Tuesday 2nd May 2023
Distance 22.4km (13.9 ml) Total Ascent 300m (984 ft)
Santo Domingo de la Calzada – Belorado
No one else in the dorm seemed to be leaving early which was a novelty, so I dragged everything out to the lounge and packed my bag there. Soon I was ready to head out. The first order of business was to find a quiet place to say Morning Prayer. Thankfully there weren’t many people around at that time in the morning so I found a bench in one of the squares. It was cold!
I set off out of the town. Fairly flat going to start with with a spectacular sunrise. I did put my gloves on when I stopped as for the first time I was feeling the early morning cold.
The trail went up into the hills which thankfully were not too steep where I passed this rather impressive cross.
The first village I came to was Granon where I was hoping to find some breakfast. There was a food truck at the entrance to the village but it looked really busy so I continued through the village expecting there to be a bar open – but there wasn’t!
I did notice a sign for Panaderia Jesus – so I felt I had to patronize Jesus’ bakery. It was kind of weird though as there wasn’t a shop front, you just went in the front door and through to the back of the house. I ended up buying two napoletanas (pain au chocolat) and found a handy bench on the way out of the village to eat them.
There were a series of small villages as I walked up and down hills. Points of interest were the border with a new province, in this case Castile and Leon
and the village where Santo Domingo was born.
I didn’t stop until I reached Villamajor del Rio. Here was a handy truck stop kind of place where I stopped. By this time it had warmed up to the days normal heat so the refreshment was very welcome. The rest of today’s journey was on tracks beside the busy road in the hot sun.
While I was walking this seemingly endless trail, it was almost as if I could fall asleep. It was very relaxing walking, the only changes were the gradients which weren’t severe enough to demand much thought.
Eventually I arrived at Belorado where I had a booking at the Albergue Quatro Cantones. I had a bit of time to kill before it opened so went to find some refreshment. I had an Aquarius drink and some Tapas at a bar in the main square which had some shade.
When it was time to join the check-in queue it was back to the Albergue. Who should I see in there was the Korean Lady and her son.
This was a private Albergue and it was well appointed and I was pleased to discover that the Hospitalera who was checking us in had lived on Tyneside for three years!. There was eveb a swimming pool in the garden so after doing my chores I had a lovely swim and relaxed on a poolside lounger. It wasn’t all hardship on the Camino!
After my rest I went for a look around the town. I noticed interesting ‘artwork’
After a brief visit to the supermercado, I then went into the church and took a moment to pray and reflect. It was great to feel grounded after my experience in the Cathedral yesterday.
I had booked for the communal dinner and ended up on a table with a British lad who was living in Berlin and a couple from Florida. It was great to meet people like this who were on the same journey though for very different reasons.
The British lad, Dave had started the same day as me and I was surprised that he hadn’t raced ahead as he was much younger. he explained he would do long, fast days and take longer breaks. It transpired that he had ended up with shin splints and was struggling.
He spoke about never being bored too which reminded me of my intention to walk in the present. I always found something to look at and maintain my interest.