Don’t Let the Dogs Out!

Day 11  Santo Domingo to Belorado

Miles:  14.0

Total miles:  154.1

Elevation gain:  854’

Descent:  402’

So much of who we are, is where we have been – William Langwiesche

One of the biggest challenges we have experienced on the Camino thus far is evening food. We usually arrive each day at our accommodation somewhere between 1:30 and 4:00. We usually take an hour or two to unwind, take a shower, reorganize, and do sink laundry or shower laundry. Then by 5 or so the ravenous hunger sets in. To prevent being “Hangry” (a state of anger caused by extreme hunger) we go in search of drinks and food. The problem is that in Spain, almost no place to eat dinner is open until 7:30 or 8:00 at the earliest. 

That is why the pilgrims all turn into dogs. No just any dog but they become like stay mongrels, feral like in nature. They begin prowling the streets and alleys of the local village or town in search of food. They travel either alone or in small packs, sniffing up and down the streets in search of any morsel of food. Drinks are easy to find...food, not so much. 

The lucky dog might find a skewer of olives with an anchovy or a small piece of toast with tuna salad, but no substantial food is to be found. Yet they continue to prowl, going from closed restaurant  to closed restaurant, pulling on locked doors, ever in search of the elusive morsel of food. Time passes slowly and the hunger increases. 

Finally, as desperation sets in, the doors begin to open and the dogs rush in to secure a table and order the ‘pilgrim menu’. The dogs have been let in and they wait impatiently for food to be delivered. Tomorrow the process begins once more.

Tonight we hit the jackpot and found a dinner place open at 7 pm...pure bliss!

Today we began our walk in sunny skies and with a chilly 31 degrees. Quickly the cold was erased by growing warmth and soon the first shorts of the Camino started to appear and skin was finally exposed. The temperature rose to the upper 60’s and it was sunscreen time!

The walk was mostly along the freeway frontage road (unpaved), but the scenery was still rural and very enjoyable. We passed thru several small towns and stopped to visit some of the local churches.

Tonight we are in Belorado, which at one tome was the frontier land between Christians and Muslins, and later, between the kingdoms of Castile and Navarre. This is a small town of 2000 people.

We have two more days of walking to reach Burgos, then we start our 4 day section of biking. We will cover what wouldaake us 9 days to walk with just the 4 days of biking. A chance to use some different muscle groups and to hopefully reunite with prior pilgrim friends that moved onward when we took a rest day in Logrono.