26.4km (126.4km)
Wednesday 30th March

It has been a perfect day here. I left Puenta la Reina by another lovely bridge; hump back with six arches over the Arga. The Way is visible for miles at this stage – I was dreading this but it is actually very comforting to see where you’re going and to see lots of other pilgrims along the path. The path wound through vineyards and villages for most of the day, although many of the villages are yet to wake for the spring/summer onslaught of the masses. The vineyards gave way to cornfields as the day progressed, although as La Rioja is still to come I’m presuming the vineyards will return. I arrived early at Estella to discover I had booked a B&B 2km from the centre of the town, I nearly cancelled the booking but couldn’t bring myself to but I have cancelled all future bookings just to be on the safe side and will just book as I go from now on.

There is a real sense of camaraderie here; everyone greeting everyone with a ‘buen Camino’ as they pass by. Even if you’re walking on your own you don’t feel alone…and I did event the effort to talk to some more people along the way today. It’s quite hard as most people are Spanish with little or no English (I’d say learning some Spanish before this would be a good plan!). I walked most of the day with an elderly German woman, Inga, who walked at some speed and seems to be spending her later years just walking and walking, now there’s and idea… I had a much better day on the pain front today, so much so that I actually did a walking tour of Estella this afternoon.

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