Day 5, Sep 15 2017, Estella to Los Arcos, 13.85 miles
We left our hotel in Estella at 7:30 and took a taxi down to the church of San Sepulcro. It was closed but is a beautiful building.
Just a short distance above it was an old people's home, formerly a convent. We walked on out of the town (after an unsuccessful attempt to find an Estella speciality - bonbones torres) and were accompanied by a lot of pilgrims. We got to the first town, Ayegui, very quickly and went on to Bodegas Irracha. This bodega has two taps for the pilgrims - one for water and one for red wine :-)
We had very wisely packed two plastic cups that we had picked up at the previous hotel (thank you Lisa for the reminder) and went to fill em up. Luckily, before we filled up, we talked to Kulvinder, one of our fellow pilgrims from Birmingham, her opinion on the wine. She grimaced in answer. So we were very circumspect in how filling our cups. It was pretty horrible wine, but what the heck! Free wine is free wine!!
We then walked on to the next village, Azqueta. The path was very picturesque with lovely olive groves and grape vines all along the way. There was a bit of a climb into the village but not bad. It was like so many other villages that we've seen along the way - v. pretty but really small. We just stopped to take off our jackets and put on sunscreen. Our weather forecast was cloudy with thunderstorms through the day; but as usual, the weather did what it wanted to and we had a lovely day with a bit of sun and a lot of breeze.
From Azqueta, we walked on to the last village we were to encounter on our way to Los Arcos, Villamayor de Jardin. The first thing you see is a small market and the lovely church of St. Andrew. We got a stamp for our passport here later when we were on the way out. We went in search of a cafe/bar to sit and rest for a bit. Met up with all the Birmingham gals - Andrea, Shobana, and Kulvinder. They had lunch, we had some coffee and a muffin and chatted with them for a bit. Then Lisa and I headed out to go on to Los Arcos. This was an easy walk but a little monotonous regarding the landscape. Quite flat with some vineyards and mainly ploughed fields. After walking for an hour and a half (and walking for ten mins. along the wrong path) we unexpectedly found a little snack stand with some chairs and tables and a shaded area. We got an orange juice and rested the legs. After ten mins. we headed out on our final stretch. After an hour, we got to Los Arcos. We met up with some fellow Californians, Barbara, Monique, and Stephanie (all from Venice Beach) and walked in to the village. We were to meet our taxi in the square next to the Santa Maria church.
We sat here and had a beer and then took our taxi to our hotel in Mua - Hotel Letorrien. It's a charming little place. It's off to Logrono tomorrow - we finally leave Navarra and enter La Rioja! Great wine country!
We had very wisely packed two plastic cups that we had picked up at the previous hotel (thank you Lisa for the reminder) and went to fill em up. Luckily, before we filled up, we talked to Kulvinder, one of our fellow pilgrims from Birmingham, her opinion on the wine. She grimaced in answer. So we were very circumspect in how filling our cups. It was pretty horrible wine, but what the heck! Free wine is free wine!!
We then walked on to the next village, Azqueta. The path was very picturesque with lovely olive groves and grape vines all along the way. There was a bit of a climb into the village but not bad. It was like so many other villages that we've seen along the way - v. pretty but really small. We just stopped to take off our jackets and put on sunscreen. Our weather forecast was cloudy with thunderstorms through the day; but as usual, the weather did what it wanted to and we had a lovely day with a bit of sun and a lot of breeze.
From Azqueta, we walked on to the last village we were to encounter on our way to Los Arcos, Villamayor de Jardin. The first thing you see is a small market and the lovely church of St. Andrew. We got a stamp for our passport here later when we were on the way out. We went in search of a cafe/bar to sit and rest for a bit. Met up with all the Birmingham gals - Andrea, Shobana, and Kulvinder. They had lunch, we had some coffee and a muffin and chatted with them for a bit. Then Lisa and I headed out to go on to Los Arcos. This was an easy walk but a little monotonous regarding the landscape. Quite flat with some vineyards and mainly ploughed fields. After walking for an hour and a half (and walking for ten mins. along the wrong path) we unexpectedly found a little snack stand with some chairs and tables and a shaded area. We got an orange juice and rested the legs. After ten mins. we headed out on our final stretch. After an hour, we got to Los Arcos. We met up with some fellow Californians, Barbara, Monique, and Stephanie (all from Venice Beach) and walked in to the village. We were to meet our taxi in the square next to the Santa Maria church.
We sat here and had a beer and then took our taxi to our hotel in Mua - Hotel Letorrien. It's a charming little place. It's off to Logrono tomorrow - we finally leave Navarra and enter La Rioja! Great wine country!
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