Day 8 on the Camino Frances, Muruzabal to Lorca

We hated to leave the oasis of Maruzobal, but we had a continental breakfast (cereal, milk, coffee, juice) and headed to Lorca. At the outskirts of Puente de Reina we stopped for a beer, as it was getting hot already. We walked through the town of Puente de Reina, and crossed the bridge that the town is named for. It was hot and sunny all day, and we got in tired and exhausted at 4 pm. Puente de Reina is named for the bridge built in the 11th century, which probably replaced a Roman one, since this was a Roman road.

The bridge above was built in the 12 century by a queen of Navarre, and was great to walk across it. A few km down the road, we crossed over a bridge that was originally built by the Romans. From the refurbished Roman bridge (below) we followed the remains of a Roman road to Lorca, our destination. Most of the Camino follows the Roman Via Traiana but there aren’t many structures left. We were using our umbrellas as sunshades, and loving them. We had several offers to buy them, from other pilgrims.

In Lorca we stayed in a sparse room with two bunk beds, but he assured us that he would not put anyone else in that room. It was an inexpensive room, the bathroom was run down, and there we no blankets, no towels. You get what you pay for, I guess. The place across the street was much nicer, but there was no vacancy. All we needed was a place to crash, from which we went to get some food (across the street). We talked to some pilgrims we had met earlier, even as far back as Orrison. They were in the cafe across the street, and we wished we could get a room over there. The proprietors of our albergue were Chinese, and seemed to be trying to make a go of a recently purchased business.