26th April 2024 Logrono to Najera

Steve had a business call but once that was done, we got a message from CC asking what we were doing.  We said we were going to grab some breakfast and then we would need to get going.  She said she had met another Mary, this one from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand, who is resting up as she has bad blisters and could they join us.

We headed down to the little café across the road and struggled to get our backpacks off and put them somewhere so we could keep an eye on them and not get in anyone’s way.  Coffee and omelette bocadillo later we were almost ready to leave when CC and Mary arrived.  We sang Happy Birthday to CC and had a chat to Mary. Poor girl – she had done all the right things as she had been to the podiatrist before heading off, had worn in her boots, was greasing her feet and was wearing two pairs of socks (including toe socks) but her heels were a bit of a mess.  The place we all stayed didn’t have any beds for the night, so she is going to enjoy Logrono for the morning and catch the first bus to Navarette about 1330H. We said our goodbyes and headed down to the tourist office to ask about a taxi.

We passed an old tobacco factory and a chimney and down a little lane they had a display where, if you turned the handle, the poles would spin, and the fabric and the fringing would all spin out horizontally.  It was a lot of fun but quite hard work, so we headed down, found out the information and jumped in a taxi and headed to Navarette – another beautiful hill town built to defend the frontiers of Castile. 

Josie had arrived and said we really needed to go into the church (Iglesia Parroquial de la Asuncion de Maria) and make sure we illuminated the altar if it wasn’t already.  For €1, you could light it up for 7 minutes; plenty of time to take photos!

Euro deposited the vision that had previously been only lit by light coming through the windows just came to life and it was the most highly decorated and gold bling-y altar we have yet seen (and apparently is the most blingy on the Camino).  I have an feeling in churches generally but this altar was huge, bright and imposing and for some I could see why it would be overwhelming for some people.  While very impressive, I still prefer the simple places of worship.

We headed off and we arrived at the spot where the Camino gives you options.  Josie had already been walking all day, so we decided to take the shorter route to Najera avoiding Ventosa. 

We found a lovely rest area and stayed for some time to just re-group before heading off again and continued until the cliffs of Najera started coming into view. It had been a great day and had allowed me to actually catch up properly by spending the day with Josie.  We are going to start making plans to catch up back in Australia – maybe near Lightening Ridge and she and John will take their motorhome.

We arrived in Najera and followed the Camino route until we found our accommodation; only 20m from where Josie and Mary were staying.  We separated saying we would find somewhere later to catch up with them, and with Roland. The check in was through a call button then a lovely young girl from the window above said to wait and she would come down.  She did and opened up a shop (which sold all sorts of Riojan delicacies) and while she was doing the paperwork Steve noticed she had local beer in cans and asked her if they were for sale.  They were so we bought a few and, after waiting for some very pushy people who also wanted to check in (she could see we were quite chilled and happy to wait) she showed us to our room where we would have breakfast in the morning.

Our room was lovely, and we could see the church steeple out our window about 50m away with a stork nest – and a chick too.  What a bonus for us.  We showered then sat and watched while the parents came and fed the chick before we headed down to the Monastery of Santa Maria la Real.  I really wanted to show Steve this place as there is so much history here.

The Monastery has a fascinating history and is built on the spot where King Garcia el de Najera in 1056 was out hunting with his falcon and the falcon chased a partridge into the cave with the King following it. We don’t know what happened to the partridge, but King Garcia found an image of the Virgin Mary, with a bell on one side, a lantern on the other side with a bowl of lilies in between.  He later founded a hostel for pilgrims and a Monastery in honour of the Virgin, but little remains of the Monastery. You can still walk into the cave which now has a 13th Century Gothic carving from the Royal Palace of Najera known as the Virgin of the Rose with painting featuring lilies on the platform below the statue. The current church dates from the 15th Century and is built over the mouth of the cave.

After paying our entrance fee we walked through the gateway of Charles 1 dating to 1594.  It was named after him due to the help he had given the Benedictine monks with the construction.  The next section is the Knights’ Cloister which has seen better days.  It hasn’t always been protected and the area, over the years, has been used as a prison, a bull ring and barracks for soldiers among others.  There was a lot of vandalism so many of the statues have lost their heads.  Finally, in 1889, it was declared a National Monument and in 1895 the Franciscan monks began using it as their base and this continued until 2017.

Some of the tombs here date back to the 13th Century so it is quite humbling to wander through this area but then you get to the church and the Pantheon of the Infants including one tomb of the 18-year-old wife of a king, and mother to another, who died during childbirth at the age of 18.  Moving on you reach the Royal Pantheon dating from the mid-1500’s but containing royals dating back to the 900’s before you finally reach the cave which is guarded by statues of King Garcia and his wife both kneeling in prayer on either side.

It is a worthy place to visit and another highlight so far.

We caught up with Roland, Josie and Mary and Roland brought a young German girl, Christina, with him as she was walking alone.  Poor Josie (the only one in our group to speak Spanish) was stuck with the job of doing the ordering but the lady at the restaurant was brilliant and bought up so much food (paella, bread, cheese, olives) and red wine that everyone was full.  Christina left and headed back to her albergue and then Mary and Josie left as they were very tired.

We sat and enjoyed a few last drinks with Roland before heading off.  He was unsure if he was going to stop in Santa Domingo de la Calzada or push on so we wished him well and promised he could stay if he came to Adelaide and he assured us we must come and stay with him in the Dolomites and he would cook for us.  Sounds amazing and something to look forward to as he is such a genuinely nice man and we have really enjoyed his company.

On to Santo Domingo de la Calzada tomorrow and we are looking forward to a sleep in as we have a rest day there…