My latest Camino experience is about to end. I must return home to Portugal in a couple of days. I didn’t plan to go the whole way to Santiago de Compostela this time, but I wanted to relive the very special camaraderie that I’ve felt before on this pilgrimage.

So many people have written articles and books about the Camino that it has become trite to say it changes your life, but it does. It is a unique opportunity to step away from your regular routine and live very simply. It is an opportunity to be close to the natural world, observing the changes in the land, the crops, the architecture and the weather. You meet people from all over the world and share meals with them, share dormitory space with them, listen to their snoring and often forge lasting friendships.

On my last day of walking we just covered about 10 kilometers, from Viana to Logroño into the Rioja region. The intention was to explore this historic town. We had some good meals, toured the museum of Rioja and attended mass at the cathedral.

Tomorrow I will take a bus back to Pamplona and fly to Lisbon. But I will come back to the Camino and I look forward to exploring more of Spain.

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One of the pieces of advice I heard when I was preparing for my first Camino in 2015 is that the Camino you do is “your Camino”. Each individual has their own pace of walking and it can be uncomfortable over a long distance to match someone else’s stride if they are naturally faster or slower than you. The ability to compromise is a great virtue but it doesn’t always mean you have to sacrifice who you are.

I’ve found that the best way to maintain genial feelings on the Camino is to agree to allow everyone to walk at their own speed and agree on meeting spots.

Our journey today took us into the Rioja region which is famous for its wines. The hillsides and valleys are covered in vineyards and olive groves.

We made it into Viana by early afternoon and got bunks in the municipal hostel of Andres Muñoz in the historic part of the city.

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One of the reasons I wanted to walk this section of the Camino was to visit a church that has a similarity to the chapel at the Convento de Cristo in Tomar, where I live in Portugal . It is the small church of Santo Sepulcro in Torres del Rio.

The small church is in built in the same eight sided design as the Charola chapel at the Convento de Cristo. It comes from an earlier time and is very simple inside. But there are Templar symbols everywhere in this little town, including at the Albergue where we are staying.

The walk today from Villamayor de Monjardín took us along relatively flat terrain through farmland where the crops had been harvested. There were some vineyards and olive groves and mountains in the distance.

I was very happy to have the company of Andrea and Geraldine and a couple of others as I walked from Villamayor de Monjardín via Los Arcos. We stopped in Los Arcos for a bite to eat and then visited the church of Santa Maria de los Arcos. Walking inside I was immediately stunned by the contrast with the Monasterio de Irache which I saw yesterday. This church is crammed with ornate, gilded Baroque carvings and paintings. Choir practice was in full swing when we visited and it was a relief to escape to the peaceful cloister beyond.

Today we took a leisurely start from the Alda hostel in Estella and walked out by the church of San Pedro de Rua. It is one of many medieval buildings that remain from Estella’s past as an important city in the former kingdom of Navarra.

We continued on towards the village of Irache. On the outskirts there is the Bodega de Irache and you can get a free sample of the local wine at the trailside fuente de vino. This attraction was a big hit with a group of Mexican cyclists who were riding the Camino. They were stopped there when I arrived and were all laughing as they filled their water bottles with wine.

Just up the hill from the wine fountain is the Monastery of Irache. Since we are doing a slow Camino we stopped and went inside. The church is a gem of elegant romanesque architecture, with simple clean lines, curving arches and just a few statues. I far prefer these churches to those filled with baroque and rococo gilded decor.

The path took us on to a small village called Azqueta where we stopped for a wonderful “bocadillo con jamon y queso” or baguette with ham and cheese. This part of Spain is still in the Basque region and all the signs are in Spanish and the Basque language.

The next couple of kilometers wound through a beautiful forest of oak trees, then onward and upward past vineyards to the village of Villamayor de Monjardin.

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Today we did a short journey walking from the delightful hilltop village of Cirauqui to the town of Estella. Seven years ago we just walked right by Cirauqui, but this time I was able to explore this small, beautifully kept village.

Paloma, the lady that ran the Albergue where we stayed in Cirauqui, said only 500 people live there year round, but there was a library, a health center and a bank. She said many people have summer homes there or come for the weekend from larger cities.

She gave the guests at the Albergue a wonderful evening meal with a delicious salad and a tasty stew of chickpeas and mushrooms.

On my walk today I thought about how the Camino experience is a wonderful opportunity to let go of all the anxieties of your daily life and be completely present as you move through the countryside and encounter people from all over the world.

Follow my blog to learn about moving to Portugal and daily life in a Portuguese village. And, check out my book, “The Power of Rain”, available in Kindle and paperback on Amazon.

Today was an easy day with a couple hours set aside to explore Puente la Reina. As we walked along a side street I caught the unmistakable smell of roasting chile.

This is something so typical of New Mexico in August or early September. I followed my nose to find an outdoor market where women were peeling red chile and a guy was roasting them. There were even chile ristras hanging on walls.

We walked on out of the town and looked back at the medieval bridge that gives the town its name.

After leaving the town we had a long steep climb and finally a descent through farmland and vineyards towards the hilltop village of Cirauqui.

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Today was my first day of walking on this short Camino adventure, and it was a tough one. Last night I met up with my friend Andrea and several new friends and we had a delightful evening at the Cafe Iruna a hangout of writer Earnest Hemingway.

This morning we walked out of Pamplona bound for Puente la Reina. The route took us out of the city and throughout wide open ploughed fields. In the distance we saw mountains and ridges sporting rows of wind turbines.

Our path took us up a long, and in some places, very steep stony way up to the top of one of the ridges, at 770 meters. It is called “The Alto de Perdon”. The place is memorable for a row of iron statues symbolizing pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela.

There is also a stonehenge-like memorial to dozens of local people who were killed during the Spanish civil war in the late 1930s. A dark time in Spain’s not so distant past.

Then it was down a long steep stony path to Uterga and on to Albergue Jakue where I had stayed in 2015. Lots of memories.

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