This is the scene leaving Santo Domingo de la Calzada. I left while it was still dark. Why, you may be wondering? Consider that I woke up in a room with others, who are rustling/walking around and shining flashlights. And that there is no breakfast available in the albergue or even in the town, until later in the morning. So best to start walking to find something to eat , some km down the road. Which I did, in a friendly but non-photogenic food truck, not shown here.
This is the landscape near Grañón, the town which, for some unaccountable reason, I was so intent on reaching, the day before.
Pimientos drying right on the street in Belorado.
This is where in ancient times , pilgrims went swimming and checked their e-mail.
Actually it is the back yard of a wonderful albergue in Belorado. One of the nicest ones I stayed in. J. and A. went swimming. In addition to this back yard, there were comfortable and colorfully decorated rooms , and a three course communal pilgrim’s menu dinner (soup, main course , dessert) that was enjoyable. I was randomly seated with 3 others that I didn’t know. One (J. a 30-something building contractor from London) mentions that he ran with the bulls back in Viana. Another is an older Italian man who doesn’t speak English. The third person, a Brazilian lady, can translate Italian, so to be polite I ask him some questions. It turns out that he has walked the Camino Frances more than 10 times over decades. I asked him what was different when he first walked, and he said that there were many fewer accommodations. Just one per town.
Along the Way 