Day 11

​Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Before I talk about today’s Camino leg, I would like to share a bit about our evening last night in Najera. We had dinner at the restaurant that was included with our hotel stay. It has been pretty common - we stay at a hotel and we go to a nearby restaurant for dinner. They have been pretty hit or miss and last night’s was a definite miss.

​When we left dinner, Najera had changed. It had been a quiet town with near empty streets, and when we left the restaurant, Nareja was alive and filled with energy! Where there were shuttered store fronts, there were now night clubs with flashing lights and thumping dance music. It seemed that the entire village filled the streets: old, young, and in between. We had noticed that at 7:45 pm the bells of the city clanged and we think that was giving everyone the go ahead to let the party begin. I don’t think the down time in the afternoon in Spain is a siesta. I think its a disco nap.

This morning we left our hotel at 7:05 am. Breakfast at the hotel was to start at 7:30, but we wanted to hit the road as the high of the day would be 88 Fahrenheit. Today’s leg of the Camino was 13.7 miles, had an elevation gain of 1,027 feet, and took four hours and 19 minutes to complete.  For whatever reason, we shared the Camino this morning with a few cars. This section was essentially a dirt road. One of the cars passing by swerved toward a pilgrim, quickly corrected, and continued forward. The young occupants enjoyed the frightened look on the pilgrim’s face as they drove off laughing. I don’t get it, but maybe they were still partying from the night before. 

We also heard distant gunfire. We believe it might be hunting season since we also saw guys dressed in hunting gear with dogs. None of them were wearing orange, but maybe that’s just a U.S. thing. But it’s also not unusual to hike in California during hunting season and hear gunfire. We’re pretty used to it.

We made it today’s destination, Santo Domingo de la Cazada. The name refers to its founder, Dominic de la Cazada, who in the 11th century, built a bridge, hospital, and hotel here for the pilgrims along the Camino. He also began construction of the town's Cathederal and is buried here. We had the opportunity to visit the Cathedral, and have posted some pictures below.  

Ready for a cool story? One of the miracles that occurred here happened to a young German boy who was on a pilgrimage with his family. He was wrongly accused of theft and was hanged.  His heartbroken parents continued to Santiago where they prayed for their son. On their way home they visited the gallows and found their son alive. They told the local sheriff about the miracle. The sheriff, who was roasting two chickens for dinner, scoffed and said, ‘He’s as alive as these chickens I’m roasting.’ At that moment the chickens jumped off the spit and ran down the street. The sheriff rushed to the gallows, pardoned the boy, and the boy returned home with this family.

There are a lot of representations of chickens in the Cathedral. There are actually two live chickens that are displayed there! They are supposedly the descendants of the original two from the story.

​Tomorrow we head to Belorado.