Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado

April 27, 2017 Wednesday

An easy 22 kilometers to Belorado    Walking Day #10

Today was an easier day from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado, only 14 miles. I laugh as i wrote that because in most other contexts, walking 14 miles would not be prefaced with "only." But here on the Camino, it was an easier day, partly because of the distance, but mostly because of the relatively gently rolling terrain -- no steep or long uphills or downhills.

At breakfast, I read a little about Saint Dominic. In the 11th century, he dedicated his life to improving the route for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela by building roads and bridges. He built a pilgrims hospital which became an albuergue (hostel) and he built the church in town which evolved to become the cathedral. So the winding streets of the ancient town of Santa Domingo de la Calzada are very intimately linked to the camino. 

A view inside the cathedral at Santo Domingo de la Calzada. It was very dark. The flash on this camera came through and you can almost see the beauty of this small church in a town of 7000.

Walking from my hotel back a few blocks to the Camino, I passed this "Camino art" as I call it:

Several towns have Camino art. Always a little different, and mostly depicting the scallop shell symbol of the Camino de Santiago.

Leaving town, I am struck by how similar and how different the towns mark the way in the town for the pilgrims. I'll start photographing these every day so you can see the similarities and the differences. Here is one of the markers in the sidewalk in Santo domingo de la Calzada:

A very common marker is seen on the path itself, and there may have been a photo or two of this one, which we see every day, and at times it is a welcome sight when you wonder if you might have gone off the correct path:

Almost always, where the symbolic scallop shell lines come together points the direction to go. These lines represent the many Camino paths, and the point where they meet represents Santiago de Compostela. So absent an arrow (and most of these signs have the scallop shell depiction only), you go to the convergent point. In the picture above of the marker on the sidewalk, you would go up in the picture.

Today was another day walking through vast lush farmland.

Into large expanses of what look like wheat farms, a few kilometers before Grañon.

Way markers on the sidewalk in Grañon, about 7 kilometers from Santo Domingo de la Calzada. As I said earlier, different, but similar.

Just after the small town of Grañon, we pass from the La Rioja and its vineyards into Castilla y León, the largest autonomous region of Spain. We will spend 50% of the Camino travelling through three of the nine provinces of Castilla y León: Burgos, Palencia, and León. This includes the incomparable Meseta, a predominately flat plateau region that makes up a third of the Iberian peninsula lying between 1000 and 3000 meters in elevation following the line of the Duero river basin. This region is known more for cereal crop farming, mainly wheat, but also some oats.  

Leaving Grañon, we are again into large expansive wheat farms. I think I'll be seeing these for at least a couple of weeks.

More wheat farms almost as far as one can see as we approach Belorado. And finally in Belorado, I found my hotel, seen below:

After a nice hot shower, I was able to wash clothes. The drier is very energy-efficient, hanging the clothes out over the Camino path for all to see. When I went to collect my clothes, this clothesline was full. Very nice.

A photo of the main cathedral in Belorado. I wanted to see inside, but it was closed. I'll see if it is open in the evening. As I have said (I think), everything closes from about 1:30 PM until 4:30 or 5:00. Then businesses stay open until 9 or even 10 PM. And this includes banks and the post office which are usually open until at least 8 PM. when arriving in a town in the middle of the afternoon, if you want to buy something, you must be patient. It is even difficult getting a late lunch, as most of the bar/cafés are closed. I have been lucky, and have always found one or two still open.

On my way to dinner (held at a local albuergue), I saw some ladies going into the church, walked over and asked them if I could take a photo in the church. They were happy to let me in. I think they were doing some cleaning or something; it appears that the floor are under reconstruction at the vestibule and much of the nave. But they allowed me in and to photograph as they watched me, maybe a little surprised at the request.

The sanctuary of the cathedral at Belorado. Quite beautiful; I am sorry I was not able to get closer to show more of the detail. Too often as we pass through the smaller towns and villages, the churches are closed. I am hoping more will be open as we go through larger towns and cities.

Next: Belorado climbing up, up hill to San Juan de Ortega (population 20)