Sto Domingo to San Pedro to Covarrubias

Another detour for us today. Instead of a straight shot 13 kms to the pretty little touristy town of Covarrubias, we decided to take a detour to visit the monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza. This monastery was built in the 10th century, with of course lots of modifications and damage. The government spent many millions and took many years to finish the renovation. It is perched on the Arlanza River and was too close and too tempting to pass up. It turned out to be 29 km with 700 m elevation, so it was a good work out.

The route we put together with various wikiloc trails took us first to the Sad Hill cemetery. For anyone else who is interested in making that visit, I would recommend not following our trail, but simply following the town’s signs that go directly to the site on a wide road. We followed GPS tracks that I had found on Wikiloc. At some point during our ascent, followed by crawling through a hole in a barbed wire fence, and descending on a rocky path, Clare muttered, some thing like— Laurie, you and your wikiloc trails.

For those who are uninformed about Sad Hill, like we were, this is an iconic set from the movie The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Many fans come here to visit the site of the famous Clint Eastwood shootout scene in the cemetery. In fact, we met a British couple last night in the hotel who were planning to go there — their own pilgrimage, they called it.

It was fun to see it, and I think we are both now inclined to see the movie someday. We learned that lots of famous people have come here and put their names on some of the 5000 crosses in the cemetery. I had read that Metallica had done it, and I was happy to find that particular cross, because it’s one of my son’s favorite groups!

Much as we may have been messed up by Wikiloc on a couple of occasions, the rest of the day was really flawless. We had a great trek to the monastery, a wonderful visit there, and a good walk into Covarrubias, another one of the “ pueblos más bonitos de España.” It was 3:30 by the time we got to town, but today was our lucky day. I went into the restaurant in the main square, jampacked with people still eating., and the owner graciously said we could still eat!!!Les mer