Navarra to La Rioja/Living the Alburgue Life

Ever think about living with 30-100 people you don´t know? Thats the Alburgue life, some days it´s good, some it´s bad, the place I stayed last night left a lot to be desired, 100 people crammed into one room, but it was free, today I´m living the dream, the Alburgue in Santo Domingo is the best by far, the rooms only have about 10 beds, the place was recently renovated with a new cocina, large living room with sofas, vending machines that dispense beer for a dollar and wine. One thing you have to get used to is at times is the sharing of facilities, for example in Pamplona the men and woman both used the same bathroom , the showers were a bit larger to accomodate that unique aspect, maybe it´s a European thing. The people that you meet make it worthwhile and make the experience fun. Some people opt for the hotels, so far I haven´t felt the need.

Now that I´m 10 days into this journey the routine is setting in, up at 6 AM, pack the bag, hit the road for about 3-5 km, take a break, try to get into the next Alburgue stop before 1PM, get settled in, wash the clothes, talk to those you haven´t touched base with all day, make plans for the evening, get ready for bed and call it a day at 10PM. Some people save time by washing themselves and clothes at the same time, I tried it, it works! Suffered my first injury yesterday, my achilles tendon is a little tight, besides the blisters (which I don´t take part in) achilles injuries seem to be the most common pain, everyone walks around looking a little too old for their actual appearance. But for some strange reason by morning we are back to normal and ready to walk.

One of my early walking partners ended his Camino on Saturday and had to head back to Madrid to the real world, your world. For the past 3 days I´ve joined a German contingent, they seem to be the one country with the most Pilgrims. A German comedian wrote a book a few years back that has put the Camino on the map in Germany. One (Roland) is a teacher from near Munich, another (Isabella) is a dental tech from the south, a mother (Sylvia) of 2 from near Frankfurt, a young lady who will be working for the German railroad soon (Judith) our group also has an engineer from the Czech Republic, Petr, a female police officer (Melanie) from Switzerland and a Naval Officer from Italy. I´ve been cordially invited to visit Germany and Prague after my Camino, so more time in Europe! I´ve finally come across some other Americans on the Camino, Matt from LA, who had been studying in Madrid and a judge from St Louis, we aren´t well represented but that´s fine with me.

The scenery has really changed from the early part of the Camino, I´ve gone from high mountains to forests to farmland with little trees, I am now in the La Rioja province which is the wine region, so for the past couple of days vineyards as far as the eye can see. We soon move into the Maseta, long days with no shade, it´s going to be hard but fun. I plan on taking a rest day in the next big town of Burgos, that will be nice Well, the pueblo is calling, so I will say goodbye for today.

I´ve updated my photos on facebook, hope you like them!