El Camino de Santiago - 2017
Day 4: Grañon to Viloria de Rioja
Michelle wrote:
10 Sept. Sunday
We were woken up by the 6:00 am bell from the church and had breakfast at 6:30/7:00 am. They offered toasted bread with butter and jams and coffee/tea or hot milk and chocolate Nestle’s Quick. We left the albergue a little before 8:00 am and walked to the bus stop at the highway.
It was a 50 minute ride to the bus station in Logrono.
We then had to walk back across Logrono, the direction we had just come from, to get to the beautiful new church building in Logrono. It is not far from where we stayed on Wednesday.
It was fun to see some of the people we remembered from last year. The Sacrament Meeting program was all about the Primary. The women who spoke gave very good talks. A friend I met last year, Asun, spoke about the power of the primary music and the effect it can have on the testimonies of the children. Mailu and Javier were very nice and offered to drive us to the bus station after Sunday School.
We rode the bus back to Grañon and stopped for a late lunch before we started the 7.5 km walk to Viloria de Rioja. We crossed the boundary line of La Rioja and into the region of Castille & Leon, a huge area. The province of Burgos is in Castille & Leon.
We met a camino friend, Cathy from Seattle in Redecilla de Camino. It was fun to talk to her. She is very friendly and happy, a warm person. We left her in Redecilla and continued on to Viloria.
The albergue in Viloria is called the Refugio Acacio e Orietta and owned by a Brazilian/Italian couple that met on the camino in 1999. It is an old building that they have preserved/renovated. They kept the stone and heavy wood beams exposed. It makes it very peaceful and cozy. They have a “living room” with a fire burning, soft mid-eastern music playing, and lots of books to read. Very relaxing and calm. There were only 8 people staying there, a big difference from the albergue in Granon! The other pilgrims were very nice, 3 Brits, 2 Germans, 2 Americans, and 1 Brazilian. The conversation was interesting and uplifting. We ate a home-cooked communal dinner and took turns sharing our reason for coming on the camino. We all have our own reasons, but share the love for the diversity we have found. This was one of our favorite albergues.
10 Sept. Sunday
We were woken up by the 6:00 am bell from the church and had breakfast at 6:30/7:00 am. They offered toasted bread with butter and jams and coffee/tea or hot milk and chocolate Nestle’s Quick. We left the albergue a little before 8:00 am and walked to the bus stop at the highway.
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| The bus stop with Grañon in the background as seen from Google Maps |
It was a 50 minute ride to the bus station in Logrono.
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| Autobuses Jimenez: punctual, clean and modern |
We then had to walk back across Logrono, the direction we had just come from, to get to the beautiful new church building in Logrono. It is not far from where we stayed on Wednesday.
It was fun to see some of the people we remembered from last year. The Sacrament Meeting program was all about the Primary. The women who spoke gave very good talks. A friend I met last year, Asun, spoke about the power of the primary music and the effect it can have on the testimonies of the children. Mailu and Javier were very nice and offered to drive us to the bus station after Sunday School.
We rode the bus back to Grañon and stopped for a late lunch before we started the 7.5 km walk to Viloria de Rioja. We crossed the boundary line of La Rioja and into the region of Castille & Leon, a huge area. The province of Burgos is in Castille & Leon.
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| The "welcome" sign as you leave the Province of La Rioja and enter the Province of Burgos. Link to the location in Google Maps |
We met a camino friend, Cathy from Seattle in Redecilla de Camino. It was fun to talk to her. She is very friendly and happy, a warm person. We left her in Redecilla and continued on to Viloria.
The albergue in Viloria is called the Refugio Acacio e Orietta and owned by a Brazilian/Italian couple that met on the camino in 1999. It is an old building that they have preserved/renovated. They kept the stone and heavy wood beams exposed. It makes it very peaceful and cozy. They have a “living room” with a fire burning, soft mid-eastern music playing, and lots of books to read. Very relaxing and calm. There were only 8 people staying there, a big difference from the albergue in Granon! The other pilgrims were very nice, 3 Brits, 2 Germans, 2 Americans, and 1 Brazilian. The conversation was interesting and uplifting. We ate a home-cooked communal dinner and took turns sharing our reason for coming on the camino. We all have our own reasons, but share the love for the diversity we have found. This was one of our favorite albergues.
From Curtis:
I came across this picture taken a little after 8am on Sunday. While we were waiting for the bus, we had 2nd breakfast. I had a tostada, which, I learned, is a wide slice of bread, toasted and then tomato paste spread lightly on top. Michelle had the tortilla and ColaCao; and we each had a glass of fresh orange juice. The soup from the night before apparently had a lot of garlic in it. This made for a miserable night and morning for Michelle. Garlic, onions and peppers make for a raucos digestive system in Michelle. She could not find peace until she had some time to herself in the comfortable bathroom in the Church in Logroño during Sunday School. This is the one physical limitation that causes her the most grief while traveling.
This bar where we had breakfast is the 2nd one on the way in to town. When we first arrived in Grañon we went to the first bar because it seemed to be less crowded. We learned why. In that first bar it was difficult to get the attention of the attendant to place our order and then again when we wanted to pay and leave. It was new and they had a big-screen TV broadcasting the news. Too much of the news was about the pending divorce of Cataluña from the rest of Spain, or about 2 bullies on opposite sides of the world threatening each other, or about a big storm in the Gulf of Mexico heading for Texas. We had no desire to listen to any of that.In the 2nd bar, the attendant had a huge smile and was quick with a greeting despite being busy. These 3 pictures are from the 2nd bar.
Like Michelle, I thoroughly enjoyed Sacrament meeting in Logroño. I wish I had a picture of the building. It's a big step up from where we meet in Lawranceville. But more important than the structure is the feeling inside. The talks, given by the presidency of the Primary were inspiring. As the Primary president was speaking, it occured to me that she could be speaking at the conference center in SLC, and it would fit right in. The Sunday School class was about the pioneers. One of the other students in the class (who had just received a call to serve a mission) told about Ephraim K. Hanks. I'm sitting there thinking "This is my story to tell. He's my Grandmothers' Grandfather." But there was nothing for me to add to what she said. (I did tell her afterwards that these are not just stories. These things really happened, and I told her about my connection. She was thrilled.)
This class was a tremendous experience for me because when I left Spain in 1980 things were much different. To come back 37 years later and witness these pioneers teaching me about those pioneers, seeing the fulfillment of what I so intensly wanted when I was 20, well... it was very rewarding.
Last year, we were hosted in Logroño by Javier and Mailu. Again this year, along with their son Jorge, we were treated as honored guests, taking us out to dinner when we arrived on Thursday, and introducing us to all their friends at Church, giving us a ride back to the bus station and just before we parted they made it very clear that if any trouble should arise, we were to contact them. We have not found a way (yet) to fully repay their kindess. So we look forward to some opportunity that might come in the future. But as I think more about it, they would probably rather that we not wait for the future, but that we find a way to express their kindness to someone within our range of influence here and now.
I was sad to leave Logroño again, not just because I would have to haul my backpack in the sun from Grañon to Viloria de Rioja, but you can understand how one would want to stay in that loving, uplifting and fun environment. Nevertheless... we continued.
We returned to the 2nd Bar for lunch. Our return was timely because the owner was closing it. School was starting Monday and they were going back to Logroño. She was giving her children instructions on packing as she attended to us. We bought the last prepared food on the counter along with a Kas de Limon. Michelle ate lightly and then we saddled up and took our selfie and hit the road, heading to Viloria. We had planned for a shorter walk, knowing we would not get started until later in the day. |
| The view from the high point in Grañon looking West. When we took this picture Saturday evening, we thought the Camino ran up the middle of this beautiful valley. Not so. It goes over the hill to the right. |
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| Looking back to Castildelgado. Redecilla del Camino is futher back, and Grañon further still. Neither are visible in this picture. |
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| This albergue is in a very humble building, but it turned out to be one of the better nights on the Camino. |
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| The refuge created by Acacio and Orietta in Viloria de Rioja |
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| This very cozy lounge with a pellet-burning stove in the corner made for a cozy comfortable relaxing evening. Michelle is writing in her journal in the dining room. |
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| The 8 guests along with Acacio and Orietta enjoyed dinner around this table. |
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| Love these sturdy wood bunks that don't creak. |
- The bunks are sturdy wood that don't creak when someone rolls over
- The number of guests is reasonable (10 max in this place)
- The ratio of bunks to showers and toilets means nobody is waiting long
- The showers were large enough to be comfortable and hot water was not an issue
- Acacio and Orietta are very personable: they treat you like a pilgrim, not a tourist
- The conversation at the communal dinner was guided by Acacio into interesting and uplifting themes.
One last note about the dinner topic: the 42nd parallel. Acacio postulated that there is more than meets the eye and that there's something that draws people to walk west here, and furthermore that this was a route people walked long before St. James. Maybe. I know many of our cultural traditions today are built on traditions of others who are long forgotten. An example is celebrating the birth of Christ in December. It was food for thought.
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