Day 9 - Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada

As we know, social media is bad for you and my personal trauma arose from watching too many YouTube videos about Camino packing lists. Each video included ‘must take’ items which ranged from reversible umbrellas to specialised mini aluminium alloy spades for burying your poo if caught short (and yes, I bought one!).

Athough resisting the urge to take my dinner jacket in case of bumping into any VIPs, my pack is still seriously overweight. As I marched along, my aching shoulders made me question my choices, why have I brought a torch, am I walking at night? Why have I brought a battery pack, aren’t there any power sockets in Spain? And then came last night. When I got to my hotel in Nájera I was informed that their power system had blown up so whilst I was most welcome to stay, there would be no electricity. As everywhere else was full, I had little choice. The room was nice, the freezing cold shower was character building, and my unnecessary power bank suddenly became the best thing I had brought along for charging phones and watches. I decided to drown my sorrows in a nearby restaurant with excellent beer, pizza and ample electric light. Bumped into my Irish friend and another Brit that I hadn’t met before and by the time I left it was dark. I returned to the hotel feeling very smug about my unnecessary head torch and as I turned the corner into my bedroom corridor, my torch beam caught the shining eyes of lots of little pilgrims scurrying about in the total darkness, trying to find their rooms. Reminded me of the orcs in the Mines of Moria

Waited for daylight before packing up and setting off on a shorter day for Santo Domingo de la Calzada. A grey morning shrouded lovely countryside through which ran the long path west. Chatted to a few people along the way but mostly lost in my own thoughts today.

I arrived in Santo Domingo at mid day and after the statutory beer and tortilla, went for a wander around the wonderful 12 century cathedral.

Amongst the breathtaking paintings, sculptures and iconography, the cathedral boasts a late gothic (1445) henhouse containing hen and a cockerel as a perpetual reminder of a pilgrim unjustly hanged. Many years ago, a young German pilgrim was travelling to Santiago with his parents and stayed at an inn here. According to the legend, the innkeeper’s daughter became attracted to the young man, but when he rejected her, she hid a silver cup in his luggage and accused him of theft. The authorities believed her, and the boy was sentenced to be hanged. After continuing their pilgrimage, the grieving parents returned and discovered that their son was somehow still alive — sustained, it was said, by the intervention of Saint Dominic (Santo Domingo), the local saint who protected pilgrims.

They rushed to tell the local magistrate. He was eating a roasted cockerel and hen at the time and mockingly replied that their son was “as alive as these birds on my plate.” At that moment, the cooked birds supposedly stood up, regained their feathers, and crowed.

Chicken for dinner tonight, I think.

 


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