Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado

Total distance today= 14.3 miles

Total ascent today =1,181feet

Cumulative distance = 148.6 miles

Dinner and breakfast with the nuns was an interesting event. The whole atmosphere was best described as strained quiet. Dinner was soup, salad and trout for Dave and pork for me. And of course no Spanish meal is complete without French fries and wine :)  Breakfast was even more quiet and sparse. Coffee, bread, butter and jam and a couple slices of ham and chorizo. Probably more like the real pilgrim experience than we've had (or wanted) than before. It was enough to get us started. Reminded me of my Catholic school experience.  Kept waiting to get my knuckles rapped with a ruler. :)

But, we were soon on our way past the local cathedral, and out of town 

Following some new markers

On the outskirts of town we saw quite a few stork's nests,

And a shepherd with his flock. 

Soon we were out of town and headed for a conical hill (as instructed by our travel guide). 

The early part of the morning we traveled through farm fields, mostly wheat. 

But we came across fields of some crop with a beautiful flower. Have no idea what it is. Any guesses?

Our first village of the morning, Granon came into view about an hour and a half after we started. Good thing. We needed to supplement the nun's breakfast. 

There was the typical town church that was added to over the centuries - boy, am I desensitized- but it had a very pretty stained glass window picturing a pilgrim over the choir loft. 

We left town following yet another marker. 

And 3 miles later wandered into the next village, Redecilla del Camino and decided to have lunch. Hey, walking makes us hungry!  We hit the jackpot!  The hostess at the local albergue had learned English in Holland. It was flawless.  But even better, she understood us when we asked for a BLT WITH mayonnaise!  It was great (if a little heavy on the bacon). 

With full stomachs we were ready to face the remaining 8 miles. We quickly were in the fields again. 

Now we are in the Castile Y Leon region of Spain

And a new set of markers. 

For the rest of the day we were close, if not right next to the A-12/N110.  But, if we looked left,  the farm fields were always in view, so we ignored the road noise, and pretended (at least tried ) to be in the country all day. 

The village of Beloado is a small noisy village filled with barking dogs and howling cats. Our hotel, Casa Rural Verdeancho was comfortable, offering the basic amenities (I.e. - no a/c). However, it still cools off nicely when the sun goes down. It's been a long time since I've smelled the night air -or heard howling cats at 3 am. 

The church has seen better days, but is home to a flock of storks.