Friday, April 12, 2024
Well, our weird night last night turned into a weird day today. We decided to do a half stage today, so nobody was really in a hurry to get out of the albergue. Energy and motivation are really low this morning.
Before we left town, I wanted to see the cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada. It’s such a small town to have a cathedral, but it’s basically here because of the work of one man, Santo Domingo, who dedicated his life to helping pilgrims. The cathedral is also famous because there are live chickens inside it. They are the descendants of some chickens that are tied to a miracle that is tied to Santo Domingo. We waited an extra 30-45 minutes for the cathedral to open so we could see the chickens, and I’m glad we did, but the none of us were really impressed. They are in a cage and up high where it’s difficult to see them.
After the Cathedral, we were all in a bad mood. I walked a lot of the day by myself (I mean, I never really walk by myself, I’ve always got River talking in my ear). The weather has really gotten hot, and the last part of the day today was really hot. We started in April so we could avoid the hottest months of the year, but today it was close to 80 degrees. If the heat continues, it’s going to be a challenge.
We arrived at our Albergue in Redecilla del Camino a bit like what Betty would call “cucarachas fumigadas” (fumigated cockroaches). José the hospitalero was out waiting for us, and he was super nice. Up to now we’ve stayed only in big municipal or parrochial albergues. Tonight we stayed in a private one. They tend to be a little more expensive, and the host prepares dinner and breakfast for you. When we got to the albergue, José wouldn’t let me pay for the food -- only the beds. I was so grateful I almost started crying. After the past couple of days it was such a tender mercy. He told me that years ago he did the camino with his daughter, and he knows how expensive it can be.
The afternoon was really lazy. We did have a good seminary lesson memorizing doctrinal mastery scriptures with the kids.
Betty’s feet are really sore again. She feels terrible about it. We just don’t know what to do. She needs rest -- quite a bit of it, but generally you can’t spend more than one night in an albergue without a note from a doctor. We’ve got to figure something out because I don’t want her to get really injured, and I’d love for her to be able to walk the last part.
I helped José with dinner (it was the least I could do). He is quite a character. He’s into studying personalities and energy from the earth, and he’s been a fireman, and he was involved in organizing protests against municipal governments in the Basque Country, and now he’s a hospitalero. My favorite moment of the evening was when he did a personality analysis of Alicia. He couldn’t have been more wrong. He told her she was the quiet type, and that she is the kind of person who won’t speak up for herself. He warned her that in the future she is going to have a manipulative boyfriend, but she’s not going to want to break up with him because she doesn’t speak up for herself. Alicia and I just smiled and nodded at him and that winked and laughed at each other.
But he’s kind, and he’s an amazing chef, we’ll give him a pass.
Dinner was amazing. We ate with a few other pilgrims, and it was just great. José made a delicious creamy soup made with leeks and mushrooms and cream and cheese. And he made a simple but delicious cheesy pasta. We had homemade apple cake for dessert. One of the pilgrims was an older gentleman from Canada, and at some point during the meal he just broke out in mouth trumpet song. Yes, you read that right. Mouth trumpet. He was actually really good, and he told us he’s recorded albums and “played” at funerals and on the radio. It was another unique Camino experience.
Oh, and Alicia realized that your reflection in a spoon is actually upside-down.
Tomorrow we go another 12k to Belorado.
I feel like if we can get through this weekend we’ll be OK.
