Camino Day Seven- Los Arcos to Logrono (18.5 Miles)

Day Seven was going to be our longest walk so far, over eighteen miles. We got up early, had breakfast, and were out the door at 7:34, ahead of the sun. The only issue was Chris had a head cold the night before and had a slight fever. The trooper she is she said walk on, so we did. We were going to only cross three towns this day and the first third of the day we were almost solo pilgrims, so amazing to be in this countryside just the two of us.

In the second town, Torre del Rio, there is our second octagonal church, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Amazing stonework in this 12th Century church. We rested for fifteen minutes and were off again. We walked through cut wheat fields, ploughed fields, olive groves, grape vineyards, and sparsely located oak forests (the only shade).

As we entered Viana we knew something was going to occur. every local was dressed up in white with red scarfs. The women looked beautiful, the men so sharp, and the children so very cute. Viana was having a festival, their version of the Running of the Bulls. The town was chock full of locals, everyone in the streets and plazas having tapas and drinks. We decided to hang around and joined the festivities. An hour later the bulls ran down then back up the street. Everyone loved the show. We departed before the last run to beat the other pilgrims to the Way, plus we still had six miles left to arrive at Logrono.

Those last three hours were long, uphill, and hot, but finally there was the bridge Puente de Piedra to cross into Logrono. Chris really struggled the last five blocks but finally the hotel lobby was ours. We checked in, put Chris in the shower and I unpacked. What came out of the shower was a chattering, cold, beautiful pilgrim whose fever was spiking. Instantly got her under bed covers and provided her liquids. Her body finally calmed down and I proceeded with the task of laundry in the bathtub and stringing up the clothes line. We decided on dinner in the room and I went to find pizza, a visit to the Pharmacia, and the grocery store for supplies. Dinner in the room and asleep by 9:00.