24.5km (250.44km)
Monday 4th April

One third of the way through.

Santa Domingo turned out to be well worth a look round, once the rain had stopped. The cathedral is outstanding; Inside it there is a golden cage with a cock and hen (they seemed well looked after…). They symbolise a legend associated with the city and St Dominic which has given rise to a phrase which is the motto for the city: ‘where the hen sang after being roasted’. A young, German pilgrim was wrongly accused of theft and was sentenced to hang but St Dominic performed a miracle whereby a previously roasted hen began to crow proving the innocence of the pilgrim, whose life was saved and who was, thus, able to return home. Strange, but true and a cock and hen remain to this day in the cathedral to pay homage to this.

A wet start to the day, waterproofs were on within five minutes of departing. The landscape has started to change and the vine yards have all vanished. Two hours into our walk we left La Rioja province and entered Burgos. There were many people on the path today; everyone friendly and chatty as they pass each other…I talked to a Korean, who on finding out I was Scotland complimented me on my good English…I said thank you and carried on my way… Grañon was the first coffee stop of the day – a small café full of waterproof clad pilgrims singing ‘Jolene’, who knew that a Dolly Parton could unite the world, rather surreal. The rain continued relentlessly and Belorado seemed a long time coming, even although it was a relatively short day I was extremely glad to see it through the gloom eventually.

I decided to stay at an Albergue this evening, to try and be a bit more sociable, but after a cold room and cold shower with a light that was on a timer and could only be tripped by getting out of the shower and waving  ones hands in the general direction of the light I’m back looking on booking.com for the next hotel. My room mate also informed me he snored and said sorry if it stopped me sleeping…I think snorers should all be put in the one room so as to give the rest of us peace. There were only 8 of us staying in the Albergue so it was all very cosy and we had a good evening. You meet some amazing people here. There was a young Japanese man who had decided he wanted to cook Catalan food and live in Barcelona so two years ago he bought a one way ticket and went off to Spain with no Spanish. Now, of course, he’s fluent and living his dream in Barcelona…

I spoke to Daniel this morning, who asked me if I’d had a good weekend (!!) and the proceeded to tell me that he was continuing to knock lumps out of the flat and that he’d bought a wall paper steamer; I’m wondering how much damage he can do in my absence.

And it just kept raining
This was in a cafe in Villamayor del Rio, where you paid what you wanted for your food and beverages.