We survived the night but washing this morning in the cold was limited to brushing teeth! Outside to meet Josef coming from his hotel at 7:00 and on the road in rain.
Here leaving Santo Domingo. Yellow arrows on the corner of the building showing the way.
Not a very exciting trail today compared to other days. Much of the time we were next to a major highway with some detours to small villages.
We stopped in one at a house with a small village bakery in it. It was just after 8:00 and they were putting the bread in the oven. I could not get a picture of that but the smell was fantastic. Here is the "sales" area where we bought fresh hot croissants straight from the oven.
We then crossed the border to the next province of Castilla and Leon. In the province of La Rioja we loved the wine and we will miss it but the red clay soil that allows the Tempranillo grapes to give such good wine is a heavy sticky clay that sticks to your feet when it is wet (as it has been since we are here) will not be missed. Sometimes our shoes were so heavy we could hardly lift our feet and scraping the clay off only seemed to attract more. We have given up trying to keep them clean.
As we crossed the border however it was amazing how the soil changed form the red clay to a grey sandy soil which is much more friendly to walking.
One of the villages we passed through is the village of Viloria de La Rioja where St Dominic (Santo Domingo) was born and we passed the church where he was baptized. Each time we come across a sight such us this it reminds me of all the pilgrims and saints who have gone before us and the impact they have made.
Here is the church in which St Dominic was baptized. It was closed so I could not look inside.
We did not find anywhere for lunch on the way and we got to Belorado at about 12:00. The Albergue does not open until 1:00 so we found a café open in the town and had a couple of beers and ate the rest of our sandwiches. Then we checked into the Albergue and were allocated 3 lower bunks. The Hostaliera here gives preference to older pilgrims if they arrive in time and leaves the upper ones for the young ones. What a great idea!
This is the room we slept in. We all got a good night's sleep
Very friendly place where we can also participate in a communal dinner and get breakfast in the morning. The Hostaliera also gave us a basket to put dirty clothes in and said he would take care of washing and drying. What a great service!
We went for a walk through the little town. One of the churches is being renovated but it has campers on the roof. Can you spot them?
Back to the Albergue with plenty of time still before dinner at 7:30 and went to the community room. We found that we could buy Vino de La Casa there for €3 per bottle and it was excellent wine. Soon others joined us, each throwing a couple of Euros on the table and the wine kept flowing. We were speaking English, German, French, Spanish and there seemed to be no communication problems. It was a proper Pentecost!
Then upstairs for a good dinner and to bed at about 9:30. We were all tired after the cold of the night before. The weather had not warmed up outside but the Albergue was warmed inside. I was asleep before the lights went out at 10:00 pm and we all slept soundly. I did not even hear the person in the bunk above me go to bed.
Today we covered 23km (14.2 miles) with 357 miles left to Santiago (143 miles completed so far).
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