Santa Domingo de la Calzada to Delorado

Last night we stayed in a Parador. Years ago the Spanish government acquired historic buildings across Spain, renovated them and turned them into hotels. They could have oringinally been a monastery or church or some other building that is hundreds of years old. A tourist could tour Spain and stay in one every night if they wanted. Santa Domingo actually has two Paradors. Ours was located in the Monastery of San Francisco which includes a church, a workshop/museum and guest house where our Parado was located. 

What a great way to preserve historical buildings and have them pay for themselves.

On the way out of town we passed the statue of Saint Dominic again who is responsible for founding the town which bears his name. As the story goes, he was studying to join the church but after a while his teachers told him he was just not cut out to be a student. He became a hermit who dedicated his life to helping pilgrims that passed down the Camino. He built bridges, shelters, etc. to make their pilgrimage easier. Soon people began to settle in the area and the town was founded and became what we now know as Santo Domingo de la Calzada today. It just goes to show you that if you mix dedication and faith with perserverance and sweat you can achieve your goals.

Our Canadian friend Paula took her beginning of the day picture of Savanna and I and we headed down the trail leading out of town.

To leave town we had to cross one of the bridges that Saint Dominic built. Of course it has been repaired and rebuilt several times since he built the first structure but a sign said that some of the original structure is still embedded in the bridge today.

We passed this tall chimney or smoke stack on the way and noticed that a couple of Storks had built a huge nest on top of it. Hopefully it is no longer in use. Otherwise barbeque Stork will be on the menu.

It was a rainy and dreary morning and we had to keep putting on and taking off our ponchos. After walking 7.8 kilometers, the trail took us up a hill to the village of Granon where we found this funky little food truck. We were more than ready for a hot coffee and a snack. 

Of course the center of Granon, like almost all of the villages we pass through, is the church. Renewed interest in the Camino de Santiago has helped keep these tiny villages alive. Many only have around 100 residents. Pilgrims passing through and spending their money provides a solid source of revenue for them. While having our coffee we met two young ladies from Ireland who come and walk a different section of the Camino each year during their yearly break. For them it is only a 2 hour plane ride to get to Spain.

All too soon it was time to head back down the Pilgrim trail. Sometimes it is hard to leave the peaceful villages but Santiago is calling and we must go.

We noticed a new flower along the trail. It looked so different that I had to take a picture of it.

When you set out each day you never know where the path will lead. Sometimes it is just a narrow muddy trail across fields and through forests. Other times it is along the sidewalks of towns and cities. Often it follows country roads like in the picture below.

We passed through a couple of more small villages along the way. One only had 60 people living there. The town has existed since 925 AD and this church is from the 16th century. Old has a completely different definition over here.

We made it to the town of Belorado which is our stopping point for the night. We covered 24 kilometers today and my ankle was letting me know it was not happy about it. Our hotel is a quirky place and it is setup for hikers. The waiter that served us our meal reminded us of one of the characters in the move The Way. We had the pilgrim menu which is 3 courses of solid and filling food for a good price.

After eating a bite it was time to soak in a hot shower. This was definitely an experience. The shower itself was a self contained little unit that looked like it came out of a science fiction movie. I climbed into the test tube looking thing and noticed all sorts of nozzles on the walls, a huge shower head in the top of the capsule and a hand held shower head lying on a tiny built in seat. I started turning knobs and trying to figure out how to make it work. I wouldn't have been very surprised if it had just teleported me  buck naked somewhere. 

The first thing that happened was a deluge of ice cold water poured out of the ceiling on top of me. There is no jumping out of the capsule once you are in it so I just kept gritting my teeth and turning knobs. The icy water pouring out of the ceiling finally stopped and was immediately replaced by icy needles of water shooting out of the wall and into my body.  I now know what a pin cushion feels like. My only option was to keep cranking on the knobs and hope for the best.  Of course the icy needle sprays turned into boiling hot needles in the time it takes to blink your eye. After what seemed to be an eternity of cranking knobs and trying to turn my self into a pretzle in an attempt to dodge the scalding jets coming out of the wall of death, I finally got it switched to the hand sprayer which just happened to be aimed at waist level and icy cold again. When I finally managed to get my breath back I ever so gently tweeked the knobs to get it adjusted to a temperature somewhere between the icebergs near the North Pole and and the lava spewing out of the volcano in Hawaii. Luckily I suffered no lasting damage, although I think I had enough water injected into my body that I will not have to drink for a day or two. That thing should come with some NASA training or at least a manual. 

Well time to grab some shut eye so until tomorrow, Buen Camino.