Day 7: On the 7th day He rested... But not the Memphis Pilgrims | Alex Carruthers

The Camino is the potter, and I am the clay.  Today, the Camino began its molding for us as we walked 32 kilometers from Torres del Rio to Navarrete.  It has started to shape us into the mold it wants us to be.

This morning, we got going at around 7:30 am, so it was a little later than normal, but the extra sleep was needed.  After a hearty breakfast, we began our journey through a beautiful 10 kilometers of rolling hills of golden wheat fields and vineyards.  I was starting to get tired during this part, and then we started to hear guitar playing in the distance.  Confused, I looked up and there was a man who set up his classical guitar on an amplifier as he played "Hallelujah" which echoed throughout the valley.  I don't know if you have ever heard this song being played while walking through vineyards, but if you haven't I would highly recommend doing so because it was the best "pick me up" I could have ever asked for.

After we walked through an elegant cathedral in Vianna and walking through the wine capital of the La Rioja region of Spain, Lagrono, we walked through a prominent bird watching area.  It was pretty cool, except there was not much watching of the birds.  They seemed to have been hiding from the Memphis Pilgrims.  Or we were just walking too fast to see them.  Probably the latter.

We have changed the way that we have been walking.  We have started taking stretch breaks every 45 or so minutes to keep our muscles from getting sore.  This has helped quite a bit.  Also, one of the big things (and something that I had to continuously tell myself on this long day) is that we just have to take it step by step and day by day.  When we think that this was only day 7 of 30, then it can be a little discouraging, so I have been trying to train myself to get better at taking it day-by-day and step by step.  But that is a lot easier said than done.  

Today's dinner was one of the more fun dinners as we ate with three Frenchmen and a Spaniard.  It kind of sounds like the beginning of a joke "So three Frenchmen, two Americans, and a Spaniard, walked into a bar..."  But anyways it was cool to try to listen to what they were saying even though there was a mix between French, Spanish, and English being spoken at the table.  I could follow the English pretty well.  Not the Spanish or French though.  I am pretty tired and am headed to bed.  Buenos noches.


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