Brisk when we started this morning, but we warmed up after the first hill! We are walking through lots of vineyards again today as we start out. Some workers below are out trimming the grapes. They’re not using any tools, just breaking of the part that they wish to remove and throwing them into the middle of the rows.
As we come around a corner and see the small town of Azofra, population 251, we are greeted by some ominous-looking clouds! Like most small towns it has a few Albergues (hostels) for the pilgrims. The rooms (shared) range from 11 to 15 Euros in most towns. Everything in the Albergues is communal. Can you say HOTEL!
We stopped at a tiny café in Azofra for a café con leche. Lots of flower boxes in storefronts and many apartment windows.
Headed down the trail toward Ciruena, population 131. There’s a golf club in town and little else. Some beautiful townhomes, and apartments were built here, but when the financial crisis hit Europe in 2008 many were never sold or were foreclosed on. It’s called one of Spain’s “Ghost Towns.” We estimated about 10% occupancy from what we could see walking through.
As we walk toward the historic district in Santo Domingo de la Calzada we came upon this giant Camino arrow and stop for a couple photo ops.
Santo Domingo is home to 6,694, a good-sized town on the Camino. It was developed in the 11th Century. A very interesting legend from this town holds that a magistrate saw his chicken dinner come back to life, feathers and all, when distraught parents of a boy being unjustly hanged begged that their son be spared. Live chickens, said to be descendants of the miracle fowl, are kept in the cathedral to this day in honor of that story/miracle.
Right across the square from the cathedral, we’re staying at the Parador de Santo Domingo de la Calzada. It was originally a hospital built for Pilgrims in the 12th century. The lobby is impressive and the rooms are wonderful.
