Day 10: Alcanadre to Calahorra (July 11)

Short and sweet! This day really flew by! After we departed the train station and returned the keys at the bar, we scooted out of Alcanadre along the first of many gravel and dirt roads. We made our way up and over a hill and found our way down such that we were walking on a side road along a main highway. The highlight of this section of the way was the many, many bunnies that we saw...they darted across the road, through fields, and in and out of holes...there were seriously tons of them! And, they were almost as cute as the ones who routinely play leap-bunny with one another in our yard at home. Eventually, we crossed to the other side of the highway, walked along the train tracks for a while and down a very long gravel/dirt road before returning to pavement. From there we quite suddenly saw our destination city of Calahorra before us. Upon entering the city, we turned down several streets, navigating through the usual collection of apartment buildings, and a short time later we reached our hotel, which was located quite close to the city center. Our walk today totaled about 20 km.

As we waited for our room to be ready, we enjoyed a cafe
con leche at the hotel bar. Settled in our room and cleaned up, we enjoyed a delicious menu of he day at a nearby restaurant. Interestingly, the Spanish seem to have a certain affinity for pre-packaged ice cream cones, pops, and sandwiches of all varieties (ice cream novelties in American grocery stores). I've certainly enjoyed this extensive availability of ice cream products, but a truly funny moment came when we ordered ice cream for dessert at lunch today and our waiter walked to a nearby shop, purchased the pre-packaged cones, and then presented them to us on plates :).

After lunch we took a walk around, looking for someone to stamp our credential (all the offices seemed to be closed), taking pictures of the churches (strangely, the cathedral is located on the outskirts of town and down the hill, so that was a tiny hike), and gearing up for a nap. A lovely nap later, we stepped out again and again failed to find anyone to stamp the credential (fortunately our hotel would be able to do it). We picked up some fruit and granola bars at the grocery store for a walking snack tomorrow and quickly decided it was bedtime.