Rest day in Burgos, so I’m blogging about the second part of our AMAZING journey…

Instead of writing about each day individually, here are some general thoughts about the past five days…

• Most beautiful scenery – I loved the walk from Najera into Santo Domingo!  With varied walking surfaces and captivating views of undulating wheat fields, this was a gorgeous walk!
• Hardest physical challenge – The walk from Santo Domingo to Belorado was quite challenging as the terrain was uninspiring and the highway noise was disruptive.
• Strangest church exhibit – In Santo Domingo’s cathedral, a pair of chickens resides to honor the memory of Domingo’s miracle (see Wikipedia).  The chickens are changed every few weeks and enjoy the rest of their lives in a chicken coop at a nearby hostel.
• Most challenging weather – By far, the most challenging weather was the heavy rain storm, complete with thunder and lightening, for a large part of the 30 km from Belorado to Atapuerca.  Blustering wind and pelting rain drove many pilgrims to remain behind or take a taxi to their next stop.  We, however, continued on – until the sunshine miraculously parted the skies right when we arrived at the monastery’s pub in San Juan de Ortega.  We, of course, revived ourselves with a shot – or two! – of whisky!
• Most beautiful hotel  – I turned “princess” at our supposedly one-star hotel in Najera.  My very kind sister-princess Minke shared with me her experiences at paradores in Spain. ‘Parador’ is the name given in Spain to luxury hotels managed by a state-run company and usually located in buildings of historical importance such as fortresses, monasteries, and castles.  Wowza!  The parador in Santo Domingo de la Calzada just happened to have an available room for us the next night, so Minke treated me to a luxury experience.  Such a treat!
• Creepiest animal – Leaving Logroño, we walked over a bridge where we saw groups of people staring down into the river.  What were they looking at?  Creepy yellow mouthed catfish!
• Saddest event – In Saint Jean Pied de Port, Minke rescued a porcelain rooster… She will, when she feels up to it, write an obituary for him which I will share on this blog.  Until then, please know that we were deeply saddened when Cam (Camembert Francis de Santiago) fell and broke his head in Ventosa.
• Oddest dinner – Our package with Camino Ways includes most dinners, especially when we are in small villages.  Sometimes, the hotel has its own restaurant.  Other times, we are given a “ticket” for a meal at a nearby restaurant.  In Najera, our hostess directed us to Trece restaurant, where the bartender sat us in the back room and used Google translate to share the menu with us.  As the only back room guests for over an hour, we felt quite out of place until Ernesto and Katherine, two other pilgrims, joined the back room an hour later.  The front bar area, though, was busy with locals drinking and playing card games!
• Best tapas – At this point, the best tapas with the greatest variety have been in Burgos!

Stage 8:  Logroño to Nájera (19 miles)

Stage 9:  Najera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada (16 miles)

Stage 10:  Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado (16 miles)

Stage 11:  Belorado to Atapuerca (20 miles) 

Two videos…I accidentally stopped my Fitbit at the top of the hill…

Stage 12:  Atapuerca to Burgos (16.5 miles)