Tourist in Spain 3 - 23 May. Pamplona to Logrono

We met downstairs and I showed them the way to the cathedral. We had breakfast at a cafe bar and then I left them to go to the Bus station. This time I carried three boxes of Amarula chocolates - one for Marian in the tourist office in Estella and one for Jose in Viana and one for Maria outside Logrono.
When the bus stopped at Puente la Reina,  I saw Sharon Kalidene from our May group in the queue. She sat next to me and told me that she hasn't been walking because of a painful knee.  I thought she was very brave to get buses on her own from town to town - not my idea of fun.

We got off in Estella and walked to the tourist office.  Marian recognised me and we had an emotional reunion.  We left our packs with her and visited San Pedro de la Rua across the road.  It was the first time in 12 years that I had been able to get inside the church which features prominently in my novel.

We had tea with Marian and her coworker. They offered us Rooibos tea. I asked about Maria who worked in the tourist office with her and she told us that due to cutbacks, Maria had been retrenched.  This is the story for many people in Spain,  factories closing, offices moving, people losing jobs.
Sharon and I walked to Hostal Cristina and then I left her to go to the bus station.
I decided not to stop at Viana and continued to Logrono.  I had my map and a fair idea where the hotel was close to the cathedral but still I got lost and walked up and down trying to find it. It is in a side street right opposite the cathedral and I must've passed it 10 times! The hotel Numantina is clean and the rooms are comfortable but it is 7 flights of stairs to the hotel floor and the walls are so thin i could hear the person in the next room coughing.
I checked in, left my bags in the room and found a supermarket to buy food for dinner and breakfast. I ate in the room and although I could hear the TV in the room next door I slept dead until the morning.