Day 37 Fri 2/6/17
Breakfast in the room with the blackout curtains closed to keep out the sun but the windows wide open to get a breeze, all due to the malfunctioning AC. After checking out we had a 27km drive to the golf course we were playing at today. On the way we drove through some of the White (opium) poppy fields that are grown in the region, for pharmaceuticals apparently.
The Rioja Alta is a decent course, fairly hilly at the beginning and in good condition. Our tee time was 11:30 but we arrived early and teed off at 10:30 which was a good thing because we were called off due to lightening after 14 holes. The day had been hot and humid up until that point and we had wondered whether that was a precursor to a thunder storm. We took a shower and had a sandwich lunch at the club
and then headed off to Casa Victoria, our accommodation for the night.
This village, Ciruena, is on the Camino de Compestela a Santiago so we were staying with and eating with a group of pilgrims and walkers. Dinner was a fairly basic affair round a communal table. At our end of the table we had French, German and American fellow diners. One of the Frenchmen had walked from his home in central France to Santiago and was on his way home, 2200km in 78 days and he reckoned another month to get home, wow!!
After dinner we walked a little bit of the Camino and then dropped into the local bar for a beer and a Rioja, EUR3.30 for two drinks, an absolute bargain.
Then back to our quaint bedroom in the eaves of the house, lots of low beams to crack one’s head if one is not careful.
Haro to Ciruena 15 miles. Total trip 3666 miles
