Stories thru Image & Word

Mile 116.1 Nájera

September 21, 2017

My husband always says that you need to walk El Camino with your head not your feet. In other words do what you think best for your wellbeing. So today we had about 18.7 miles to walk from Logroño to Nájera, a town built against a red cliff. I don’t believe my feet would have survived. We took a cab to the next town, Navarrete, past an industrial area and a swamp and cut 8 miles off our walk. What were left were vineyards and mostly flat and rocky trails. I am beginning to feel that I am walking on the bones of earth. At least that’s what it feels like we are walking on…old hard bones.

The black grapes of Spain are being harvested now and fall is almost here. They are plump and juicy. I picked 3 grapes and let them explode in my mouth. The sweet juice was so satisfying. Instead of eating the skins like I did the other day (see Mile 97.5), I spit them out with the seeds. This kept the tannins from interfering with the sweetness of the juice. I picked 3 more grapes and was happy.

We came upon a Celtic refuge or lookout for the farmers called a chozo or guardaviñas; tall and conical made of stone there is a circular bench within. We passed a hill, El Poyo del Roldan, were Roland fought and killed a giant. We headed towards a town that was built against a cliff full of caves where the Moors once hid. The land, like the stone, is old and full of history and myth: the soil red with mystery.

El Camino has much to tell.

Mile 129.8 Santo Domingo de la Calzada

September 22, 2017

Today I was photo bombed by a young girl with a smile as bright as her shirt. I love texture and take photos of the ancient doors I see. They have so much character and so many lost stories to tell. A group of young people walked by as I was taking a photo of such a door. The girl saw me and posed. We laughed.

Yesterday in Nájera I wanted to take a photo of a stone carved shell that was on the wall of a plaza. A man was sitting on a bench under it so I told him that I was taking a photo of the shell above him. That I wanted him to know that I was not taking his photo and understood that some people don’t like to have their photos taken. I took the shot and than told him, “Aunqué usted es más guapo.” (“Though you are more handsome.”) He told me that Pilgrims should never lie. My husband told him that I was sincere. We laughed together.

 Today started out really well. It rained in the night and left the morning fresh. We had a 13.7mile hike ahead of us through rolling hills. So we left Nájera, the town built against red cliffs and traveled thru vineyards, freshly tilled land and a modern ghost town where dreams died with the housing bubble.

The walk was much better. We traveled over different road surfaces, most smooth but many rocky. Calzada means rocky or cobble stoned road. I was able to keep a better pace despite the rocks and we made good time. There were several statues that we encountered along the way in honor of the pilgrim.

El Camino is kind.

No miles today…at least none on El Camino

 September 23, 2017

Santo Domingo de la Calzada is named after Domingo Garcia who was born in Burgos in 1019. He wanted to enter a monastery but was not accepted so he became a hermit. He witnessed just how difficult it was for the pilgrims that traveled by his home so he built a bridge over the Oja River, a *hospital for refuge for the pilgrims, roads connecting Nájera to Burgos, and a little church. His burial site was placed in the middle of the Pilgrimage but over time became a part of Cathedral.

The construction of Iglesia Catedral de Santo Domingo de la Calzada was begun in 1158 and additions added throughout the next centuries. One (of many) interesting features in the Cathedral is the Gothic Henhouse. A hen and a rooster are the symbols of this city born to help ease the road of the pilgrim…of course there is a story here:

Hugonell, a German pilgrim, was traveling El Camino with his parents. They stayed at an inn in Santo Domingo de la Calzada where the Innkeeper’s daughter fell in love with Hugonell. Hugonell did not, though, feel the same way towards the girl so she placed a silver cup into his travel bag and accused him of stealing it. The punishment for theft was hanging. Hugonell was hung. His parents, grieving the loss their son, continued on to Santiago de Compostela. They then returned to Santo Domingo de la Calzada to visit the grave of their son but instead found him still hanging and alive.  Hugonell told them that Santiago brought him back to life and to please ask the Mayor to have him cut down. The parents went to the Mayor’s house were he was having dinner. The Mayor told them that Hugonell could be no more alive than the two roasted chickens that were on his table.  Well…those two roasted chickens stood up, grew feathers and began to crow.

Above the Henhouse is a piece of wood that is a part of the gallows that Hugonell was hung from.

Legends bring El Camino together.

*Hospital, in this sense, is a place of refuge with food, shelter for the night, and care.

NOTE: Because of the rocky paths I keep my eyes more on the road than the countryside that I am traveling thru. There are some very sharp and pointed rocks that I would rather not walk upon. So I remind myself to look up and enjoy the view before me; and to turn back and see the view from where I have been. There is a micro view though. A lot of critters cross El Camino: millipedes, black slugs, ants, small tiny spiders that walk sideways like a crab, shiny round black beetles, yellow and black striped salamanders (some of which didn’t make it across), a small snake who also didn’t make it across the road, orange spotted moths and orange spotted beetles, butterflies that flutter in front of the traveler, crickets that don’t move out of the way, and yesterday I saw my first lizard.

¡Buen Camino!