Day 10, Stage 9: Najera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada

It was to be a relatively easy 20 km today (when did 20 km become easy??!?), so I didn’t need to leave in the dark, which was a good thing because there was some festival in Najera last night that included singing very loudly into the wee hours. It literally sounded as if there were groups of people outside my window from midnight until 5AM! Earplugs and a second pillow over my head did the trick, but it wasn’t the most restful of sleeps.

The path today was mostly on dirt track through farm fields of hay and some other root vegetable that has not yet been identified. I walked alone but met intermittently with various groups of people. First there were the 3 Aussie brothers, one of whom just retired from the Australian Opera Company as a baritone. Then there were the grandparents from VA who are traveling with their granddaughter, Molly, who just completed college and is about to embark on real life. A man from NJ fell just in front of us along the way, and I was reminded of how easy it is to miss a step or turn an ankle if you lose your concentration. The paths are dirt, but often with many rocks, large and small which can be a real challenge after too many hours.

This town is the home of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, which may be the only cathedral in the world with 2 hens in a coop. This relates to a story of the Miracle of the Cock (yes, it’s ok to laugh here). Legend has it that a pilgrim couple and their son stopped at an inn in this town on their way to Santiago. The innkeeper’s daughter had an eye for the pilgrim couple’s son and when rebuked she framed him for stealing a silver goblet. The son was caught and condemned to hang and somehow his parents didn’t notice and went on to Santiago. On their way back they found him hanging from the gallows but still alive, thanks to the intervention of Santo Domingo. The sheriff claimed that the son was no more alive than the cooked chicken on this plate and at that moment the fowl rose off the plate and crowed. The lad was pardoned and this story has simply become one of the many legends of the Camino.

Kinda like my new boots.