Day 10 - Santo Domingo de La Calzada to Beldorado - 13.9 miles

Today was an interesting walk between lots of wheat fields and a very busy highway. There was also significant road construction going on on the highway, but luckily it was Sunday. All those enormous vehicles were parked and not kicking up dust, but progress must even happen on the Camino! We had to cross the road and /or highway several times today which was a little scary! Today we entered Castillo y Leon (the largest autonomous region of Spain).

I had planned on sleeping in a little this morning and enjoying the hotel breakfast, but people were being extremely noisy as they departed early (like 4am early!). So once again, I was on the road by 6:30am. In the quiet of the dark, I have time to pray and think about what my intention is for the day. As my husband will tell you, I sometimes get too focused on the "exercise" or achievement part of the walk and not on enjoying my time there. I am happy to say, that has not happened on this trip at all! The trail diverged at one point going left out into the fields and right to stay close to the highway. Most of us chose the left. I walked and talked with C and D (the doctors from CA) for a while. Then I met A from Norway - a man I have seen on many days and not talked with yet. We struck up a quick conversation about this morning's moon before he stopped for coffee. Afterward, the path went through several very small towns including Viloria (birthplace of Saint Dominic) where I saw a woman on the main square grilling delicious peppers (possibly for a restaurant?).

Grilling Peppers in Viloria

Statue of St. Dominic in Viloria

The last 9km today felt MUCH longer. It was a long, hot stretch with so much traffic noise as you walked down into Belorado. It was also Sunday, so everything minus a few bars/coffee shops and 2 restaurants was closed. The only place I could even buy a large bottle of water was at one of the hostels, which had a small pilgrim shop. Even that was closing by 4pm. Today I chose to grab some tapas at 4:30 for an early dinner. The woman running my hotel said I would need a reservation tonight to eat because there were so many pilgrims in town today. Two of my friends can't even find an available bed for tomorrow. Thankfully I do not have to worry about that issue. 😊 I ran into A from Norway again in Plaza Mayor and found out this is his 6th Camino!! We discussed how much has changed in the time he has been coming on the Camino - the demographic of the pilgrims as well as the towns themselves. I was curious if all the closed buildings and businesses were due to COVID, but he says it is due to the aging population and young people moving away from the smaller towns.

Finally, there were quite a few murals that caught my eye today, and how many wheat fields does a person reading this want to see!!

Mural entering Belorado

Building mural in Plaza Mayor

So tonight is a quiet night in my room relaxing and reading. The wonderful woman running my hotel just dropped off my "picnic breakfast" for tomorrow. I want to be surprised, so I won't even peek inside!