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Jonathan Gray

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Day 11 - September 22, 2024 - Logroño to #Navarrete Part 2

“Would you please take our photo?” A woman with a group of four other pilgrims, asks. We are all being shown the wine cellar of a restaurant. I snap the photo of the group with the background of a light-up cavern.

Before heading back upstairs, I pause for a quick solo selfie. The Navarrete restaurant had advertised a #PilgrimMenu. A pilgrim with either an Australian or New Zealand accent (my ear is not trained enough to distinguish) calls down to me from the top of the stairs. “Would you like to join us for dinner? You would make an even six for our table.” I gladly accept.

Earlier after checking into the municipal Albergue, I had hung my hand-washed laundry out on the sun-soaked balcony, scribbled notes in my journal, crunched on torreznos pinchos (fried thick-cut bacon) and sipped espressos and small glasses of cerveza. Though I video chat with a few friends back in North America, I have no in-person face to face contact all afternoon.

Hungering for a substantial meal and an IRL conversation I follow a tip about a “Pilgrim Menu” being offered nearby. In Spain, the locals eat dinner very late (9pm to 11pm—past most pilgrims’ bedtime!) so special menus are provided for earlier dining—usually 6 or 7pm.

I located the restaurant and had followed the group of pilgrims down to the cellar. Now invited back upstairs, I am quickly assimilated into the group of five’s #Camino “Family.”

As we dine on Patatas a la Riojana—a stew with potatoes simmered with chorizo and smoked paprika—a pilgrim from New Zealand relates a recent #Proustian experience. In Logroño during the festival of San Mateo, the smell of the burning grape vines and grilled lamb brought her back to her childhood growing up on a vineyard and sheep farm. In my mind I travel with her to her New Zealand sheep farm remembering the smell of the burning grape vines and roasted lamb in Logroño. An Irish pilgrim from Cork recites poetry in Gaelic. We swap stories of the first week of our Camino.

Outside my Albergue a pilgrim plays classical #Spanishguitar. The selections then cross the Atlantic to the sleepy strains of Antonio Carlos Jobim. taken in Navarrete, La Rioja by @jcg

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14 days ago

Day 11 - September 22, 2024 - Logroño to Navarrete Part 1

A man walking without a backpack approaches, “Mind if I join you to practice my English?” “Sure,” I reply. The man lives in Navarrete, my day’s destination.

The previous night, on my way back to my Albergue, after my early departure from the bull fights, I stopped to buy cheese and bread.

Climbing to the second floor of the Albergue, I found my backpack resting on my bunk nestled amidst rows of bunks, some occupied by sleeping pilgrims. Rooting around the top compartment, I pulled out a mostly full bottle of “vino tinto” I had scavenged from an abandoned festival dinner table.

With my cobbled together dinner cradled in my arms, I once again bumped into Robert from Hamburg (who I first met in Zubiri) in the kitchen.

Robert offered me some of his mushroom stroganoff as I sat down at the long communal table. Another pilgrim from Berlin sat across from us and we enjoyed a conversation in English. (German Pilgrims are so accommodating.) With my contributions we had an instant ad-hoc communal meal!

After a mostly restful night, I made my way out of Logrono dodging drunken singing teens. I skirted around the piles of discarded plastic cups being shoveled like mounds of sloppy slush after a late winter snow.

Twelve (12) kilometers from Navarrete the local man joined my walk. As we walked, I quickly realized rather than a conversation, I would be regaled with the details of multiple trips to the US. I don’t remember being asked a single question. Unencumbered by any backpack or walking sticks the man’s arms would gesture wildly and his bearing would often collide with my own, forcing me to pause while he course-corrected.

Reflecting on this experience, two years later, I do appreciate what it must be like to live on the Camino — a steady stream of pilgrims passing by every day. Daily opportunities to talk with new people, share you own story and perhaps even practice a new language. Hard not to share your own experience.

My companion must have at least asked me where I was staying, because after taking my photo at the winery outside Narravette, he said, “I will now go this way home. you go that way.” by @jcg

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20 days ago

Day 10 - September 21, 2024 — Logroño Part 2

#Cacophony - Directly in front of me draped in the red caps of the Fiestas de la Vendimia Riojana was a brass band blasting bars of notes full bore. The arena seemed to be populated with pockets of these brass bands belting out their own tunes. Spectators of all ages, families and couples surrounding me knew what to chant, when to cheer, how to behave. I did not. An American Pilgrim at a #Bullfight.

After checking into my Albergue in Logrono and walking around to explore the events of the Fiestas de la Vendimia Riojana, I ran into the pilgrim from Cyprus that I had met back in Zubriri. We walked by the River toward the Plaza de Toros in search of a late lunch. Initially, I was just interested in seeing the Arena, but then decided to inquire about getting a ticket. I wanted to learn about Spanish culture. My friend was not interested in attending a bullfight, but did not dissuade me from doing so. I purchased the cheapest seat available.

I have been a fan of Miles Davis’ brilliant 1960 jazz album, “Sketches in Spain” for decades. In fact, the album was on my #Camino playlist. Looking closer at the album the cover now, I realize I had only focused on the silhouette image of #MilesDavis standing to one side playing his trumpet. I never really noticed that Miles was facing down a charging bull. Had this image subconsciously peaked by my interest in this part of Spanish Culture?

Later that evening I headed back to the Arena for a 6pm start. As a first time spectator, #Hemingway foretold my reaction—“I would be so confused, visually, by the many things [I] was seeing that [I would] not take it all in with [my] eyes.” Hemingway saw “tragic art,” but forecasted that I would see the “grotesque.”

Like listening to jazz for the first time, hearing all the bands play at once confirmed how Miles’ trumpet captured the essence of this tradition.

I was only able to stay for the first of the three matadors scheduled. Not for me.

My experience tied together a significant part of Spanish Culture with a celebrated American Author and a revered American Jazz Trumpeter who both saw the artistry where I could not. taken in Logroño, La Rioja, España by @jcg

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7 months ago

Day 10 - September 21, 2024 — Logroño Part 1

Wait! I forgot to pick up my small cup of #Rioja Wine!

I had just collected a small paper tray of freshly wood-fire roasted lamb from a festival concession line in the Plaza del Mercado. Too focused on filming my experience getting the lamb for an Instagram Story, I didn’t notice a cup of wine being offered to me.

Without the benefit of speaking Spanish, I had to work my way back to the front of the line gesturing that I had already purchased a ticket for roasted lamb and wine, but did not get my wine. I was met with understanding smiles and offered the choice of a plastic bottle of water or a cup of local Rioja Wine. My choice, of course, perfectly paired with my tray of roasted lamb.

Reflecting on the incessant tension between being in the moment or capturing the moment, I still don’t know where I stand. I had been posting an Instagram Story roughly every day or so since I started the #Camino just over a week ago. I like the exercise of capturing and selecting a scene each day that can pair with a soundtrack to make available to my friends and family. Connection to home is important to me.

The potential pitfall is that while focusing on one thing, I miss an important detail or opportunity. But isn’t that true even if we are not taking photos or shooting video. WE are not omnipresent; we are not capturing everything all the time. Sometimes we are time traveling in our head either to the past or future.

Susan Sontag famously wrote, “to photograph is to frame, and to frame is to exclude.” Whether the exclusion is intentional or not still represents a point of view. We choose what to frame and what to exclude.

My photos and videos frame the story of my choices when, sitting in a cafe in #Logrono I looked up from my Americano and bocadillo during a elongated breakfast waiting to check in to an Albergue and choose to follow a marching band to a mercado, smell wood being burned to roast lamb, pause by the baskets of red grapes ready to be made into wine, admire the red regal uniforms of the marching band and marvel at the whirling #Gigantes (Giants) and #Cabezudos (Big-heads) parading down the street. taken in Logroño, La Rioja, España by @jcg

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7 months ago

Day 10 - September 21, 2024 — Viana to Logroño

I notice a snail sliding across the soaked aggregate concrete path of the #caminodesantiago. It likely left the waterlogged ground beside the path to look for food and mobility-enabling hydration.

As natural as the activity of walking is for humans, we don’t do much of it in the modern world. Depending on where one lives, there may be very little need to walk to the store, school or for that matter the next town. Unless you live in a downtown area in the US, the infrastructure may actually be conspiring against your ability to walk anywhere except to the end of your driveway to get your mail, and, sadly, there are many who use a car even for that activity!

Driving to the mailbox not withstanding, a recent article in Scientific American declared, “Your daily steps may depend on your zip code more than your willpower” and reported on the results of a recent study published (Nature, August 2025) that showed the #walkability of your town has more impact on how many steps you take each day. So the infrastructure does determine your steps!

Many pilgrims on the #Camino report a sense of time elongation. My walk today from Viana to Logrono was just less than 10 kilometers or about six (6) miles. Of course with a car on a highway this is about a five minute drive—a blink of an eye. Though this was intentionally one of my shorter days, it still took about two hours to walk—twenty-four times longer than in a car.

I was started to feel time elongation. But it wasn’t just the snail-like pace I was walking, I also actually noticed the snail. 🐌

I notice the go-cart sized street cleaner wiping down the wet streets outside the Iglesia, I smile appreciatively at the street-art shell and inscription wishing me a “Buen Camino,” and marvel at the snaking grape vine bearing fruit affixed to the facade of a stucco house.

I arrive in Logrono too early in the morning to check into the Municipal Albergue, so I had even more time to enjoy another breakfast—americano and a smoked salmon #bocadillo. I enjoy an elongated morning in the cafe writing in my journal. taken in Logroño, La Rioja, España by @jcg

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8 months ago

Day 9 - September 20, 2024 - Los Arcos to Viana

My thumbs furiously type into Google Translate, “Is it possible to be assigned bunk 5? The woman near bunk 3 snores like a chainsaw.” I hand my phone to the #hospitalera who reads the Spanish translation, lets out a chuckle, nods her head and with an amused smile crosses out the 3A on my bunk assignment card and writes 5A.

Lodging in a #albergue is a very cost effective way to spend the night while walking the #caminodesantiago. I come to long distance walking from the ascetic world of ultralight backpacking; the amenities of an albergue are downright glamorous.

On the other hand, the communal sleeping arrangements of an albergue provide the same potential exposure to ambient snoring as in an Appalachian Trail backpacking shelter.

I deploy varying tactical countermeasures depending on the noise level. Sometimes I just need my drugstore earplugs. Slightly louder noise-levels require “noise canceling” to be engaged on my AirPods. When the noise source is in the next bunk and loud, I deploy full countermeasures — noise canceling headphones playing @maxrichtermusic #Sleep Music App - an eight (8) hour classical crossover piece of music with gentile repetitive melodies and harmonies that encourages an uninterrupted sleep.

My night in Los Arcos included some loud chainsaw-level snoring from the woman in the next bunk . Full countermeasures were deployed. They barely worked.

So when I opened the large stately doors of the Albergue #Viana nestled next to the stone ruins of the Church of San Pedro and saw the previous night’s chainsaw-snoring perpetrator in front of me in line for bunk assignments, I needed to take evasive action.

With my “3A” bunk assignment card in hand, I quickly climbed the stairs and glanced to see that “3A” was next to the same woman! I walked past the room making as though it was not my room and noted a bunk number in the next room, bunk 5.

Later, while hanging up my laundry to dry near my newly re-assigned bunk 5 and thinking I just dodged a bullet, I hear loud coughing and look down to see another pilgrim laying in the bunk next to me with a mask on. taken in Viana, Spain by @jcg

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8 months ago

Day 8 Part 3 - September 19, 2024- Estella to Los Arcos

“Join us,” said the woman of a smiling couple seated in the shade of an umbrella at the edge of the Plaza de Santa Maria in center of #LosArcos.

I immediately recognize the couple from Ireland, fellow pilgrims I had met earlier while we walked together on the #caminodesantiago.

For past few days, I had been passing them and they had been passing me. Like rotating shadows, passing each other only exchanging a “Buen Camino,” taking turns leading, but not engaging.

When I finally introduce myself, the introductions are easy. “Where did you start your #Camino?” “How far are you walking?” “I’m from New Jersey, where are you from?”

I learn that Mary and Brian are from Dublin and are only walking as far Logrono for the #Rioja Wine Festival. They are on #holidays—section hiking the Camino. Ireland and most of Europe is just a short plane trip away, so experiencing the Camino in sections is a popular option for Europeans.

We share the last five kilometers to Los Arcos. A pain in my left foot—Plantar Fasciitis—takes hold. But walking and talking with Mary and Brian softens the pain. Mary takes a posed picture of me leading the way.

We occur to each other as pilgrims as we pass each other multiple times, but now we are pilgrims with names.

“Other people seemed to know you
even before you gave up
being a shadow on the road
and came into the light…”

When we arrived at Los Arcos, my companions head for their hotel, while I check into the Municipal Albergue.

We say our goodbyes, I wish them well for the rest of their Camino by simply saying “Buen Camino,” not knowing if this would be the last time I would see them.

“…even before you sat down,
broke bread and drank wine,
wiped the wind-tears
from your eyes:
pilgrim they called you
again and again. Pilgrim.”

(Excerpts from the Poem “Camino” by @davidjwhyte)

Then as I walk from the afternoon sun into the shade of the Plaza de Santa Maria and sit down with Mary and Brian, I am again a fellow pilgrim.

We drink wine, share Pinxos, drink espressos and chat about Holidays in Germany to visit the Christmas Markets. taken in Los Arcos, Navarre, Spain by @jcg

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8 months ago

Day 8 Part 2 - September 19, 2024- Estella to Los Arcos

“You’re gone.”

“No, I’m still here,” I reply, verifying my WhatsApp connection with my wife.

“But I can’t see you anymore,” my wife clarifies.

My backpack on, I had just walked out of the enclosure at the @bodegasirache winery—the famous #winefountain of the #caminodesantiago .

Earlier, I had connected with my wife back home on WhatsApp. She had been following my trip with the @caminoguidebook I had gotten for free at the @bikepackingroots summit from @dplandis. To save space and pack weight, I had purchased the @amazonkindle version and left the hardcopy with my wife.

As we were talking and virtually walking together, she is looking at the “Estella to Los Arcos” chapter. I hear her say, “Hey, you should be approaching a monastery with a wine fountain!”

Over the ridge I see large block letters nestled in the rows of a vineyard announcing the Bodegas Irache winery!

As I enter a small enclosure and join a few other pilgrims, I realize that the wine tap will be opening in just two minutes. I had arrived just in time!

Back home my wife finds a link to the winery webcam. After a few minutes delay she was able to see me by the fountain as I raise my cap of my @Nalgene bottle filled with the red wine that had trickled out of the fountain.

Though live video images incessantly stream around the world on Zoom and FaceTime, there is still a special interaction when viewing someone on a publicly mounted webcam. A kind of fixed #portal is opened where you can get a window into a different world.

“Because we live in an illusion of connectivity. Portals invite us to recognize people outside of our social bubbles, outside of our social media feeds…”

( @Benediktas.Gylys - Lithuanian artist and creator of @portalsorg )

In this case, my wife was able too use this portal to participate with me and others on the #camino in the joy of discovering a wine fountain. Though we are separated by thousands of miles, my wife is present in my experience. So much so that when I put on my backpack and departed the fountain enclosure she says, “You’re gone.” by @jcg

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8 months ago

Day 8 Part 1 - Sept 19, 2024 - Estella to Los Arcos

I flip up my sleep eye-mask, pull open the curtain of my #Albergue bunk and notice that the curtains on all of the other bunks are still closed. Am I the first person in my bunk room to get up this morning? My watch reads 6:30AM. A very restful night.

As I pause by the front door of @agorahostelestella, I smile for a selfie feeling satisfied with my stay. My stay, however, did not start out this happy.

During my first full week on the #caminodesantiago I was beginning to settle into the routine of a #peregrino. A key part of my #quotidian rhythm was hand washing / line drying my daily laundry.

When I checked into the beautifully appointed private albergue @agorahostelestella, I asked the #hospitalera were I could hand wash my laundry. I was told that hand-washing laundry was forbidden.
With a tone of sarcasm, I blurted out, “You’re joking!?!”

The exchange did not go well. I was politely told I could have a full bag of laundry washed, dried and folded for seven (7) euros.

“Sure,” I thought, “no other Albergue I have stayed had this ridiculous rule! The private Albergue in the city of Pamplona even had a dedicated room for hand washing and drying laundry! Humpf!"

As I unpacked my gear and set up my bunk for the night, I had time to pause and reflect. Wasn’t I working on not being so reactive? This was not who I wanted to be.

“The righteous man departs, but his light remains.” -Fyodor Dostoevsky

I re-considered the seven (7) Euro laundry option and concluded that getting all of my clothing a good washing after a week was not a bad idea.

I apologized to the hospitalera and requested the laundry service. She smiled and handed me a laundry bag telling me I could fill it up. Returning later that afternoon finding my laundry neatly folded and on my bunk felt like forgiveness for my sarcastic and entitled behavior.

Walking out of Estella in the pre-dawn, I see the glowing light of a gas station at the edge of town. Walking in, I see a cafe nestled in the corner. First breakfast.

Did my attempt at a humble apology leave any light in Estella? taken in Estella-Lizarra by @jcg

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8 months ago

Day 7 Part 2 - September 18, 2024 - Puente la Reina to #Estella

Though I’m not traveling with others, I am rarely alone. When I look in front of me, I usually see a pilgrim ahead of me leading the way. When I look behind me, I see a pilgrim following me.

I have joined a larger community, walking this corridor built over centuries. Starting as an alternate to doing a pilgrimage to Jerusalem over 1,000 years ago, the #CaminodeSantiago has survived because it captures the imagination of those who are drawn to the open road. It’s held together by tradition, by culture and by religion. It’s grown in popularity due to its safe-passage reputation and accessibility and its ability to inspire a “spiritual” experience no matter the belief system of the traveller.

A #Camino can be initiated with very little planning. In fact, travel writer and actor, @AndrewMcCarthy urges those interested in walking the #Camino to do as little preparation as possible. If fact, he says you just need comfortable footwear and an open mind.

When I originally planned my Camino, I had thought I would use @bookingcom for every night and line up all of the reservations. As a prospective pilgrim, I had bit of anxiety about the idea of just walking into a town and finding a place to stay pre-Internet style. So I had actually booked most first weeks’ nights through Estella—the town I was now arriving in.

I was encouraged by @dplandis who I met the month before setting out at a @bikepackingroots summit in Western Pennsylvania. He strongly encouraged me to just let the Camino happen and stay in the municipal and #donativo (donation-only) albergues to get a fuller Camino experience. David should know as he and his wife publish the excellent @caminoguidebook with VillagetoVillagePress.

So after tonight’s stay in Estella at a private albergue, I had about five weeks of lodging that were essentially unplanned. I still had my spreadsheet that had a forecast of roughly where I would be and when, but that was mostly to let a friend know when I would be in the City of Burgos, so he could meet me there to walk the Camino with me for a day.

I was opening my mind to how the Camino would unfold. taken in Estella-Lizarra by @jcg

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9 months ago

Day 7 Part 1 - September 18, 2024 - Puente la Reina to Estella

Village on a hill in the distance. Neatly arranged vineyards blanket the middle-ground. My foreground is filled with a half dozen pilgrims —leading my way and bringing life to the landscapes I capture. Though I am #travelingsolo I am not alone. I feel alive and connected.

My day did not start this way. I awoke in the still darkened albergue bunk room to the quiet sounds of pilgrims packing up their gear. My watch shows — 6:00AM!

On the #caminodesantiago before dawn, cafe americano options are nil since most cafes generally open sometime after 7am each day. Un-caffeinated, my hoodie feels sweaty and clingy in the damp air. Irritated, I checked the map on my iPhone for the next town. Five kilometers with no caffeine?!?

One of the advantages of walking the Camino solo is that you can go at your own pace. Wake up when you want. Start the day when you want. Stop for coffee when you want. Sit alone at a cafe when you want. Sit with other pilgrims at a cafe when you want. All the small choices along the way are solely up to you.

So though I was not feeling my best, I decide to join other pilgrims for my first coffee stop of the day. At a #cafe back home, I would be much more hesitant to invite myself or even ask if I could join others for coffee. The #peregrino uniform—hat, walking shoes, backpack—enables pilgrims to identify other pilgrims on the way. Since we are all engaged in the same effort, joining other pilgrims for coffee becomes accepted and natural behavior. I’m noticing that that camino has made me more relaxed and a bit more extraverted than I normally am—even before coffee!

So after “suffering” through five un-caffeinated kilometers (three miles) and holding my americano in a small cup and saucer, I ask if I could join two other pilgrims—one from the UK and one from Australia. I wrote in my journal, “I felt 100% better after having a coffee…” Instant caffeine + community.

As I leave, the way appears brighter. I’m noticing the snails clinging to sticky fleabane. I’m marveling at the aqueduct soaring above my head. Elegant flower-boxes. #Pilgrims disappearing into a tunnel of green. taken in Cirauqui by @jcg

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9 months ago

Day 6 Part 2 - September 17, 2024 - Pamplona to Puente la Reina

“That looks like a scene from a Van Gogh painting,” my wife says. We are talking on WhatsApp about a picture I just sent her as I walk back to my Albergue. #MagicHour over, I was returning from the stone bridge on the western side of #PuentelaRiena—the namesake for this town—where I was able to capture some images of the stone bridge that enables #camino pilgrims to depart town after their sojourn.

Earlier that day, the walk into Puente la Reina had been a bit “rocky + tricky”—as recorded in my journal. Continued wind kept things comfortable even in full sun. Not comfortable was my right heal which started to hurt after about eight kilometers (five miles). Concerning.

I arrived at the Puente la Reina municipal albergue in the early afternoon. After securing a bottom bunk and hand washing my laundry, I took a walk into town. All of the nearby shops were closed until 4pm. Interesting. Siesta?

Only a cafe/bar was open. As I walked in for a “refreshment”, I noticed what looks like wooden cattle fences painted a dark maroon lining the plaza with a small grandstand nestled on the western side of the plaza. I inquire about the structure as I order a bottle of @Cervezas1906. As the barman hands me an opened bottle and small glass he informs me that the town has a “running of the cows” later that month.

I find a seat outside on the edge of the plaza to write in my journal and enjoy my cervezas and realize I’m sitting in bull ring that will likely be the center of attention and excitement in just a few short weeks.

Walking back to my Albergue I notice large wooden and steel gates at the intersections of the stone walled streets also painted dark red. Likely used to create the path for the “running of the bulls.”

Mid afternoon, back at the Albergue, after folding my sun-dried laundry I lay down on my bunk and notice an encouraging message scrawled in Sharpie above my head as I look up at the underside of the top bunk.

“Go at your own pace - it’s okay to rest. Santiago is not running away. Only 690.5 km to go!”

I smile softly and drift off to #siesta. taken in Puente La Reina by @jcg

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9 months ago