Thursday 5 May 2011

La Rioja

Logroño, Thursday 5th May

Today completes my first week of walking. This morning I walked out of the province of Navarra and into that of La Rioja. I´m celebrating with a longer time out than usual and a night´s stay in a pension (slightly upmarket from an albergue) in Logroños, the capital of the province.

I arrived here fairly early as the walk from Viana (last night´s stop) was only 9.5 Km. The temptation was there to continue further but I made a decision after experiencing the pleasant environment of this city to be ´kind to myself´. The infection that  I hoped I´d lost before leaving Australia has resurrected itself into a full blown cold which is,to say the least, a nuisance. I hope not to let it better me but I plan to take it easy for a day or two and see if I can be rid of it once and for all. Interestingly, I´m not so aware of the inconvenience when I walk, which is a good thing.

I´ve now walked about 140 Km, but the awareness is not so much of the distance covered as of the sensations experienced. Today I was later starting out (8am) and consequently there was a distinct lack of pilgrims on the route. In fact I only met one other between Viana and the outskirts of Logroño. Most walkers seem to go for an early start (6-7 am).

Whilst you can meet and enjoy the company and fellowship of others, the significance of the journey seems to occur in the inner being. For me, the recurrence of this cold infection has been a major challenge. I´ve been tempted to cry out, ¨God, why this? And why now?¨ But I hear myself answer it to the effect that I need to press beyond a slight physical inconvenience. How well will we grow in spirit and character if we seek to be pampered by ideal conditions? I truly sense that I´m not alone and I appreciate this. I find myself regularly breaking into a love song to Jesus, ¨My Jesus I love Thee¨.

Today has seen a change in the landscape. In the past few days I´ve been delighted by sweeping panoramas of vast open plains, with acres and acres of barley, lush green at this stage of growth. The barley fields are interspersed with vineyards and occasionally a small grove of olive trees. The elevation (about 500 m above sea level) brings clear blue skies and country fresh air. It´s chilly at first, but soon warms up. Today the scene changed. The constancy of the lush green slopes is gone. As I approached Logroño, the environment took on a more industrial aspect - light factories, warehouses and the like. On entering the city I experienced a most unusual phenomenon. Millions of particles of what looked like cotton wool floated through the air (it looked as if it was starting to snow). A small park I walked through looked as if the grass had been covered in cotton wool. I don´t know if cotton is grown in the vicinity, and I´m not sure that I will find out. When I questioned the woman at the pension she simply indicated that it makes you sneeze.

Ah well, cést la vie (oops, that´s French not Spanish! Lo siento.)

PS I´m typing this in the local municipal building where you show your passport in order to get free internet. The girl who attended me was highly amused by the kangaroo on the front of the passport!!

2 comments:

  1. Hey Pete, praying for that head to clear! It sounds like FUN - I love your writing style - "keep walking".
    Barb

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  2. Peter, How wonderful that you have followed your heart and Jesus to undertake this wonderful 'pilgrimage. Enjoy every minute.
    I have been looking for you for ages. Liz

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