Pamplona to Laguardia

We started walking a short way out of Pamplona, climbing up and over a steep ridge topped by perhaps a hundred windmill electricity generators. The previous government was making a significant effort to make all power from renewable sources. A nuclear power station was going to be closed and we saw miners protesting about closure of their deep mines with poor quality coal.  However, the commitment to solar and wind is impressive and we had already seen some of the unexpected effects of damming rivers on the ecology of estuaries.

The trail, now pestered with aggressive mountain-bikers, goes down from the ridge and through rolling countryside to Puenta de Reina. A medieval queen had a bridge built to make it safe for pilgrims who risked being fleeced and drowned by ferrymen. The town beside the bridge has done well out of pilgrims. Explored a very unusual octagonal chapel with an elegant necklace of arches- built by a returning crusader who had been wowed in Rome. Then up to another steep hill topped by a roman town with a roman bridge on the other side, a total of 18 km..

Laguardia, next stop, is a small walled town on the ruta del vino, and doing very well thanks – a relief to hear the voices of children. Photos of red peppers drying and a visit to an industrial quantity winery in the heart of Rioja made us real tourists. 

The winery hotel had been designed by Frank Gehry and looked as though its wrapping paper had been caught in a breeze and frozen.