All was quiet when we departed this morning at 8:15. It rained most of night but the streets were already dry. The cloudy skies were a bit threatening with gusty winds, but no rain, yet.
We walked by the dominant 14th century Iglesía La Acunción as we exited the town and rejoined the dirt Camino. The “puddled” path with occasional muddy areas was not a hindrance to the walk.
Iglesía La AsunciónWe picked up the Camino dirt path as we left Villatuerta … Ermita del San Michel on the left (closed this morning, as usual).A pilgrim underpass to circumvent the sometimes busy local road.A typical look of most of the walk this morning… some uphill and some downhill but nothing to complain about. Still no rain, but threatening.We walked a short distance with this pilgrim from Japan. Today was his 40th day of walking, having started in Le Puy en Velay in southern France!As we neared Estella, we passed several industrial/chemical processing factories.The wide dirt path morphed into a wide paved path that took us the rest of the way into Estella.The Rio Ega looked angry from last night’s rain.At the edge of Estella we crossed the river and stopped for breakfast.Cafe con leche, tostadas con mantequilla y mermelada.“Estella la Bella” accurately describes the buildings throughout the city. As we walked toward our appartment, we passed this residence … a typical home with family crest and attractive painted exterior walls.We walked by the spectacular 12th century Iglesia de San Miguel.A typical street in Estella on our way to our apartment, located just off the Plaza de los Fueros.An interesting display of fresh fruits and vegetables outside a small grocery store.These fresh peas caught Linda’s eye, so we purchased a handful to shell and cook for dinner in our apartment kitchen.Estella is located on a hillside so many of the streets are narrow and steep.A Thursday morning market was underway in the Plaza de los Fueros. The Iglesia de San Juan Bautista is located on the edge of the plaza.
We decided to do some shopping among the locals to add to our peas and take advantage of our apartment offerings.
One section of the Plaza de los Fueros marketanother section of the market
Our apartment was still not ready for us, so we stopped at Bar Florida, on the plaza, and had some hot chocolate (cola cao).
Nice interior of Bar Florida
Our apartment was still not ready, so we moved to another bar/restaurant on the plaza (Monjardin) and had a nice lunch.
Goat cheese salad mixta for Linda and Assorted fried fish for Jim at Monjardin.
We got a message via “Whats-App” that our apartment was clean and ready for us, so we finished lunch and walked a half-block and checked-in.
living area and kitchen of our apartment Bedroom…… and spacious bathroom.
We took inventory of our shopping and made a short list of additional items we’d need for our evening meal and for tomorrow’s walk. So, Jim headed out to a nearby supermarket (Dia) and returned shortly and joined Linda to complete our routine chores.
Our purchases for the evening meal and tomorrow.Our evening meal. Fresh peas, fresh bread, ripe avocado and savory sliced tomato complemented by a very nice Mencia wine.
Tonight’s wine went very well with our vegetables. It’s a Mencia, from the Bierzo region of northwestern Spain. It had notes of plums and dark fruits. It was full bodied and smooth with a touch of acidity… totally enjoyable. We found it in a local supermarket for 4.59€ ( ~$5.00)!
Our Menci wine.
It was a relatively short walk today, but a full one, none the less, considering our creative methods to kill time, while waiting for our room to be ready and then creating a delicious, healthy meal before retiring for the evening.
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One thought on “Day 4 – Villatuerta to Estella”
I love your blog. I take my time. Read everything and look closely at all the photos. I’m almost there with you. The golf was fun today. I didn’t stick around to see where we finished but it was good.
Jimandi 
I love your blog. I take my time. Read everything and look closely at all the photos. I’m almost there with you. The golf was fun today. I didn’t stick around to see where we finished but it was good.
DAVE
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