Day 10: Azofra - Santa Domingo de la Calzada, 15.4km.
Today was the shortest distance of walking yet due to the fact that the weather was offering a full spectrum of opportunities to test all our foul weather gear. We had sun, rain, gale-force winds, hail, and bone chilling cold. I walked today with Marina and Hannah from New Zealand, whom we hadn't seen in a couple days. We were all very excited to be together once again, and it’s always a blessing to share the hardships of the day with the bright light these 2 women are.
One of the coolest aspects of the Camino is how you will “leap frog” with people you meet on the route, coming together for a while to walk, then parting ways for a while, only to come back together again. Everyone walks their own Camino. You will walk at your own pace, stopping and starting at different times, wanting breaks or feeling like pressing on, needing time to walk alone or enjoying the company of others. The Camino has a rhythm and pacing that is unique to each individual walking it. I love this part of the Camino. There are many people you will meet once, never to be seen or heard again and yet that moment of meeting is special and often times memorable. Other people, you meet and continue the journey sharing a friendship that expands beyond the confines of The Way.
I was very thrilled to finally reach Calzada, thinking a reprieve from the day was at hand. As it turned out, there is a bank holiday in Europe tomorrow and almost everywhere we tried to bunk for the night was sold out. We were at our 5th inquiry, miserably wandering in the rain and cold, when an amazing woman delivered us yet another Camino miracle. She owned a Pension that was fully booked, yet she compassionately made time for a conversation in French with Marina, who also speaks French fluently. She offered to call around and found us a place to sleep, with the nuns. Yes, the nuns took us in at the Hospederia Cisterciense, and this turned out to be a very memorable stop.
We stood in line listening to the nuns being very stern with some aggressive pilgrims in front of us looking for a place to stay. After putting them in their place with quite the disciplining air only a nun can wield…we were up. They couldn’t have been kinder to us and gave us the room promised to our French speaking Pension owner. Waiting for the elevator, it opened and a group of elderly residents disembark, it seems they live in a care facility here with the nuns. It must have been dinner time. One of the women, easily in her 80’s and of tiny stature, came directly up to me taking my face in both her hands and spoke to me quite lovingly and passionately in Spanish for a couple of minutes…and then walked away. I do not know what she said yet I do know that I received a blessing in that moment and it felt quite magical.
My feet were still quite challenged with blisters (I’ll add pics to the end of the photo album below) so when we happened upon a very well stocked outdoor gear store, I decided to go in and see what I could find. This was the best decision I made, by far. I love my Merrills and they carried my brand, so I purchased new shoes with more padding then my current Merrills and very expensive socks guaranteed to prevent blisters. I was hoping to crack this code and get my feet straightened out.. It's a moving target though. I get it right one day, the code changes completely the next. Everyone on the trek is having this same “ever changing” experience with their personal aches and pains. What works today will be different than tomorrow. The Camino is teaching us life.
Santa Domingo de la Calzada is most famous for the legend of “the cock that crowed again”. Inside the Cathedral there is a Gothic carved pen with a cock and crow. It is said when you hear the cock crow it will bring you luck on your journey to Santiago. There is a Gothic carved pen for a cock and hen inside the cathedral. The birds are changed every two weeks and the chicken coop is at the rear of the albergue run by the Spanish Confraternity.
Legend: As per usual there are several version of this legend. A couple from Cologne were travelling to Santiago de Compostela on a pilgrimage with their son, Hugonell. Apparently the innkeepers daughter took a fancy to him and he virtuously resisted her advances. Feeling rebuffed, she took a silver goblet and hid it in his possessions. In the morning she denounced him as a thief and he was hanged. When his parents were preparing to depart they heard his voice telling him that he was still alive; St Dominic was holding him up by his feet. The parents ran to tell the magistrate the story who laughed and said their son was no more alive than the cock and hen on his plate. At that the birds grew feathers, jumped off the plate, and fluttered around the room proving that their son was innocent.
