We got an early start this morning, leaving the albergue in Puente la Reina at just after 7:30. It was clear and cold, 39 degrees when we left.
But the sun was up, and it was just right for Anne’s photo of the Puente la Reina bridge:
After leaving town, we walked up a valley lined with small fields:
At the end of the valley were a series of small villages sitting on hills, like the one here:
Along the path were grape vines:
And olive groves:
The land is more open and drier than the the areas we have walked through to the east.
Chastened by yesterday’s search for a room that almost didn’t exist, Anne and I have begun making room reservations. We had hoped to get rooms at the end of each day’s walk and avoid the need to be at a certain place at a certain time. But that is not going to work. There are more and more people on the path, joining in from new towns along the way. Before we arrived in Pamplona, there were long stretches where we walked alone. That now rarely happens. Also, people are walking faster. And they are less friendly. Perhaps everyone is tired after six days of walking. Or perhaps they are in a hurry to get to their destination. It’s first-come-first-served at many of the albergues. They may be seeing others not as fellow pilgrims but as competitors for a bed.
We are spending the night in Estella by the rio Ega. Our hotel is across the street from the town’s cathedral:
As in other Spanish cities, there are a lot of churches in Estella. Here is the view from the patio to the left of the cathedral: 
And looking off the patio to the right of the cathedral, here are the towers of the church where we will attend a pilgrim’s Mass tonight:
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