Time Arrived: 1:45pm
Distance: 21.5 kms
Cumulative Distance: 216 kms
Percentage Complete: 26.5%
Weather: Sunny and warm
Accommodation: Hotel El Molino de Floren
Feelings: Henk - Happy, Neil - Positive, Di - Eager
We are back as a team. It is a good feeling to be on the walk again with Neil and Henk. With my brand new lime green Keen sandals and thin socks I can walk long distances again. Everyone gives advice on how to overcome blisters and the best advice has been to try and reduce the perspiration on the feet as much as possible. For me this is walking in newly-purchased sandals with lots of air-holes and frequent changes of socks during the walk. My boots are now firmly packed into my backpack and unless it gets a lot colder they may not see the rest of this walk!
We were told our breakfast was 7.30am but we had to wait on the footpath until about 7.45am as the lady obviously wasn't told that the fifteen of us wanted an earlier breakfast. After croissants, breadrolls, ham and cheese and very strong coffee we made a hasty get-away.
It was an easy walk across undulating farmland. After an hour's walking and five kilometres we had our first break at Asofra. This is a tiny, neat village of 500 and apparently owes its existence to the Camino. We had a cafe con leche (milk coffee) and I changed socks for the first time. I was surprised how damp they were after only one hour, a cooler morning and being in sandals. I pinned the socks on my backpack to dry them for the next changeover.
We passed many types of vegetation including large fields of turnips, grapevines, hops, quinces, almond trees, pumpkins and artichokes. It may look dry but the soil must be fertile and there seems to be plenty of water via their irrigation systems.
At noon and only six kilometres to go we took twenty minutes for lunch on a shady park bench at Ciruena. We were keen to keep moving to get out of afternoon sun. Thankfully, there was a breeze and passing clouds giving some relief for the last part of the walk.
Our hotel is fantastic and it is close to the centre. We had a two hour break to catch our breath, shower, wash socks and then went out to see the lovely, ancient town of Santo Domingo de la Calzda (St Dominic of the Road) which is very closely linked to the Camino. We were keen to see the cock and hen in the cathedral coop.
We spent a couple of hours at the Cathedral and the accompanying museum. We also climbed the tower and had lovely views over the town and the countryside.
We could see a couple of storms in the distance and whilst having dinner it rained and cooled things down. There are 132 steps to the top of the tower. In many steps there are holes the size of saucers which were used to let the ropes through to the bell-ringer's house.
Tourists and pilgrims are attracted to the town because of the Hen and the Rooster Miracle. The story can be found at: http://www.english.catedralsantodomingo.es/santo_domingo.html
A live hen and rooster are kept in the cathedral in memory of Santo Domingo's miracles. They are changed over every fortnight.
It was a good day and Henk had a good time pretending to be Santiago (St James).
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