Day 5: Puente la Riena - Estella, 21.7km.
Puente la Riena to Estella, 21.7km, is a milestone trek through farmland including vineyards and tiny villages. I passed the first 100 km mark...1 down 700 to go. Haha!!! It was another hilly day with some reprieve in the flats. The first pictures are from me leaving Puente la Reina and crossing the Pilgrims Bridge, the most famous bridge along the Camino.
Today's walk was lovely yet not quite enough to distract completely from the pain, which is a constant companion on The Camino. I stopped at every village, if for nothing else, to try to repair my feet. I've added to the blisters on the tips of my toes and now have blisters on the bottom of my feet as well. The steep downhills continue to take their toll. Every peregrino I talked to today felt as I did, the body was feeling the previous 4 days of efforts all the while laughing and joking as we compared notes.
I literally limped into Estella and the first Albergue was full, so the lovely lady at the desk found a Pension with a private room available. Yay.!!! As luck would have it, it was in beautiful old town and right next to a farmacia. Between the hot bath and the helpful farmacia worker, they got me patched up and out walking to explore the town and, hopefully, ready for day 6. This town is beautiful with a significant Camino history.
