7 September - logroño to Navarret

We met downstairs and walked together out of the city.  It seemed more like a few months ago rather than 16 months ago that I had walked out with Kathy.  We stopped at the cafeteria for a coffee and hot chocolate and also at Marcelino Lebato's table in the woods.
When we approached Navarret I took a photo of the spot where I had fallen last year.  I crossed my walking poles on the spot and forgave the Camino for my accident and broken arm.
Everyone was thrilled with the 3 star Hotel Sancho. We were too early to check in so we left our packs and went looking for a supermecado to buy food for the road tomorrow. It was siesta so everything was closed. The church was open and I put a Euro in the slot to switch the lights on so that we could see the magnificent interior of the church.
When we checked into the hotel Marion and I were amazed by our room which had a small sitting room area with a double settee and tables.   It was the smartest room we had ever had on the Camino and I decided to take advantage of the bath and soak with the sachets of Bath foam they provided.
We found a special place to et that offered something different to the regular pilgrim food. I chose 3 different tapas rather than the menu which included peppers stuffed with Cod and a black squid ink sauce.
I still can't get used to the pillows here.  They are long sausage shaped pillows and you only get one.  It was quiet cool but there were extra blankets and we had a good sleep.

Navarre

The cheapest flights from South Africa are on the middle eastern airlines Emirates or Qatar.   Many south Africans fly to Europe and other destinations on them. Qatar is a 5star airline but, flying 8 hours East and then another 7 hours back West isn't great! 9 of us flew from RSA to Madrid on Thursday - 7 from Durban which involved 3 flights and a scary 4 hour bus ride along a twisting road from Madrid to logrono. It wad exhausting and I was so pleased that we didn't have to start walking the next day.
Moyra and Connie from Canada were waiting for me when I arrived on the bus at 14:45. They helped me drag my suitcases to the hotel which is opposite the cathedral in the center of town.   As soon as I unpacked all the stuff for San Anton  and Santiago,  Moyra and I found the Correos and I posted the two boxes.
At 6:45pm we walked back to the station to meet Marion. Her bus was 30 min late and it was nearly 8pm  when we got back to the hotel.
The four of us had a meal at a restaurant about 50 from the hotel. Connie and Moyra went to bed and Marion and I waited up for Randy and Bonnie who arrived at about 10:30pm.
When I finally got to bed I was feeling delerious with lack of sleep and after a shower got into bed and died!

Logrono to Navarette- 25 May

Hostal villa de Navarette
 Kathy and I decided not to leave too early as we only had 13km to walk to Navarette and she needed to buy a Sim card.  We walked back towards the station where I had been to the Phone Shop the day before.  Nothing was open so we continued onto the Camino path out of the city.  The graffiti through the tunnel has undergone a great improvement with silhouettes of pilgrims painted on the walls.

It started to drizzle as we climbed the path to the recreational park above the city and stopped at Marcelino Lebato's table. I was going to buy a walking stick but they were all too long.  We watched as a man fed walnuts to red squirrels and had a Cola Cao in the restaurant in the park.

We continued past fields of red poppies and the drizzle stopped.  I took my arms out of the Altus raincoat sleeves and keeping it over the backpack,  tied the sleeves around my waist. We approached Navarette and I told Kathy to stop so that I could take her photograph.  I took 2 steps back and stood on the bottom of the raincoat.  I fell down hard backward, holding the camera in my right hand I put out my left hand to break the fall.
Kathy came to me straight away and tried to take my hands to pull me up but my left hand was screaming!
"Let me sit here a moment" I said and started feeling hips, arms, hands. My left wrist was swelling and I had to turn over using my right hand so that she could help me up.
We continued walking to the village cradling my left hand. We checked into our hostal and the young man directed us to the medico.  Even though it was a Sunday,  the doctor was on duty.  He looked at the wrist and said that I would have to go to the hospital in Logrono for an Xray.
The young man at the hostal called for a taxi and we went back to Logrono and the Hospital San Pedro.  2 hours later we left the hospital with my arm in a half cast. I sustained a clean fracture of the radius.   The doctor's advice was that I see an orthopaedic specialist in Burgos to check if the fracture had displaced or go home and see my orthopaedic specialist in South Africa.
I called home to tell them the news and we agreed that I would not go home but would visit a hospital in Burgos. Kathy and I decided that she would walk alone and I would get a bus from one place to the next.