Today we had a very sunny trek along the Camino. It was open fields and few trees. Jannette and I had a wonderful conversation with Ed, a retired FBI agent. We always enjoy getting to know people along the way and learning about their interests and motives for engaging in this trek. Most of the people we have met do the Camino in stages rather than the whole thing in a single trip. I am enjoying this experience a great deal. This does not mean that my body keeps asking me, "What in the heck were you thinking!"
We are in wine country known as La Rioja. Here are places from along the way:
Today we arrived in Santo Domingo de la Calzada. It is a charming place built around the image of Saint Dominic. The Cathedral is particularly unusual; it has a rooster and a hen (yes, alive) living inside in a very elaborate altarpiece (below):
In a nutshell here is the miracles associated with the chickens: A young man was traveling with his parents to Santiago de Compostela on the Camino. They arrive in Santo Domingo. During their stay in the town a young women falls in love with the young pilgrim. She expresses her "love" for him which he rejects because of his commitment to travel to Santiago de Compostela. To avenge his rejection she hides a precious goblet in his travel sack. After he and his parents leave, she runs to the magistrate to accuse him of thievery. He is taken prisoner and returned to Santo Domingo where he is tried and sentenced to be hung until dead. After he is executed his parents continue their pilgrimage and on their return to Santo Domingo see that their son's body is still hanging on the scaffold. They approach and he speaks to them! He is alive. He tells how the Saint held him up so that he could die. The parents run to the magistrate and tell him what they have learned. Of course neither he nor any one else believes them. The magistrate declares that the boy cannot be any more alive than the two chickens that have been cooked and sat before him to eat. At that very instance the two chickens in the pot jump up and begin to run around. With this miracle the magistrate and people from the city go out and indeed find the young man alive and well.
Over the centuries citizens in Santo Domingo de la Calzada have taken turns caring for the chickens in the pen that is inside the church. They consider it both a duty and an honor.
In front of the altar is the tomb of Santo Domingo (Below)
This part of the tomb is below ground.
Above the remains is this elaborate cenotaph with an image of the saint. What is charming about this piece is seen below where you see two angels gently and tenderly covering the Saint's body with the blanket.
We also climbed the Cathedral's bell tower. Here are views of the city:
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