10.00am A great night’s sleep. I’ve just eaten a gargantuan breakfast , feel refreshed and ready to hit the road again. Before leaving I’m going to visit the Cathedral opposite the hotel. This town is the place where ” The Miracle of The Cock ” occurred ( stop sniggering at the back ) .

The story goes that in the 14 th century, a German 18-year old named Hugonell, from Xanten, goes on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with his parents. A Spanish girl at the hostel where they were staying falls in love with him; Hugonell denies her advances. Angry at this, the girl hides a silver cup in the German’s bag and informs the authorities that the young man has taken it. Hugonell is sentenced to death in the gallows, in accordance with the laws of Alfonso X of Castile.
Mourning the death of his son, the parents sadly decide to examine their son’s body, still hanging on the gallows, but suddenly they hear his voice. He tells them that Santo Domingo de la Calzada has kept him alive.

His parents quickly go to see the magistrate in order to announce that the miracle has taken place. The magistrate, who is at the time eating dinner remarks: “Your son is as alive as this cock and hen that I am about to eat”. And in that moment, the two birds jump from the plate and begin to sing and crow happily.
Since then the cathedral of Santo Domingo has contained a stone hen house inside of which there is kept a white cock and a hen.

Continue reading “Day 10 – San Domingo to Belarado – 22.9km” →

10.30am It made a pleasant change this morning to wake to the sound of Gregorian chanting and the smell of incense rather than the assault on my auditory and olfactory senses that I’ve endured over the last week or so. When we booked into the Albergue San Saturnio yesterday we were surprised to discover a German army of occupation ( apparently it’s recommended in the German guide books). They had invaded mid afternoon and were all busy cooking while we found our bunks. I was happy to see Ian from Dublin and a few others I recognised too. Ian was at pains to tell me that the small Albergue shop sold local Rioja for 3 euros and his sampling had revealed it to be excellent stuff. On my return from dinner in the village later in the evening I found Ian and a large party of Germans sitting at a patio table that was covered in empty wine bottles. They were in very high spirits indeed. I was particularly amused to see a German guy named Henrick in an advanced state of inebriation. He was the German snorer I had encountered back in Roncesvalles and hitherto had seemed a very serious chap , striding out purposefully with one of those Bavarian hats atop his head. The wine had made him very giggly indeed and brought out an amorous streak in him too. He appeared , in his drunken state , to be trying to chat up a fellow German lady and what made it funnier still to the other Germans was that this was all being conducted in English.

Continue reading “Day 9 – Ventosa to Santo Domingo de la Calzada – 31.4km” →

7.10 am A restless night on the mats. Mine was situated between a middle aged Mexican lady and our chain smoking diminutive Catalan friend. All sorts on noises emanated from him , the least offensive of which was the coughing and wheezing. I would guess he is around 70 yrs , about 5ft tall , bald and bearded , very wrinked and has a bad squint. He looked like an elderly Hobbit curled up in a ball on his mat.

This was a small Refugio run by 2 volunteers ( Hospitaleros ) , one lady from Seattle and another from Spain. The Hospitaleros all do 2 weeks volunteering at a time and you have to have walked The Camino at least once to qualify to perform this role. This Refugio was my first to have a strong religious feel about it . We ate a communal meal last night before which we said Grace . There is no request for payment for your stay or for the dinner and breakfast. They do suggest a “Donativo” in a box when you depart ( see photo ). There was also a room set aside for snorers which is the first time I’ve come across this. A Swedish lad who has walked all the way from Orleans in France was the only occupant last night. He also intends to walk all the way back to Orleans ! There was a very nice older American lady ( now living in Freemantle ) here last
night who is the Mother of a famous Australian musician named John Butler. The German couple got very excited as they are big fans and had downloaded his albums to their IPod to listen to on The Camino.

Continue reading “Day 8 – Viana to Ventosa – 29km” →

7.15am A bad night. The involuntary sleep study I carried out on the rather portly South African chap in the next bunk revealed a severe case of Sleep Apnoea. During the course of this prolonged study I observed that at the end of every 10th apnoeic episode he would emit a little groan and there followed a startlingly loud expulsion of intestinal gas. I have never come across this in the text books. I must have a chat with my Respiratory colleagues at Chorley Hospital when I get home. I think there’s a research paper in this.

The bunk above him was occupied by an Irishman named Eugene , who appeared to be suffering with night terrors. I had a long consultation with him yesterday as he’s quitting The Camino after 8 days with severe foot pain. I diagnosed Plantar Fasciitis and offered to supply him with something from my mobile pharmacy but he politely declined , explaining that he preferred the bottle of whisky option.

Continue reading “Day 7 – Los Arcos to Viana – 18.6km” →

10.00am. Great sleep. In the bunks last night I had an Irish Girl on top of me and a Polish lady next to me. They both gave me frosty looks this morning. Then the Polish Lady informed me that I was the winner of the latest round of the European Snoring Championships. Oh dear. First lesson of The Camino learned.

I had another ” Mr Bean ” moment yesterday. I turned around on the stairs of the Refugio in Estella and my rucksack caught on a framed print of St James , knocking it off the wall and smashing the glass to pieces. I think I should go home now.

Continue reading “Day 6 – Estella to Los Arcos – 21.1km” →