Day 8: Blessed Be The Fruit

Day 8

Logroño –> Nájera (28.9 km/18 miles)

I was not looking forward to getting out of bed today. Not only had I spent the night in a private room (and I’m pretty sure I was the only one in the entire pensión), but I also was about to embark on one of the longest days on my journey. 29 kilometers … what was I thinking?

Shortly after leaving my wonderful room, I followed other pilgrims along the path laid out to us by the yellow arrows. We traversed the city before being led into a park. The path of the park twisted and turned. It went on for a while, but I wasn’t complaining.

Eventually, I left the park. Now, I was surrounded by grape vines for as far as the eye could see. I listened to my podcasts to help the time go by as I only saw green bushes and brown trails.

There weren’t many towns and places to stop along the way, but the towns came at strategic times. The first town I saw was Navarrete, just in time for a bit of breakfast. Most people stopped at the first bar they saw, but I continued on to find some place quieter. There, I had a napolitano and a café con leche, relaxing and enjoying the cool summer air.

Before long, I was off again. I felt some uncertainty. Was I on the right path? I saw other pilgrims ahead of me, as well as the yellow arrows, and was reassured. Some of the pilgrims looked fresh. Their shoes weren’t covered in dust, they were walking fast, and they had no backpacks either. I was jealous.

The grapevines continued. Several tractors passed me as I winded through the path. At just the right time, I stumbled into Ventosa. I stopped for a Coke to give me that sugary push to finish the last 10km of my journey.

Then, like always, I continued on. I was listening to my podcasts (this time, “Not a Cast”, a Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire podcast) when an elderly woman approached me. She started to tell me the fruit on the tree were very good and to try some. At first I was confused. I didn’t know I could eat the fruit. “These are my trees. You can eat it.”

The woman invited me to eat her fruit. I think they were plums, but they didn’t look like plums. Some were a greenish color, and some were a reddish one. Her husband was back there as well talking to some other Spanish women. The elderly woman walked off, coming back with a handful of nísperos (“loquats” in English). They’re an orange fruit, very sweet, and actually quite delicious.

We could have spent the whole day there eating their fruit, but I joined the Spanish woman on the final part to Nájera. They were excited to talk to an American. In fact, they aren’t doing the whole Camino, but rather a few portions of it for a bit of a vacation. I talked with them, telling them about my time in Spain and language learning. It made those final two hours go by quickly.

At around 2 PM, we arrived in Nájera. I was invited to have a drink with them, where I also ran into some other people I had met before. The Spanish moms also invited me to have lunch with them. The lunch was only 11€, but it was three courses, so tasty, and so filling.

After going to my albergue and getting clean, I decided to check out the monastery before it closed. It was 4€ to enter, but I found it to be quite remarkable. Not many people were inside, creating a peaceful atmosphere. The Monastery of Santa María de la Real is a historic monastery, with roots going back to 1044.

According the legend, the founder of the monastery, Don García, was hunting one day. His falcon flew into a cave. When they went to see what the falcon was doing, they saw the image of the Virgin Mary, and thus deciding the create the monastery on that spot.

Additionally, Nájera was the birthplace of the Navarrese kings and queens from the 10th to the 12th centuries. You can see the tombs of these kings and queens, as well as the children, inside the church.

Today was long and exhausting, for sure. But I think looking back on it, I’ll be forever imprinted by the elderly couple and their insistence on eating the fruit. I guess it really is about the journey and not the destination.