Hey all, time for another Mitch blog post. I admit that I don't have too much to say about the walk along the Camino today, as this was the second day I took a taxi to our destination in order to rest my feet and recover from some toe blisters that I developed. From what Bob and Phill tell me it was hot, dusty, and not actually super interesting today (though they did walk by what our guide described as a "Weird Golf Club").
The actual interesting bit for today is that by complete chance it was the big annual Saint's Day festival in our destination, Santo Domingo de la Calzada. While I was sitting and reading my book after taxing in today, we saw a number of preparations being made, with Sheep coming through the town square, a big stage being set up, and various people arriving in costumes and the like.
There have also been various aerial reports set off, bands playing, chants, and even a really cool procession into the town with kids in historical costume leading a procession with a traditional dance with castinets, followed by an ox-cart with olive branches and wood to be placed in the cathedral.
I've included some pictures from the festivities below:
The restaurants even had special menus for the festival day, and we got some particularly delicious pistachio and seed chicken and pork cheek in wine sauce as a light mid-afternoon mean (gotta tide ourselves over till dinner: 8:30 PM at the earliest.)
We also toured the town belltower, which included a small museum about clock mechanisms and bell casting, which you could then see in practice as you ascended the tower. The view from the top was certainly something, and I'll close with some of the pictures I was able to get from atop the tower. In one you can even see the stage I mentioned.
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