Dave's Not Here

Today, before we had gone too far, we ran across the stand in the picture to the left with a couple of Spaniards. We decided to take a break and sat on a bench next to the stand to take a rest. Before too long the Spaniard with long white hair and beard came over and offered us a piece of fruit. Insisted that it was for free. Not too much longer some more Spanish pilgrims came up and started a conversation with him. I could make out some of it. He was a real philosophizer. He was talking about faith, about love, about God, and about how he was a little bit crazy. Then came the part I really understood. He said no matter what we are, Brazilian, Italian, or of the United States we are all brothers, as he said “somos hermanos”. I thought that was a great message to carry into the day. We are after all brothers and sisters in this great big world we live, we really are.

Today was another long day. We started in Logroño and walked close to 30 km ending up in Najera. somehow I found my “walk all day” pace. It wasn't fast, it was just that speed where I felt I could walk all day. We went through several towns along the way. For the most part we walked through vineyards. We are in the heart of wine country in the province of La Rioja. We passed by several large wineries as well. The grapes are so cool looking. One of the stretches I enjoyed the most was a long stretch where there were hundreds if not thousands of hand made crosses in the chain link fence between us and the road. It was a bit humbling to think that I was walking by so many and that each one was likely made by a different person. So I took a second and found some twigs and made one of my own. We swung through a town with a cathedral and stopped to pray and light a candle. Then onward to Najera.

We ended up a very old and historically active town. It is the location where the, as legend has it, the Christians defeated the Moors. There was a sign that told of the legend where Roland defeated a giant Moor named Ferragut. A medieval David and Goliath story.