I know nothing about Belorado and I doubt I will see much of it when I get there. I just looked out the window, it's raining and its a steady rain. Aside from the rain, the desire to get out of all the wet gear and chill out will have no impact on my desire to be a tourist. It's just not me.
I am sure that Robin, my brother Rick and sister-in-law Jill can attest to that. We have traveled to many great cities in some of the most beautiful parts of the world and I have seen little. I just don't like getting on a bus and having some guy who does not know how to use a microphone with the volume out of control starting every sentence with "Lady's and Gentlemen, Lady's and Gentlemen" over and over again. That actually did happen and I nearly lost my mind. I can see the three of them now as they remember the number of times I would just say no thank you to joing them on some excursion to who knows where to see who knows what. They are also smiling right now saying a collective "thank God !" I would be a real PITA and just make them all crazy if I came along. Just not my thing. It has it's draw backs.
Case in point. After last nights dinner with Rainer and Michele we step out the front door to check on the weather. It's raining and the forecast is for rain all day. This is a beautiful little town and Rainer points to the a church next to our hotel and asks if I have gone in? No I have not. When we first arrived today I was focused on getting into the Hotel lobby before it started raining, so when I passed the Church I really didn't notice it. It's beautiful. My lack of tourist skills are sharp.
Rainer asks if I know the story about this Church and the two chickens? Of course not, I live less than mile from The Mission of San Juan Capistrano, one of the oldest Missions in Southern California and famous because it is where the swallows return each year to the Mission after flying thousands of miles from South America. I no practically nothing about this Church I can walk to from home , how would I know anything about a Church half way around the world in a place called Santo Domingo, population 5600?
Here's the story. I will do my best to get it right.
Legend has it that hundreds of years ago that a couple walking The Camino with their son stop at an inn on their way to Santiago. While there they visit the inn and the owners young daughter is attracted to the young man but he is not attracted to her. The parents return to The Camino, the son will soon follow.
The young girl angry that the young man has shown no interest in her falsely accuses him of stealing silver from the Inn. He is arrested, convicted and hanged.
The parents become concerned that he has not been seen so they return to Santo Domingo to search for him. They find him still hanging from the gallows but still alive thanks to the intervention of Santo Domingo. They rush to the sheriff's home where he is about to have his dinner. They tell the sheriff to release their son but the sheriff responds by telling the parents that it is not possible because their son is as dead as the chicken he is about to eat, whereupon the chicken stands up in his plate an crows loudly. The sheriff understands this to be a miracle and rushes to the gallows to cut down the young man and he is given a full pardon.
The family then continues its journey on The Camino to Santiago.
There were so many miracles, accredited to Santo Domingo that the town takes his name. To this day in the Cathedral of Santa Inglesia there are at all times two chickens in a coop above the alter. Two new chickens occupy the coop everyday, including today.
The Church of the two Chickens. I will wait as long as it takes to enter the Church before I leave to see the two chickens, I don't care how long I have to wait. I am going to visit the Santa Inglesia Cathedral.
At 9:25 this morning I enter the Cathedral, it is spectacular . A building you would have to see to believe. That it can exist in a town of only 2600 is truly amazing. I go to the alter and there they are, the two chickens . I took a picture but flash is not allowed but I think you can see the two chickens. Robin will post the picture among others for stage 11.
I am going to be a tourist today . I am seeing a lot a long the way but much is being missed. I will try to be better at being a tourist but still no buses!
Get your favorite glass of whatever that happens to be, this is not believable.
I have breakfast with Rainer it is about 9:00 am. It is raining and there appears to be little chance that it will stop anytime soon. I am prepared. I have on extra layers because it is chilly and I also have on my rain pants. They are very uncomfortable. Warm and difficult to walk in, which is not a good combination for a 15 mile walk in the rain.
I visit the Church of the Miracle of The Chickens. I see the two chickens and then go back to the Hotel. By the way there are about 18 chickens selected for this honor and the two selected are changed each day.
Michele has joined Rainer and I late for breakfast and decides that he too will visit the Catherdail to see the chickens. When he returns it is already 10:15 and it is still raining. We cannot find Rainer. Michele calls Rainer's room but there is no answer. Perhaps he has gone ahead, we don't know . We make a decision and we leave for the Camino thinking that Rainer is ahead of us, regardless we leave. It's 10:30 in Santo Domingo.
The walk today is fairly easy. I can't believe that I just said that. Today is my eleventh consecutive day and I just said "fairly easy". I need to be careful not to get ahead of myself. I still have a long way to go, A very long way to go.
As we leave the town it is raining lightly but I am at the point where rain just does not get my attention like it would if I were home. It's laughable when I think of how my friends and I would react if we had a light shower surprise us while playing golf. Immediately there is a flurry of activity while everyone puts on their rain gear, grabs the giant umbrella and begins protecting the towels needed to wipe down the seats of our covered golf carts! Something tells me that I will see rain differently when I play again.
Michele and I are only a bit more than a mile or so from our start and I am sweating like someone about to testify at a murder trial. The sky in the distance is blue and it appears we are headed in its direction. We stop to take off a layer.
I shed both a vest and my rain jacket. Why not, the rain jacket is as wet inside as it is on the outside. Ten minutes after taking off the rain jacket it starts raining again. I'm not going through another change, I will just get wet.
We are really moving along, the terrain is flat and the light rain has softened the trail making the walk more comfortable on my feet. My Limo's are performing well. I check my watch and I estimate that at the pace we have been moving that we have already covered a distance of about four miles. We will stop at the next village for coffee and a bite to eat.
As we enter the village its a common theme. Small village, giant church. If you could see these buildings it would make you shake your head at not just the size but the architecture. I know someone who would take far more time to look more closely at what I am just dashing by. Gene will enjoy the pictures.
As we approach the small bar-cafe Michele makes a small detour for the Farmacia. He wants to buy some ibuprofen. I mention that I will need to by some eye drops . He asks what I mean and in order to explain I just pull back an eyelid and say "too much wine". He laughs and now understands. It's not the reason I need the drops its just that the weather and the wind keep making my eyes water and yet they are dry. I can't explain it.
We are in the Farmacia and Michele is speaking with the woman at the counter. She is explaining what dosage he should take . I only know this because I hear her say "dos", two. My Spanish is very poor but I can count to ten.
It's my turn and Michele is explaining what I need. She turns to me and I just take a piece of paper and write down Vispring. I bought these before in Pamplona. It works. We are out the door and on our way to have our coffee.
I have my coffee con-leche and Michele has his straight. There are a selection of small freshly made bocadillo's ( sandwiches ) and we decide to share one. The bartender cuts it in half. The meat is a very tender ham with cheese and tomatoes. As always the bread is just so much better than anything I could get at home.
As we are having our sandwich I can't help but think of my brother-in-law, David who passed away far to soon. He would just love the food here. I miss David. He was fun to be around and I really enjoyed eating with him. He appreciated good food and he knew how to eat good food. David could sit with a small plate of cheese, olives, olive oil, Italian bread, a few slices of pastrami , a small glass of wine and take an hour to eat it. When I ate with him I would slow down and enjoy the food. I miss him as do so many others.
I continue to be amazed at how little I am eating in spite of the energy I am burning on The Camino. Smaller portions and very few snacks in between and yet I am not hungry. The one exception is dinner. By the time I arrive at the destination of the day I am ready to eat. Today will be no exception.
As we leave the village there is a small dog just ahead and Michele stops to remove something from his backpack to offer the animal. He kneels and speaks to the dog in Spanish. The dog is very jumpy and Michele explains that all of the dogs here are afraid perhaps because of their lack of care. He tosses the snack to the dog. He takes it and with that two other dogs are jogging toward us. Michele offers both a treat and the big one, who appears to be blind in one eye takes the treat directly from his hand. As we walk away I ask him what it was he was giving them. They are long, thin, dark and look like sticks. They are dog treats he has brought from home. He tells me that he has a dog at home, Jessy , and that he misses him and asks if I have a dog. "No but we do have Vivian El Gato de Interior". The house cat. He remembers , I showed him the picture Robin sent me and laughs as he repeats her name " Vivian , Vivian".
As always we leave the village and pass by two pilgrims I have not seen before and without hesitation they call out his name and he responds in German and they both laugh and wish us Buen Camino. The Mayor is gathering votes. He could win in a landslide.
As we make our way toward Belorado it is sunny and its getting very warm. I could be wearing shorts today. Yes even the wimp from California can handle this temperature. It's really a nice day. We joke about it but I have told Michele that he is lucky to walk with me because i am blessed and he will reap the benefit of my good fortunes and have great weather. He repeats "Jim is blessed" as he gestures toward the blue sky. It just keeps getting better.
We have not seen many of the usual group of Pilgrims today, perhaps it's because of our late start. We continue on. There has been only one small but long hill. The heat from my rain pants is increasing but I am not going to stop and take them off, it's just to big a hassle and if I do take them off where will I put them? They are covered in mud and will make a mess of anything in the backpack.
We are moving at a pace that is much faster than in days past but we are not pushing it. It just happens. We see a sign for Belorado telling us that we are about six miles away as we leave the Rioja region. More of the signs I see make reference to Santiago still hundreds of miles away but it's a solid indication that I am getting closer with each step. Twenty three more stages after today. Only twenty three.
There is one point in today's walk where we both stop and think that we have missed a turn. We have walked at least two miles from where a sign had indicated that our Hotel was a short 3km away. This is troublesome. There are no Pilgrims in sight in front of us or behind. The trail in front is long and we cannot see anything that looks like a village. For a moment we both realize that we may have to turn back and repeat a couple of miles. Not good.
We are standing there and I spot a stone in the grass and sure enough it is marked with The Camino shell. We have not made a mistake so we press on.
Michele is starting to feel some discomfort in his shoes. He tells me that he decided to turn over his insoles that morning and that is now proving to be a mistake. I myself have a two small blisters, one on a toe on my right foot and one on the heel of my left. No point in dwelling on it. They will need to be dealt with when we arrive.
.
As we enter the a village it's no different than most. Big Church, small village but this church is different. On the top of the Church there are very large bird nests. Very large, enormous . Michele stops and asks me the name of a very big bird and I say eagle or hawk. He thinks and then says no, the bird who brings the baby. A stork. They are everywhere .
We turn the corner and there are three people sitting on the ground and they all shout out "Michele". I am introduced to everyone as "Jim from California". Edward is sketching the a church and is very talented. We agree to meet later in the plaza.
We reach our Hotel and agree to meet between 6:30 and 7:00 for dinner. Rainer has not yet arrived. I guess he did not start ahead of us.
Once the gear is cleaned and taken care of it leaves some time to rest. I make a note that I am nearly out of the Tide packets Robin gave me so I will need to find a market soon.
I head downstairs and Rainer and Michele are already there. Raner knows a good restaurant but first we will take a look at two others. We settle on the first choice and take a table for four. There is no one else in the place. There is a television mounted on the wall near us and Michele asks if it can be turned off or at least reduce the volume. The woman working the counter looks less than happy but manages a smile. Little do we know that in just ten minutes the television volume will not matter.
I order a salad and a steak. The steaks in Spain are razor thin not at all like the 24 or 26 once choices we have at home. Before we finish the salad about 15 very loud old guys show up and sit right next to us for their card game. We can't hear anything. Asking for the television volume to be turned down in this place is silly.
Once we pay the bill we head for the plaza. We meet up with Edward, his brother Kevin, the woman from Australia and a college student from Texas. The conversations starts out like most conversations amoung pilgrims meeting for the first time. Everyone has met before but not Rainer and me.
Amoung the typical questions are where are you from, where did you start The Camino? Are you going all the way to Santiago? And more.
Edward and Michele ask Kevin to play something on his guitar. I have never seen a guitar as small as this guitar. I have no idea what to expect. He begins to play and I realize that I am watching a very talented professional musician. He is so good that the locals start to gather. Kevin had once lived in Spain for ten years. His Spanish is perfect. Not good, not great, perfect. As he begins to sing in Spanish the crowd begins to grow. It's a show as Kevin serenades a couple of the old women. They are singing along. He is very, very talented. His is a professional and it shows. Soon there is a local who is speaking to Kevin and that results in Kevin handing Alberto ( I know his name because the locals are encouraging him to play ) which he does and he is good but the unique guitar is not his cup of tea.
I video the performance. I wish I could share it with you.
Kevin is back playing when Alberto returns with his Spanish guitar and the two play a duet that I will not soon forget. It's great entertainment. I have met a number of really nice people on this journey but none nicer than Kevin and his brother Edward.
They are returning to the States tomorrow after spending 12 days together. One brother on the east
coast and one on the west coast. I know what that's like.
I need to get to bed, tomorrow is a walk of 15 miles to San Juan de Ortega and it includes an elevation increase of 1200 feet. As much as I would like stay I am not willing to pay the price for it tomorrow.
Back to the Hotel . Good night.
No comments:
Post a Comment