Day 8

After returning to a longer walk (18.76km) after our shorter rest days, we ended up in Viana. We’d been hoping to stay in accommodation owned by a sidrería, but it turns out they shut the accommodation ages ago and still haven’t updated their website 🤷‍♂️.

Thankfully, we managed to get a late lunch table for steak, and thus ensued delivery of 1.5kg of Txuletón de vaca vieja (old dairy cow, also spelt Chuletón and pronounced chew-let-on). The sidrería, or cider house, is a staple of northern Spain, serving great food, wine, and – of course – cider.

The cider at this one was fairly flat and dry, so those expecting Magners would be disappointed 😊.

Day 9

From Viana, we ramped up the distance even more, with 23.28km bringing us up to a total of 179.89km after arriving in Navarrete.

The day’s meaty goodness – other than the obligatory visit to the town butcher to obtain meat and cheese for snacking on the go – were courtesy of a hotel restaurant: beans with their sacraments (caparrones con sus sacramentos), tripe & snout (callos y morros) and huge black pudding (morcilla) for our evening meal.

In this case, the sacraments were pork skin & collagen, although they’re mainly added to give a lovely flavour to the black beans as they were the star of that dish.

Day 10

A slightly easier day today walking from Navarrete to Nájera (16.86km) through the heart of Rioja territory. The terrain was easy enough, but there wasn’t much shade – perfect for the multitude of vineyards we passed.

Once our laundry dries, we’ll head out and grab some much-needed food.

Tomorrow will be a rest day, so we’ll mooch around Nájera and see some local sights for a day.