This is a “rest day” for me, as I will only walk 15.4 km. I’ve made a conscious choice to have a few of these to explore the new place I’m coming to, wash clothes that have time to dry for the next day, and simply just to give my body a break and allow myself to rest. Leaving Azofra I’m greeted by one of the few sunrises I see this year. It was one of the highlights last year, and the reward of early mornings to escape the heat in the afternoons.
Self-portrait with a mirror window, showing the sum of my kit. My backpack weighs 6 kg and with a full water bottle and my fanny pack I carry almost 7 kg. This after I have chased every last gram and only brought the bare essentials.
Vines in the early morning sun.
I’m out the door by 6:45 and aim to stop in Cirueña for breakfast. However, Cirueña turns out to be a ghost town and the café by the golf course is closed. There should be another one but I can’t find it, even though I go back and search for it, so I continue.
Unfortunately it turns out there is no other village or café to be found before Santo Domingo, but the scenery is lovely.
Luckily, today’s hike is only 15.4 km, but with that said, it’s really, really hard to walk that distance on an empty stomach, except for a banana and a juice.
Finally, after four hours of nonstop walking I arrive at Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and I fall into the first café I see, completely knackered. I swipe two glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice and then I savour a café con leche and a tortilla. Never has a breakfast tasted so good!
When I regain my strength I’m ready to explore this pretty town, and I like everything I see.
The cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
Parador de Santo Domingo de la Calzada. This is a former hospital building from the 12th century, now apparently a posh hotel.
This ancient town is a pleasant surprise and I enjoy walking around and looking at the historical buildings as well as seeing the daily life that unfolds around me. It’s named after the saint Santo Domingo, Saint Dominic of the Road, who dedicated his life to improve the physical route for pilgrims in the 11th century.
I’m staying in a small hotel, and I’m very glad it has a good restaurant, as a thunderstorm breaks early in the evening, and the rain is lashing down. I eat a hearty dinner before tucking in for an early night.
Tomorrow will be a 23 km walking day as my next destination is Belorado, and I’m happy to see that there will be plenty of places to stop for refreshments. It may seem like I’m obsessed with eating, but walking long distances every day burns well over 2,000 calories a day, so you need a lot of fuel along the way. Why don’t you follow me there?
Check out my earlier posts to get the full context of this pilgrimage and the one I did the year before, and sign up to be notified when the next post is released. If you enjoyed this post, please give it some love by sharing and liking it!
All photos copyright Anita Martinez Beijer © All rights reserved
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