When we walked in fields of gold (Ortega to Logronio(

Someone told me that Spain is the most mountainous country in Europe and I believe them. Undulating is the word. We're settling into a routine of walking about 20 km and stopping around 2.00 pm. At that time we can normally still get a room for two in an albuergue or a small hotel rather than sleep in one of the big dorms in the hostels. Snoring and people getting up to leave at 5.30 am tends to disrupt the sleep patterns. We're paying 13 to 15 euros each whereas we'd be paying 8 each in a dorm.

The little hostel at Lorca was great although we did have to share our room with a late arrival, a young man from Brazil. We had breakfast looking at the other hostel across the Calle Mayor or Main Road, about 10 foot away. Breakfast is normally about 3 euros and it's great to start the day on a full tank.

We're finding the walking hard, especially on the Roman road after the bridge at Puenta la Reina and Irv's feet are still badly blistered. We've been very lucky to meet lovely people from all over the world, particularly the ladies from Galway who have helped us along with a mixture of humour and Captain Morgan's spiced rum from their flasks.

Our best Spanish night was spent in Los Arcos. Their feast day started on Friday night with fireworks. All the local lads were dressed in white with a red sash and





all getting a bit of Dutch courage down them for the bull run the next day. The whole Basque thing is still very strong even though we're now very close to the end of Navarre.

The walk into Viana was spectacular. Across the swirling fields of corn the Picos were doing a fair impression of the Cairngorms. No Andalusian heat for us here as we walked into a freezing wind. Unfortunately Irv's feet have now given up and after 11km we're been forced to stop in Logronio, the regional capital of Rioja (not a bad place to be stuck for a day. Photo of door knocker for John Rendle's collection.

Very best anniversary wishes to my beautiful wife. 1979 was a great year for me. I would also like to thank the young lady in the hostel for helping me to download the photos.