After the Festival

 Friday in Santo Domingo de la Calzada and their festival set a high standard for our Camino so far. Just to maximize the appreciation we have for that wonderful day, our walk to Belorado and our welcome and accommodations here are near the opposite end of the standards spectrum. We had a lovely walk through agricultural lands but right next to the only highway in the area and next to the construction zone where they are creating a limited access highway to replace the two lane existing highway. Dust, noise and it was still fairly warm and sunny magode for a gritty day. We climbed up to 2500 feet in a gradual slope which went on nearly all day, but the 14 mile segment today meant that wasn't too difficult. At the very end of the day we dropped into Castille Y Leon - the next state after La Rioja, and then dropped down in elevation slightly to the town of Belorado. There was little joy in Belorado, but our hotel is going to provide the necessary beds and food even if the internet is spotty and there are no people in gaily colored costumes dancing around. I think that the food will be quite a bit plainer than the excellent dinner in Sto. Domingo, but hopefully it will feed us for tomorrow's walk on toward Burgos.