Rest day in Logrono

Well, I have the time this afternoon to tell you a bit about the daily routine of the Camino, at least as we've experienced it so far.
We've discovered that it is a very popular time to be walking, which is totally NOT what we were led to expect. We have seen pilgrims turned away from several of the albergues we've stayed in, there were no beds left. This is really hard to watch when you see folks coming in late in the day and they are just not up to going the distance to the next accommodation! A couple of the places we've stayed have found more room by putting mats in the floor in a common area, and some have phoned around to find space in bed and breakfast (casa rural) homes. Anyway, we do feel pressure to get to the place we want to stop early enough that we find space. Admittedly, some of the private albergues will accept phone reservations, but our Spanish is really challenged by a telephone conversation that doesn't have the added advantages of expression, hands, feet, etc. to get the point across. (Sorry, Alison - we're doing our best!)
Anyway - so, once we have checked in to an alburgue our first order of business is organizing our bunks and getting set for showers, change of clothes to tomorrow's walking stuff, then actually showering (very minimal and quick, everybody wants a little bit of warm-ish water) and collecting the sweaty shirts and under layers to wash for tomorrow's change of clothes. Wash is generally done in a sink and we use our shower towels to wring as much water out of the clothing as possible, then hang it on a communal line or on our own little clothesline (thank you, Ann T.!!) If I had it to do over, I have enough room in my pack that I would have a small quick-dry towel to dry myself and another larger one to wring out the clothing, it makes a huge difference to the drying time!

So, on to today's post -

We had decided yesterday that today, Sunday, we would take a day off to rest Brian's toes and hopefully let them heal a bit before continuing. Great idea!
Leaving the municipal alburgue this morning was a bit of an adventure. We were aware that we needed to be out of the place by 8:00am, and were amazed when people started preparing to leave at 4:30am. We kind of stuck to our bunks waiting for the furor to die down a bit after 6:30 or so, and were the last ones in our dorm room of about 20 bunks when a hospitalera (volunteer host) came in and threw our packs off our bunks, exclaiming "camas! camas!" Apparently, there is a rule about putting packs on the beds that we didn't get the memo about! Well, live and learn, but it was not a pleasant way to start a day that we didn't know quite how to proceed with in the first place.
Our next adventure was finding a place to stay for the night (oh, forgot to mention, unless you're extremely ill you cannot stay in any albergue for a second night). B booked a really lovely hotel room for us through Expedia, then found in the confirmation of the reservation that it was for Sunday, May 8 instead of May 1, non changeable and non refundable! Aaaggghhhh!
So, hiked over to the hotel to see what could be done. The hotel was empathetic, but it's Expedia's problem. And Oops! Guess what? It's May Day (Labor holiday) AND Mother's Day weekend in Spain; it's crazy busy and the hotel rate tonight is quite different than next week's! Panicked phone calls to Expedia customer service (who were excellent, by the way) ensued, accommodation arranged for the night, we could drop off our backpacks and keep ourselves occupied until 1:00pm check-in time.
We found breakfast in a local cafe, then waited for the local museum of LaRioja to open at 10:00. The museum was free, and WONDERFUL! We appreciated art and history, some pretty amazing stuff. A gentleman with the museum staff gave us directions to the ONE pharmacy that's open on this holiday Sunday, we got some Epsom salts for a foot soak and arnica cream for muscle massage, I also found a little shop to get packaging tape and a marker to post B's old boots to the ending point in Santiago.
About 12:45 we toddled back over to the hotel and waited for our room to become available. After checking in, showering, and washing clothes we asked Elisa at the front desk about where to find our midday meal. (Google "meal times in Spain" for a clue about finding meals in Spain, quite a difference from ours!!)
She directed us to the very famous tapas neighborhood of Laurel Street, which was PACKED with Spanish families celebrating the holiday weekend with a family day out. I was feeling quite intimidated, but B saved the day by snagging a rare table at one of the little restaurants. Our meal turned out to be one of the most wonderful experiences on this trip so far! We had a choice of about a dozen dishes for the first course, then the choice of another dozen dishes for the second course, with bread, wine (a bottle of Rioja placed on the table with my glass) and a beer for B. We guessed at our dinner choices, recognizing just a few words, and were pleasantly surprised with paella, a phyllo dough filled with mushrooms and a light sauce, poached salmon with potato slices and steak with fries. Incredible! All the while being entertained by watching the restauranteur and his family work one of the year's busiest days! What a joyous contrast to the frustrating morning!
We are always thinking of friends at home and around the globe, and wishing everyone well.


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