Painful

Today we hiked a flat but long and beautiful stage. Here is the La Rioja wine region. Surrounded by small reddish clay hills and vineyards, long - made by pilgrims for pilgrims - paths and large fields. You often feel somewhat unreal and nowhere.

The first few hours are always easy to manage. After 3 hours, not only aches and pains came but also the first pains. Some wise pilgrim told me that the body needs the first week to build up the necessary muscles. The second week, the body overcomes the pain and the rest of the time is for the healing of the soul and spirit.

I'm not exactly sure how much we walked today. It should be something between 26 and 32 km. Since the weather changes and today was the first cloudy and cold day, we took advantage and walked as long as our legs could carry us. We left everyone behind. Massimo has something with his knee and Learcio has something with his hip. They took a break 10 km earlier.

So today we stayed at a hostel in Santo Domingo. The first time a bed after a week. And Fiona even has a free accommodation in the garden. A small kennel. But the kennel door is open and Fiona is quite tired and sleeping in her sleeping bag. It is supposed to be 6 degrees tonight.

After taking a shower, I experienced hip pain for the first time. Unbearable when lying down but because of exhaustion one falls asleep with the pain. Luckily, I still have blister-free feet. Fiona was in a good mood today. You can tell that Fiona is becoming more enduring and robust.

Personally, I notice a big change in eating habits. In the morning I had a milky coffee with a biscuit. On the way, I ate a handful of grapes twice. Only at around 7 pm we cooked pasta and ate together.

Of course, we also met familiar faces here at the hostel. We happened to meet Rendy (NY) and Nils (DM) here. Later in the evening, Katharina (CZ) and Javier (Switzerland) arrived. Tomorrow we will sleep an hour longer and start at 6:30 am. The plan is to walk only 25 km. Unfortunately, less beautiful and often along the road.