Cliffs of Cave Dwellers

Hi, I did not post for three stages. The stage from Los Arcos to Logrono was 18 miles. I was so exhausted that I passed out. I hit ¨"the wall" with several miles to go. I bought some new insoles for my sneakers at an outdoor store. Logrono was a lovely city but I didn´t care.

The stage from Logrono to Najera was also 18 miles. I tried to be more relaxed but my feet still hurt for the last 6 miles. The minute I hit a bed at Najera I passed out again. It was too bad. Najera is fascinating.

It is between these huge red cliffs and a river. It has been inhabited since the Cave Men.

The cliffs contain caves with doors! The doors are way up in the cliff. The city was inhabited by Celtibericos! What are they? Ancient Celts that lived in the Iberian Peninsula. They are separate from the Basques. The Celtibericos fought the Romans and eventually lost! Najera was also important during the Roman occupation. It has so much history.

Okay, right before Najera is a place, I forget the name, where Roland fought a giant named Farragut. Farragut was 9 feet tall, weighed 400 pounds, and had a really big nose. After they fought for 2 days he fell on top of Roland intending to squish him. However, Roland decided that FArragut´s only vulnerable spot was his navel. Roland stabbed Farragut in the navel and killed him. Hmm.

Spanish history is so violent.

It disturbs me because the Camino de Santiago (Way of St James) is supposed to be spiritual but I have a feeling that Spain has its own version of Christianity which is hyperviolent. I have trouble with the spirituality and the Christianity.

St James is represented as St James Matamoros, which means he is on his horse with dead Moors underneath that he killed. That is just not spiritual.

Okay I need to go. We need to post some pictures on this blog. We are in a section of Spain called Rioja which has a lot of grapes (Rioja grapes) for wine and grain growing. It is really beautiful.

I will post on Santo Domingo later on.