Viena

Music, bulls and wine from Rioja. It's fiesta in the village, the first day of celebration of four in honour of a local saint. Cleverly the festival is arranged from Monday to Thursday so that you then have the weekend to rest. The hike was easy today. A bit shorter than usual in a friendly landscape of small, soft hills. We arrive in Viena at lunchtime and was immediately greeted with thick, lovely, Spanish hot chocolate. They allowed for seconds. A slightly longer queue at the next square rewarded you with a small but tasty chorizo sandwich and a mug of wine.

The atmosphere is fantastic and I feel strengthened in my decision to stop early today. After a small lunch with Christof, consisting of delicious seafood tapas, I found some familiar faces outside a bar around the corner - previously blocked by a lunch time running of bulls. The afternoon was spent soaking up the atmosphere and respectable amounts of Rioja wine while the village quieted down as the locals went home for siesta.

I could see the spectacle of bulls on the main street on a safe distance from the bedroom at the Albergue. Spent the night in middle bunk on a three-story bed.

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