June 17, 2025 : Logroño Day 2.

A Rest Day Well Spent

Because we were taking a rest day, we had absolutely no reason to rush this morning—and we didn’t.

We had the most amazing sleep ever. The bed was queen sized, the pillows were memory foam, and the air conditioner kept the room wonderfully cool. After several nights of Camino accommodations, this Airbnb was starting to feel less like just a place to sleep and more like a luxury resort.

We slept until about 8:00 a.m. and woke up to beautiful sunshine.

For breakfast, Ashley cooked up eggs with onions and chives, along with toast, peaches, and bananas topped with kefir and sugar. It was wholesome, filling, and a very welcome change from the tortillas and/or pastries we’d been eating every morning.

There was also something strangely satisfying about actually cooking breakfast.

Maybe it was the eggs.

Maybe it was having a kitchen.

Or maybe we were just excited to use an appliance that wasn’t a vending machine.

But in reality, I think it was the freshness of produce that you get in Europe. It’s not a joke but folks take locally grown produce very seriously. That means you actually see dirt on carrots and radishes. The strawberries are the brightest reds and taste the sweetest. The eggs are not refrigerated as they are sold unwashed fresh from the chicken. The most surprising thing is that the cost of fresh produce is completely normal and not double or triple as you typically see in farmers markets across the US. It’s a shame that “fresh from farm” in the US has been unnecessarily glorified leading to premium prices.

The Glamorous Life of Camino Chores

After breakfast, we tackled some chores, including laundry. We were incredibly thankful for the washer and dryer in the Airbnb. At this point in the Camino, clean clothes had become one of life’s greatest luxuries. Honestly, the Airbnb may have already paid for itself simply by having a washing machine.

Once the laundry situation was under control, we realized we needed to replenish some toiletries, so we headed to a local cosmetics store called Primo, about an eight-minute walk away.

We weren’t quite sure what kind of store it was when we walked in.

It felt a little like Sephora.

A little like Walmart.

And somehow a little like a giant pharmacy.

But it was fantastic. They had just about everything you could possibly need for your face, hair, and body. We stocked up on travel-size shampoo, conditioner, face wash, body lotion, and body wash.

We also stopped at a mid-sized supermarket chain called Carrefour to pick up breakfast for the next morning—bananas and yogurt. Nothing says adventure quite like planning tomorrow’s breakfast in advance.

The Great Toe-Sock Expedition

Next on the list was something much more important: toe socks and insoles.

My feet had apparently decided that walking across Spain wasn’t enough of a challenge.

I set off on about a 40-minute walk to find a store that sold them, while Ashley stayed behind at the Airbnb to take care of more chores.

When I finally got to the store, there was a little confusion.

I tried to ask where the toe socks were, but apparently my Spanish—or possibly my pronunciation—wasn’t quite clear.

The employees thought I was looking for toe shoes.

They told me they didn’t have them.

Fortunately, rather than immediately accepting defeat, I wandered around the store and eventually discovered the toe socks sitting right there.

Success!

I also picked up some insoles for Ashley and then headed back to the Airbnb.

Apparently, this is what a Camino rest day looks like: laundry, toiletries, grocery shopping, and a 40-minute expedition for socks.

Not exactly lying by the pool sipping on Sangria.

Back to Exploring Logroño

With the errands finally out of the way, we moved on to the more enjoyable part of the day.

We visited the La Rioja Museum. Located in the 18th-century Baroque Espartero Palace, the 3,042-square-metre museum consists of historical quarters and a modern expansion. Across its floors, exhibits cover prehistory, the pre-Roman era, the Roman world, medieval to Baroque fine arts, 19th and 20th-century Prado Museum loans, and local ethnography. 

Then, of course, there was the most important item on the itinerary: more Pintxos!

We were becoming increasingly convinced that eating our way through Logroño was a legitimate cultural activity.

On day 2 we sampled:

Rulo de cabra (smoked goat cheese) with walnuts at Casa Grande Laurel

Champiñón a la plancha (grilled button mushrooms) at Bar Angel

Patatas bravas at Pasión Por Ti

Pistachio cheesecake at Melt cake

The smoked goat cheese with walnuts was a standout, while the button mushrooms were another reminder that Logroño takes its small bites very seriously.

And naturally, we had to return to La Tabola for another zurracapote.

After yesterday’s rosé-versus-zurracapote incident, we felt obligated to give them another chance.

Thankfully, this time we got the right drink on the first try.

An Early Night… Sort Of

The goal was to finish the evening, get back to the Airbnb, and go to bed early.

Tomorrow was going to be a big one.

We had 30 km ahead of us, which meant today’s relaxed schedule was about to seem like a very distant memory.

So we enjoyed our final drinks, headed back to our ridiculously comfortable Airbnb, and prepared ourselves for the next day’s challenge.

Logroño had turned out to be a fantastic place for a rest day. We didn’t do anything particularly dramatic, but that’s what made it enjoyable.

We slept late, ate a real breakfast, did laundry, bought toiletries, went on a 40-minute toe socks mission, explored more of the city, ate a ridiculous amount of delicious food, drank Rioja-region wine, and generally enjoyed pretending that we weren’t about to walk 30 km the next morning.

Sometimes, a good Camino day isn’t about how far you walk.

Sometimes it’s about how clean your clothes are when you wake up.

⭐ Day Highlights

Distance: Minimal Camino walking — mostly exploring Logroño
Walking Time: About 40 minutes for the toe sock expedition, plus walking around town
Weather: Sunny and beautiful ☀️
Highlight: A true rest day in Logroño—sleeping in, cooking breakfast, doing laundry, exploring the city, and enjoying plenty of pintxos.
Simple Pleasure: Waking up in a cool, comfortable bed and having a homemade breakfast instead of the usual Camino tortillas and pastries.
Best Luxury: The washer and dryer. At this point in the Camino, clean clothes felt like a five-star hotel amenity.
Camino Lesson: A rest day doesn’t mean doing nothing. Sometimes it’s about sleeping well, eating properly, taking care of your feet, getting your laundry clean, and preparing yourself for the next big challenge.

Tomorrow: 30 km 😳