Day 4 uphill and down in the wine country

Day 4. I just arrived at Ciraqui, from Cize Menor. I guess it was about a 16 mile trek, but I¨ll have to calculate more closely and report in a future blog. I realize that the elevations listed for each city turn out to be quite misleading. This stretch, point to point, was a minor rise in elevation from where I left, but with a couple of big up and downhills in between. It kills you to give up ground after climbing a hill!
Anyway, I¨m happy. We´ve now entered the wine country. Some of the vines are so ripe that big bunches of grapes fall to the ground to rot before anyone gets around to picking them. Most towns, including this one, have ¨pilgrim menus¨for dinner, which might offer a salad, entree, dessert, and WINE for about $13. All in all, quite a good meal...and quite a good deal. Since this is a wine growing area, they simply stick a bottle on the table and you help yourself---I guess there is plenty to go around.
This evening I´ll attend mass in the 12th century church here. One of the odd features of the camino is that you seldom end up able to attend mass in a church or even visit! The churches are often closed all day, and the small towns that I often overnight in may not even have an evening mass, or even a functioning church. well, tonight is a chance to be grateful...