Day 10 Santo Domingo : Cistercians and coincidence

Out by 7:45! No malingering!
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At 13 kilometers, it seemed like a short walk, and it should have been just that.  But something made it long.  Maybe it was the big hill up to Ciruena, where there is a golf course.  Maybe it was the rain that started spitting along the last 4 km.  But somehow, it was a long, short walk.

It was warm, so I stopped regularly to take off my shoes, drink water, and relax.  Santo Domingo came into view about 5 km out, as I topped a high hill. (In Delaware, we would call that a mountain, but now I know what a mountain is...)

Sister had no Mercy

Santo Domingo Church door
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Entering the city, I passed a potato warehouse of some sort, I had never seen such a mountain of potatoes.  A common breakfast food offering here is Tortilla Patata, a sort of potato quiche I have mentioned before.  Seeing the potatoes in Santo Domingo, I could almost believe the city grows all of Spain´s potatoes.  But, no.

Because of the rain beginning, I walked into the first albergue in town, run by the Cistercian Sisters in their old convent.  Their "new" convent is about 200 years old, so you can imagine the old one.  I showered and decided to see a bit of the town since the rain had lessened.  It was "La Rioja Day" so a lot of stores were closed.  I needed shampoo, but no luck on that front.

Town tower, Santo Domingo
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So I decided to see the cathedral, which has a pair of caged chickens.  Actually, a hen and a rooster, as a tribute to an old legend involving a miracle.  The monastery keeps a chicken flock (flock?), and they alternate which ones get to spend time in the cathedral cage.  So, there they were.  Been there, done that!

I walked back outside and overheard some American tourists, wondering why the stores were closed.  All stores in Spain close in the afternon, but they usually open back up in the evening.  Since I knew about La Rioja Day, I decided to answer their question, not that they had asked me.  Surprised to hear an American voice, they started chatting to me, and pretty soon we had a couple glasses of wine.  They were both retired teachers from Santa Barbara, and liked to travel; we had, in fact, visited a number of the same places.  I mentioned Pierre, saying that we had been travelling together but that he had gone on ahead to Belorado.  Surely they would have known someone in common, I said, and they agreed.  We talked about being a camino walker, and they had indeed seen quite a few of them in one of their drives.

The former Pilgrim Hospital, now a classy Parador (hotel), I had drinks here with an American couple, just 200 meters from the ancient Cistercian convent.
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(Note: When I re-connected with Pierre in Belorado, it turns out that the wife was his 9th grade home ec teacher!  Small world.)

I had a great dinner at Los Caballeros, near the cathedral. On my way back to the albergue, I stopped at an outside bar to see what all the excitement was about.  Turns out that the football team Real Madrid had come from behind to tie, and then win with a second goal, two minutes before the end of the game, by top scorer Ruud Van Nistelrooy.

The next morning it was raining, but Sister had no mercy, and kicked out the late sleepers, me among them.  The sign said "Out by 7:45" and Sister was serious about that, she said.  Reminded me of elementary school.

I decided to take the noon bus to Belorado, skipping a day and resting my feet.  The bus was there in no time, like 18 minutes - otherwise a full day´s walk.   Amazing.