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April 15. I had one of the longer walks today, than I’ve had in a few days. I did 30 kilometers, about 18 miles. The story today is the weather. I left my alberque at 6:15am and the temp was in the high 30’s. It never warmed up past the high 40’s…with a cold wind. We had two quick passes of hail and sprinkles of rain. I’m grateful that I remembered to pack gloves, I could have used a wool hat as well. I’m in the small village of Ages. There’s maybe 2 dozen houses. It seems like we pilgrims-passing-through are the only industry (besides farming) that goes on here. Tomorrow, I’m off to the big city of Burgos. I’m looking forward to my two day stay there.

Good walk today. I’m in a large Alberque, lots of pilgrims. I’m running into people that I’ve seen along the Camino…some a week ago, others just yesterday. Last night, I was in the town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada. There was high drama in this town on the Camino…here’s the story….

A long, long time ago, a German couple and their handsome young son were making their pilgrimage to Santiago. They stopped in Santo Domingo for an overnight when a young woman in the town made advances on the young handsome man. The son rejected her advances which made the young woman very mad. For revenge, she hid a silver chalice in his bag, then went to the authorities to report it stolen. The chalice was found in his possession, so he was arrested and hung by a noose in the town square. The parents went onto Santiago to pray for their son’s soul. On their way back to Germany, they stopped in Santo Domingo again, and saw their son still hanging by the neck and still alive. The parents rushed to the town sheriff to report this. The sheriff was just sitting down to his dinner of roast chicken when the parents said their son was still alive. The sheriff replied….” Your son is as dead as this chicken on my plate that I’m about to eat.” With that pronouncement, the roast chicken grew back its feathers and beak and started squawking. The sheriff and the parents ran to the town square, and cut the young man down…and he was indeed still alive. The parents and the son returned to Germany.

Soon after this miracle, the town petitioned the pope to allow them to keep two chickens in the cathedral, a hen and a rooster. To this very day, the chickens live in a cage in a small nave of the church.

Truth or fiction….I’ll let you decide. Crazy stuff happens on the Camino everyday.

April 13. The walk today was one of my shorter distances, 12 miles. It was in the rolling fields of Rioja, with vineyards and fields everywhere. It was dry for about the first 90 minutes, then the rain came and didn’t stop. I had my poncho and my backpack cover, but that didn’t stop me from getting soaked, muddy and cold. Once I arrived at my destination, I changed and found a laundromat, where I was able to dry my clothes. Also, I got another gift from the Camino..my first blister on my foot. I’m taking care of it, so it should heal and not bother me. Tomorrow’s another day, and hopefully a little dryer.

Another good day of hiking. Spent most of the day walking on farmer’s roads in between the vineyards. But before today’s trek, I want to share with you about last night. I had a great night in the city of Logroño. It was Enrique’s last day on the Camino, so we went to the Calle del Laurel, a street with dozens of tapas restaurants. It was extra special being with my Spanish friend, who did the ordering of both the food and the wine. Everything was delicious, and since it was Friday night…the city center was crowded with people. It’s one of those cities where I imagine that most Americans have never heard of…but is well known to the Spaniards. We had a lot of fun eating and drinking great wine. But I was still in bed before 10pm. Early morning today. I was on the Camino by 6am. I made it to Najera by 1:30. I got settled into my bunk bed and my 25 other bunk mates. I walked down the street to the grocery store and bought some fruit and trail mix to have in my pack. Rain is due to start soon. Rain all night and tomorrow. I’m eating at the Alberque tonight…10 euros for a full dinner. I’ll eat with the other pilgrims tonight…that’s better than going out in the rain, finding a restaurant and getting wet.