Today I realized that it was only day 6 of walking and a week since I boarded the train to travel to my starting city, St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. In those 5 walking days, I already walked approximately 165 km and have seen the landscape change from the mountains of the Pyrenees to the rolling hills of the other side of Navarra county.
Today I walked from Los Arcos to Logroño. This city is the capital of the La Rioja county and during today’s 30 km the landscape changed even more into a wine country.
Upon arrival in Santiago de Compostela a pilgrim needs to present his pilgrim passport with the stamps. If at least the last 100 km 2 stamps per day have been collected a pilgrim will be awarded a Compostela, the official document that proofs he walked the way. At every auberge, a person’s passport will be marked with the stamp of the auberge and a handwritten date to it. But also churches and many shops along the way provide stamps. Today I collected even 3 stamps among one special one: shortly before entering Logroño there is a humble table near the side of the road where a lady stamps the passport of every passing pilgrim. Until 2002 it was Doña Felisa who personally stamped every passport. After her passing in 2002 at the age of 93 her daughter Maria decided to continue with this tradition. It was Maria who stamped my passport today with the “Higos – agua y amor” stamp.
