. As they stretch and rise to their feet obviously expecting a warm welcome at the albergue, the volunteer points us in the direction of a cafe that will serve breakfast and then slams the door shut - almost catching the nose of one of the pilgrims.

Turns out they were struggling with the heat like we had been and when the snoring got too bad at the last albergue picked up all their belongings and decided to trek through the night. This didn't really prove too many problems until their headlight battery ran out leaving them to stumble along the trail in the dark. Well at least they will be first in the queue for the albergue now.

We head off to the cafe and sit next to the Spanish shower exhibitionist from the evening before - there's a mental picture I didn't need prior to caffeine. The typical Spanish breakfast involves small sweet cakes served with coffee. Aurelia is constantly being offered these sweet cakes by Spanish women we meet. She has since become addicted and on occasion I have seen her stuff so many into her cheeks that we are suprised she can even breathe.

After breakfast we go and sit in the square opposite the chemist. I spy Barbara who is waiting for her bus on the other side of the square. She is travelling back to the UK today and Judy will walk the remaining distance alone. We had agreed to meet up with her further down the trail. Unfortunately we never saw her again on the camino.

As we sat in the freezing cold wind attempting to re tape my feet -Raya happily playing with her nina and nino in the carrier - the tensions surrounding the decision to walk on erupted into a heated argument. We really had to make the decision now - before we were in some small town with no other transport option than to walk out - which may become impossible. The decision to walk on for each of us had to be made for us as individuals accepting that we had no idea if the difficulty level would rise as we continued. It was another suck it up moment. We had to discuss our fears and dreams and disappointments in a very real way.

On reflection Nick thought the camino was all over. He saw our camino experience ending right there in the shadow of the bus station which would comfortably and reliably carry us to a town of our choice.He called my decision to continue my 'fulcrum' moment. I believe it was 600mg of Ibuprofen blessedly kicking in. Either way we decided we were going to finish the camino and decided to head to Navarette which was only 12 kms away.

Walking out of the city we saw a supermercado selling hot baguettes and avocado - oh we were craving avocado - and avocado just makes everything feel better.

We continued walking along the footpath next to a busy road looking for somewhere to have a picnic and let Aurelia crawl around. As we pulled her out of the carrier she gave us a huge cheeky monster smile. The smile usually reserved for when she has been cheeky. Beanie - check. Jacket - check. Shoes - oh dear.

Somewhere since leaving the city Aurelia has decided to help lighten the load by throwing one of her shoes from the carrier. Her only pair of shoes that she has with us are now missing the partner. We consider for a millisecond going and looking for the little lost shoe before we accept that it is what she is offering up to the camino. We are fairly confident she will take her first steps along the way of St James - becoming a real pilgrim - and so will buy her another pair of shoes here in Spain.

After our picnic in the park (where we saw a Spanish lady wipe her dogs bum with paper !!!!) we headed off. It was an absolute relief to see that the majority of the trail was paved walking around a large lake. Finally - walking the camino was no more difficult than taking your dog out for a walk. My feet have never been more grateful.

Unfortunately as there were no public toilets we were forced into taking a wilderness wee in the park - oh so glamorous. Just as I pulled my pants down a swarm of mosquitos descended. Fantastic - now I will be scratching my way to Santiago.

The path meandered on and we passed several who had either had a late start like us or who were pushing really hard and had walked starting before Logrono. We passed one lady who walked reciting Hail Mary's the entire way with her rosary beads clutched in her hands. I could tell Nick was itching to throw away a few one liners but he just managed to keep them to himself.Just

As the trail ran parallel to the highway and we ascended to the top of a hill from which we could see Navarette in the distance - we saw the crosses which had been made and attached to the wire fence.

As Nick and I helped Raya thread a cross to place on the fence we were remined of how many people had walked this same path this year, this month, this week an even this same day. The EXACT same path. We felt part of a much larger picture and encouraged and humbled at the same time.

As we pushed on past the iron bull we tried to boost our spirits with the knowledge that the albergue was not far to go.

As we walked into the city we passed the ground of the initial pilgrim hospital. What an appropriate place to sit and rest my feet. There was nothing I could do but stop. My socks were saturated from my oozing toes and walking even another 100m was out of the question.

As we sat on the grass in the sunshine watching Raya crawl around happily we saw a flood of pilgrims pouring down the trail. Aah so it seems the daily race for the albergue had begun again.

There was nothing to do but let them walk right on past us. We would pay for a pension if needs be.We had learnt the hard way that when your feet give you an instruction - you do as you are told. And so we sat.

Finally as the throbbing eased slightly we decided it was now or never so hauled ourselves and packs up off the grass and walked up the hill. Why oh why does the final stretch always have to have some form of hill - it's like the icing on the cake of camino torture.

We reached the albergue, exhausted and sweating in the sweltering heat. The overcast skies and freezing wind had vanished to be replaced with a horrendously humid day. I looked over Nick's shoulder and saw that there was plenty of room to stand in the foyer of the albergue and wait while pilgrim passports were stamped. There was no need to make people and a small child wait outside in the heat. Yet we were ignored. Knocking on the door was ignored and my frustration slowly built.

People were now queuing behind us having walked to the other albergues and found they were full. After what seemed like an eternity the hospitalero let us in before slamming the door behind him least the two elderly pilgrims enter the cooler room before their time.

He assigned us to a room in the loft explaining it was almost the last empty beds, explained the bathroom were co-ed - now that was going to be interesting -- and then waffled on about his son who was a Jesuit priest in South America. Crikey he was giving us his son's whole life story - and I thought we were proud parents. I silently began to pray for Mercy in my head and for him to be suddenly struck mute.

I nodded my head while the word "bed" repeated in my ears. The entire time we stood listening to him we were carrying our packs and sweating. I was expecting I could take a shower or swim in the puddle we were going to leave on his tiled floor.I glanced over a Nick and saw he too was doing the "mm that's really interesting" head movement that I secretly knew meant "get me the hell out of here".

As soon as he passed our passports back across the table we did a snatch and grab and moved as fast as possible to reach our beds. My feet felt wet and mushy and Nick's shoulder and knee were killing him.

As we climbed the second set of stairs a person with a yellow bandana around their neck walked towards us "Wolfgang" we cried. We were both so excited to see each other and it was a welcome and unexpected surprise as we had not seen him on the path that morning. Instantly our spirits felt uplifted - just like you do when you greet a friend who has returned at the airport. Seeing Wolfgang had become one of the highlights of our day.

We were thankful that we left our picnic when we did because once we arrived in the loft there was only 2 more beds left for the elderly people who had been behind us.

Removing my boots and dunking my feet straight into a bucket of salty ice water I looked around the converted loft and got chatting to people nearby who weren't already sleeping in their beds. The older man who had taken the last bed was a Canadian guy named Ardt who was in his mid seventies. He was walking alone and we marvelled at the mental strength to be able to do this trek alone. Not only would you lack an encourager but someone to share in the high moments with. We were inspired by his attitude to life. He was going at his own pace but he was getting there - good on him.

Finally it was our turn and we went down 3 flights of stairs to the bathroom. Actually having co-ed bathrooms made the showering of Aurelia much easier as it let us work as a team. Nick took Raya into the shower and as I stood waiting with the towel the shower curtain next to Nick's shower was flung open and my eyes were assaulted by full frontal 60 year old male nudity. I quickly averted my eyes and tried my best to repress the images. He dried himself at his leisure and thankfully was towelled off before Aurelia was passed out to me and traumatised.

I had seen just about enough bathroom exhibitionism for one camino, thanks.

Once Raya was clean Nick took her up stairs and I showered. Once dressed and leaning over the sink ready to brush my teeth the door to the bathroom swings open and lo and behold here is the guy I got to know intimately earlier in the afternoon. He glances at my toothbrush and with a look of horror starts backing out of the bathroom with his toothbrush in hand saying 'sorry, sorry'.

I felt like saying "dude I just saw you completely naked I think it's safe to spit toothpaste in front of me".

Changed into our relatively cleaner clothes we headed next door and had THE best pilgrim meal of the camino. AMAZING pasta for entree, pork for the main and tiramisu for desert - my perfect meal.

Washed, fed and now time for bed we were tucking ourselves in by 8.30pm. Thankfully Raya continues to go straight to sleep as soon as we put her in the KinderKot.

Lights slowly were turned off as people settled into their sleeping bags and finished journalling. All except for the Spanish people in the corner of the room. Once I finished threading my blisters for the night I rolled over thankful for my little orange best friends - my ear plugs.