A golf course and a concert

We were among the last to leave the albergue. Once again I was called upon to help with translating. A young Asian walker had left his clothes on the outside line to dry ,and the albergue volunteer had brought them in, leaving them on a bench inside, so they wouldn't get stolen. The walker had not seen the clothes and was getting very upset, the volunteer could not make himself understood, so asked me to show him where his clothes were. The volunteer was upset because the walker did not seem the least bit grateful that his clothes were inside and dry, in fact he appeared angry that his clothes had been moved.  I wonder how much more upset he would have been had they really been stolen!

The walk out of Najera was pretty steep, and confirmed my view of the place. It is just not that pretty.  However, as we reached the top of the hill, it seemed as if the whole of Spain was opening up to us.  The weather was clearing, and walking was good.  We arrived at the next village quite quickly it seemed, and took a short break before the 7.5km walk to the next village.

The guide book we are using is not always very clear.  We came up a hill past a rather swanky golf course, and the book said that a little further on was a cafe/bar.  We walked on about half a km but didn't see it.  By now, it was hot and we were all ready for lunch, so we walked back to the golf club house and bought the smallest sandwiches ever.  The facilities were, of course, pristine, but the service was rather snooty.  The whole area seemed to be weekend apartments, and was rather like a modern ghost town.  

Refreshed from lunch, we continued on, and then, of course, came upon the cafe/bar of the guide book, at least a km further up the road.  However, we had already eaten, and still had about 6km to go before reaching our destination of Santo Domingo de la Calzada.  There are 2 albergues in Santo Domingo - the first one is run by Cistercian nuns, and looked very tranquil, but we had decided to stay in the one further min toward the town, the Casa del Santo.  We entered and after a brief conversation, one of the volunteers asked me which part of Spain I was from!  Although the albergue was very big, it felt very spacious and quiet after the previous night.  We found our beds, showered, hand washed our clothes and hung then to dry.  We then took a nap before going out to buy bread and sandwich filling and look for a place to eat supper.  We also met up with Ezra again, who was still suffering with bad blisters.  

We got food for breakfast and lunch the next day, and then looked around the cathedral.  There is an interesting story about the cathedral, and there are 2 cockerels kept in a special henhouse actually inside the cathedral .  While we were there, a group of musicians began warming up for a concert that evening.  They sounded so good that the boys and I decided to get tickets.  It was a great surprise to find out that the concert was free.  

We went to supper, another wonderful meal, and then to the concert - a string chamber orchestra with students from a University in Bilbao.  It was wonderful.  The acoustics in the cathedral were superb, and my frayed nerves were calmed.  It was a very special way to end a day's walk, and the boys and I really enjoyed the concert.  Several other pilgrims/walkers were also at the concert, which last an hour.   We walked back to the albergue quickly, because of the 10pm curfew, with the music from the concert still fresh in our minds.