I've already introduced you to Camino Tom, walking the trail for his third time. Works for REI, teaches a class in Camino walking and he's 70 years old.
Found out I have a couple of names myself! Guy walks up to me while I'm waiting for clothes to get out of the dryer, and he says, "Hey, you're that American who speaks French!" When we met him in Los Arcos he had a white shirt with France written across the back, so I tried and succeeded with my French when I first met him. Another guy referred to me as the guy with the camera on the end of his walking stick.
We were glad to get out of Nájera--it was a pretty little town but it was Saturday night and a rock concert started at 9. When we put in the earplugs at about 10, it was still going strong. The bar directly across the street must have been open all night and we could hear people laughing until I don't know when, even with ear plugs.
We got up and Sharon was ready to try walking again, but we wanted to save a few steps. We couldn't find any place open this Sunday morning for breakfast, so we went over to the bus station to check the schedule and hope there was a restaurant there. There wasn't, but a taxi drove up, so we asked the price to go to Cirueña and it was reasonable, so we accepted.
Just before Ciruena there's a golf course and someone built an entire village in the hopes that it might become a hotspot for vacations. It evidently didn't, and every house and apartment sits vacant today. Eerie!
As we pulled in to Cirueña, I noticed plants I had not seen before and asked Sharon if they might be pole beans, perhaps. The driver understood enough of what I had said to answer, "They are used to make beer." Oh, I said, as mystified as ever as to what they were. Interesting planting process, though:
Not much to see in Cirueña, a small church, a large coffee shop with day-old bread, a small pilgrim monument and a trail that set out across a wheat field and covered the whole distance to Santo Domingo de Calzada, an important medieval town and popular tourist destination. Here are a few of the best pictures from our 5 kilometer walk:
We arrived in Santo Domingo about noon, and as always, the last mile was the longest! I had remarked a day or two earlier that it would be nice to see a lemonade stand along the way, and sure enough, we saw this sign:
I can tell you we were bitterly disappointed after going well beyond 100 meters and not finding any sign of a lemonade stand!
We did find Santo Domingo, and it has been an important city on the Camino since the 1100s. The founding father was Domingo Garcia who was born in 1019. When he was turned down for entry to the monastery, Domingo dedicated his life to helping pilgrims en route to Santiago, building a bridge across the Oja River and a hospital. I thought perhaps he was the inventor of the bowling ball when we saw this monument at the entrance to the town:
We thought since it was Sunday we would spring for a hotel and treat ourselves to a day of rest, so we opted for the Abadia Cisterciense, a modern two-star hotel with private bathroom and the first elevator we have been in since arriving. It was really nice and we have enjoyed it very much. I have been a little concerned about one thing, however. As we checked in, I saw an important notice posted right by the check-in counter. I took a picture so I could try to figure it out later, but never could quite get the hang of it. Any ideas what we are supposed to do?
Perhaps it's not too important! What was important was doing some laundry, which we hadn't done for a couple of days. The nun at the desk told me there was a laundromat just around the corner, so I gathered up the clothes and headed around. Laundromat means two washers, two dryers. Two euro coins only, please.
But I used the few minutes of clothes washing and drying time to explore the old town and here are some of the pictures I took:
That last picture is the remaining portion of 12th century wall that once surrounded the city. If you look closely you can see the storks perched at several locations. My Panasonic Lumix with 20x zoom brought them right in, but I have no way of uploading from my SD card at present.
On my way back to the laundromat, I saw a sign for the belltower entrance, so I stuck my head in. There have been a series of towers on this site or nearby, and this one went up in the 1700s. The facade went up in 1761 and the tower was completed between 1762 and 1765. The house attached was for the bell ringer and there used to be ropes that ran down inside to his house.
According to the brochure, the tower stands 69 meters high and there are 132 stairs to the top. I didn't verify that number. The clock was installed in 1780 by the blacksmith Martin Pasco and the original mechanism still works today. I asked the gatekeeper what it cost to go up and he said two euros. I asked if there were an elevator and he just smiled. No, only your feet!
If you know me and my fondness for belltowers, you know I came back later and made the climb. The gatekeeper had said it was worth the effort, and he was right. A rain cloud was blowing in from the direction of Ciruena, and I got some nice pictures from up top:
After the climb to the top, it was time for dinner and who should we run into but Camino Tom himself! He had gotten into town, as had Roy and Kathy, and we enjoyed a visit. We discussed plans for tomorrow, as the next day's trail is mostly highway miles along the busy N120, and the next day is very hilly. After some discussion, we decided to take a bus on to Burgos, a regional capital and city of 170,000 people. Roy and Cathy opted to continue walking but Tom said he was heading to Burgos with us, if we didn't mind. And we didn't!
In the midst of dinner, the rain cloud I had seen from the tower finally arrived and we were driven from our outdoor table to one inside. I was derelect in my duties and forgot to photograph my entry of regional potatoes and sausage followed by the main dish of ham, eggs and french fries. Only as dessert was brought out did I remember to snap a picture. It was worth it!
Today was a good day! We met some new folks, Sherry and Sam who are from Houston. Why were we walking the Camino, we asked each other. Spiritual reasons, we both replied, and Sam remarked that it was rare to find someone who says that. We also met Igor of the Camino. We saw Pablo but there was no sign of Sandra. I heard a familiar voice come across the plaza as I came out of the belltower, and who should I see but Almudena. Her daughter had pulled a muscle and was resting in her room, she said. And we saw Brandon and Sinead from Ireland again, a sweet pair that we've bumped into several times. And we passed Bryant on the trail--his knee is really bothering him.
It sprinkled on again off again and we even had some thunder late in the day, but in the end I was rewarded with a nice view from our hotel of the sun sinking behind the cathedral, and I snapped a few touristy shots. They will have to suffice for today!
Tomorrow, we catch the 9:15 bus for Burgos, which marks the start to a much discussed and some feared part of the walk: the meseta!
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