Reset search
Satellite
Search this area

Spain Viloria de Rioja

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
  • TravelerMy Camino
    2111121
    Day 17

    Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado

    Yesterday in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 45 °F

    What a stunning day! The vineyards of Rioja gave way to the wheat and corn fields of Castille y Lyon. The fields seemed to stretch forever as the wind whipped across them. Today I walked with company, which helped the miles fly by although it left less time for reflection. When I stopped for Morning Prayer I read today's Gospel and was struck by the disciples question, "If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." As I looked out over the vast expanse of this stunning landscape and smelled the richly fertilized land miraculously producing such bounty, I wondered how anyone could doubt.

    After checking in to tonight's Albergue, I made my way down the street for a drink. Locals poured into the bar to cheer their soccer teams, ribbing one another and having a big time. The first game ended and they scattered, only to converge again as the next game began, with shouting and cheering. It was such a community atmosphere.

    I've met so many amazing people on the Camino! Tomorrow I'll leave my little Camino family and bus ahead to Burgos, the next big town. It's bittersweet but part of the journey. There are more family waiting ahead.

    Steps: 36,909
    Distance: 15.89 miles    Read more

  • TravelerMy Camino
    1212111
    Day 16

    Azofra to Santo Domingo de la Calzada

    May 10 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    Today was varied and fascinating. It started in the silence of the early morning as I set off in the peaceful mist. The sun stayed hidden most of the day, as the mist gave way to clouds that threatened rain. About an hour outside Santo Domingo de la Calzada, the sprinkles of rain turned heavier, and ponchos came out of bags all along the path as we made our way like ghostly ants into town.

    But once we entered the old section of town, the sun peeked through and the festive atmosphere became apparent. Today was the height of the several-week-long Festival of Santo Domingo, the patron of this town. He lived in the 11th century and felt called to the religious life. It quickly became apparent, though, that the monastery was not for him. Instead, he spent his life building roads and bridges to ease the passage of pilgrims to Santiago.

    Domingo also performed miracles. A couple and their son were making their Camino and spent the night here in town. The innkeeper's daughter fell instantly in love with the boy, who didn't return his advances. Furious, the girl hid one of her family's copper cups in the boy's pack. As they left town, she reported him as a thief. When he was found with the cup, he was hanged on the gallows in town. His parents continued to Santiago, but Santo Domingo held the boy so he didn't die. When his parents came back through town on their way home, they found the boy still alive on the gallows. They went to the judge as he sat down to a dinner of roasted chicken and begged him to free the boy, rejoicing in the miracle. He is said to have exclaimed, "That boy is no more alive than this chicken on my plate," at which his meal sprouted feathers, stood up, and began to squawk. In celebration of this miracle by Santo Domingo, the cathedral that bears his name keeps a hen and a rooster, allegedly descendents of that famed dinner bird, in a cage high up in the cathedral. I was fortunate to hear the rooster crow out his greeting repeatedly while I was there!!

    It was great to have another short walking day and plenty of time to explore this fascinating city. Tomorrow is a longer walking day, so I'm off to bed.

    Steps: 29,954
    Distance: 12.42 miles    Read more

  • Camino de Santiago
    5
    1131213517144
    Day 17–19

    Belorado-Villafranca-Agés

    May 7 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 43 °F

    Caught up with friends last night in Villafranca. SO great!
    Yesterday, we saw our NZ friends, Bosco and Helen at the first town and coffee stop out of Belorado.
    Also saw our UK friends, Craig and Sue in Belorado at dinner.
    Turned out the 6 of us wound up in the same town (Villafranca) and at same Albergue (La Alpargateria Casa Rural) last night !
    We went to dinner together and then ran into Rob and Rosie from Australia- also friends we’ve made since the start. Amazing!!
    It’s been cold in the mornings to start but cool, sunny days - perfect walking weather.
    Overnight tonight in Agés, a tiny hamlet then on to the big city of Burgos where we rest for 2 days and attempt to secure rooms or beds along the way. They are getting harder and harder to find.
    Will see our friends there hopefully.
    Looks like we might be walking in cold rain tomorrow. A friend once told me “there’s no such thing as bad weather - just bad gear”.
    Thank goodness for good layers and good rain gear. 🌧️😎

    PS: there’s a 15 second video for nothing more than the audio. Listen close. 😉    Read more

  • Camino de Santiago
    Day 16–17

    Grañón - Bolarado

    May 6 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 43 °F

    Relatively short day - about 12 km.
    It was 39° when we started and the temps never broke out of the 40s. Overcast and possibly of light rain. We had on all the layers we brought which worked out perfectly. Bonus: it lightened our packs! Thankfully, no rain just chilly. Had a couple stops along the way for coffee and snacks.
    Got to our lodging about 1400 and had a little siesta. That’s pretty much standard operating procedure here anyway. 😉
    Worked the phone to secure a few nights accommodation ahead as it gets harder to do daily as more and folks book their entire trip as well as large tour groups doing the same.
    Life is still good!
    Favorite part of the day was not getting rained on and running into friends from the UK we met the very first night in Roncesvalles which seems like an eternity ago!    Read more

  • TravelerIl cammino
    1
    12
    Day 11

    Granon espinosa del camino 23,9

    May 2 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Dopo due giorni impegnativi e l'esperienza unica di granon oggi la tappa doveva essere una passeggiata .....invece tanta tanta pioggia tanto vento. Infatti, liberatami dai sensi di colpa, posso dire con orgoglio che gli ultimi 8 km ho preso il taxi!!
    Taxista italiano di Torino!!! 😳😳    Read more

    See translation
  • TravelerThe Beauty of Moving Slowly
    Day 12–13

    Santo Domingo to Belorado

    April 28 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Wow, what a day.

    It was a beautiful start to the day – crisp, clear and fresh as I left Santo Domingo de la Calzada. There were contrails from planes high above in the air and rolling fields of wheat in every direction.

    The villages were appearing regularly and that helped the morning go quickly. I spent a bit of time walking with Bill from Brisbane, who is approaching retirement and wondering what to do with the rest of his life. I’m sure he’s going to figure it out by the time he reaches Santiago. The scenery was beautiful, and it also allowed me to spend some productive time in my head for the first time. It’s only been the last few days that I’ve started to feel that I’m getting into the rhythm of the Camino and I’m feeling very comfortable.

    The villages came and went and there seemed to be a lot more pilgrims around today. Maybe it was because there were several stretches where you could see a long way ahead and the Way was populated with the colours of the backpacks of pilgrims from all over the world. I stopped at a few churches as I went along, but I’m still having trouble with the extravagance of the altars in the Spanish churches, seemingly at odds with the peasants and farmers who would have had to finance these structures in times gone by.

    I finally reached Belorado and had trouble phoning my accomm, which is off the Camino path, and which was meant to be picking me up. I went to one of the stores for a drink and then the problem started to make itself clear. For some reason, there is a power outage across Spain and Portugal. It sounds serious. I found Johann and Franck, from The Netherlands and Belgium, who were sure it was a Russian intervention on the power system for Europe. They could be right! I finally made contact with Anna from our accomm and she arranged to collect me from the church in Belorado.

    While waiting for my pick-up, I watched a line of pilgrims at the nearby Albergue as they queued for a bed. Leah from Germany was in the crowd and I reconnected with her after a few days of having not seen her. The ‘bed race’ from each alburgue to the next makes life difficult and I can’t see how those involved can enjoy their Camino when they’re racing to the next town just to get a bed for the night. I’m hearing stories that accomm is becoming particularly tight as we progress along The Way. Bill from earlier in the day is having his daughter and wife organise his accomm ahead of him and he told me that there is nothing available ahead for the next couple of weeks. He has to walk to San Juan tomorrow and then take a cab to Burgos in order to find something. I also ran into Lucky Sakamoto again and he had another 13kms to go to Villafranca this afternoon for his accomm. His story is the same in terms of no available accomm. It pays to have all that organised.

    Anyway, we arranged our pick-up for the accomm and Anna our host was most apologetic about the situation. It happens that there are about half a dozen Aussies and Barry, an Irishman, here tonight and we all told her not to worry. Because there is no power, dinner is being prepared by Anna’s mother in her home on coals and we all couldn’t be happier. At least they had beer and a G&T that kept us happy. The place I’m staying at is off the Camino and, as we stood outside the accomm having a drink, we could look to our left and right and see the whole village, pretty much. It's going to be one of those nights, I think. As it turned out, the power was restored in time for a shower and then dinner. These are the things that happen on El Camino.

    Belorado is a nice little town that is holding on to its heritage past. Along the Way out of town, there are brass plates along the road with the footprints and handprints of famous people. I know Emilio Estevez’s (Writer, Director and Producer of the movie The Way) plaque is here somewhere, but I settled for Miguel Indurain, a famous Spanish cyclist.

    Today, I crossed into the province of Castille y Leon which is the largest autonomous region in Spain. I will spend quite a lot of the Camino in this region as I travel through the Burgos, Palencia and León provinces. Tomorrow, I’m off to San Juan de Ortega and only two days to Burgos.

    Efren’s video of today’s walk can be found by clicking on the link below.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy9xaSSBGPY&amp…

    Distance today: 23kms
    Total distance travelled so far: 235kms

    Buen Camino, db    Read more

  • TravelerThe Beauty of Moving Slowly
    611
    Day 11–12

    Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada

    April 27 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Yesterday, I mentioned a festival that appeared to be happening in Nájera. As it turned out, that was the warm-up and, after dark, the streets were crowded from wall to wall with partygoers. The hotel I was in was really comfortable, the breakfast was great, and the owners were very helpful. Unfortunately, my room was directly above a disco and a night club so the noise and the shouting persisted all night – and I mean all night. People were still milling about at 5:00am so I decided to quit pretending to rest and get up. Ah well, that’s the Camino for you - be ready for anything.

    Today, I saw fewer vineyards and more wheat again. When I arrived in Azofra, the first small village, the few bars and cafés were jammed with pilgrims lining up for their first coffee. After a quick chat with a couple of familiar faces, I decided to press on to the next stop..

    That involved a gradual climb for about 5kms before I started the long climb into Cirueña. This is a peculiar place. A golf course appeared out of nowhere and the nearby town is quite modern compared with other villages along the way. However, there were many ‘For Sale’ signs on the fences and many of the windows were shuttered which gave the whole place a deserted ghost town appearance. Looks like a struggling development project. On the other hand, it was Sunday morning. Another kilometre further on is the old Cirueña and this seemed to have a bit of life to it.

    I stopped in a local park for a quick refresh and then started the final leg into Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Sto Domingo is a medium sized town so it took some time to reach the city centre. I then found my accomm and it is run by two women who might be sisters, not sure. They don’t have any English and speak Spanish so quickly that I’ve had to resort to Google Translate for help. Has to be the world’s most useful app!

    Tonight, dinner is in-house and the kitchen is starting to get busy in preparation. I should mention my meals, which I have paid for ahead of time. Apart from the bigger cities where there are plenty of options, the dinner menu is a quite simple Pilgrims’ menu. It usually involves three basic courses, which is plenty, and the obligatory glass (or two) of wine is included. Tonight I had a bowl of chicken soup, followed by a few strips of pork loin, peppers and chips, and then a simple dessert.

    I met more Australians today – Jill and Martin from Waverton in Sydney – as well as Vicki from Los Angeles. Tomorrow, I’m off to Belorado and only three more days to Burgos, which I’m looking forward to.

    Efren’s video of today’s walk can be seen by clicking below.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DxfhRmMOUM&amp…

    Distance today: 21 kms
    Total distance travelled so far: 212 kms

    Buen Camino    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - May 2025
    11
    Day 14

    Day 12 - A day for the umbrella

    May 9 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Belorado to San Juan de Ortega
    25.0km
    Accumulated distance 289.1km
    A slowish start today knowing there wasn’t much to do at my destination. I left around 8.30 in search of breakfast. The Camino lore is never stop at the first bar as the second is likely better , and if you’re brave enough then the third might be best. I tried this at the first village, boldly walking past the first bar having seen a sign to the second. It was closed of course so tail between my legs I returned for a very average tomato toast with coffee.
    The first half of the day was the wheat fields of the Tiron river valley, and it was sporadic mist and rain.
    A picnic lunch at Villafranca Montes de Oca, then climb climb up to the pine plantations. It was very enjoyable walking through the fringe forests in the mist before reaching the top.
    The forestry roads were nice easy walking, but the heavens really opened with thunder and hail. My umbrella worked a treat.
    Sporadic rain for the afternoon including the last half hour with thunder as I entered San Juan, population 20, three bars, a monastery, and a church, it felt like a scene from a Clint Eastwood western.
    Very friendly people and great pork chop with blood sausage for dinner.
    Moment of the day was the peaceful walking through the misty forests, with birdsong and the occasional cuckoo call, it was quite magical.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago - May 2025
    1
    Day 13

    Day 11 - Into Castille y Leon region

    May 8 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Santo Domingo to Belorado
    24.1km
    Accumulated distance 264.1km
    It was another out of the box gorgeous day, a chilly start, but perfect walking conditions. About 1.5hrs out of Santo Domingo I bumped into mates Bruce from Omokoroa and Doug the Scotsman from Hastings UK. We spent the day together, great chats and lots of laughs. It was slow going though, Bruce managing blisters and Doug managing Achilles. First stop for second breakfast at Grañón, where we bumped into Brendan and Karen from Gold Coast again (lunch yesterday). I finally tried the crushed tomato on toast, yum. The walk out of Grañón was really pretty overlooking the sea of green wheat and pea fields. We said goodbye to Rioja, evidenced by the absence of vineyards, and said hello to Castille y Leon, one of Spain’s largest regions. Walking conditions continued to be good, some long uphills, but generally easily done. Said our goodbyes 5km out from Belorado and got into town later than usual, around 4pm. Belorado is known for its wall murals, but otherwise not too much to see. Had one of the meals of the trip at the restaurant opposite my Alburgue, a 16€ three course meal, with pork cheeks again, yum! The place was busy so shared a table with Paul and Beck from Perth who are cycling the route, a very pleasant evening.
    Moment of the day was the fantastic pork cheeks, a mission for home is to seek them out.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago
    Day 15

    Najeira to santo Domingo

    May 5 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

    Im behind in posting, today was a rainy cold day.. we are still doing around 20 k a day, we have another long day tomorrow, after that we are taking a couple short days..
    When I first started my backpack weighed around 24 lbs without water, I always start my day with around 50 oz of water and we refill as we go.. (by the way the water here taste great, we refill out of our bathroom faucets and there are fountains everywhere in the towns and out in the middle of nowhere)..
    this morning Tanya and I purged our packs, took it to the local post office and sent it home.. ($80) we had 9 lbs of stuff between us.. it’s better but still to heavy.
    When we get in the towns we try to explore.. we have seen the most beautiful cathedrals.
    Yesterday I went to mass, and at the end the Priest had all the Pilgrims ( that’s what they call us) come up for a blessing.. it was a very special experience..
    Today we passed through vineyards, as far as the eye could see, an then it turned to wheat fields as far as you could see.. it was so green and beautiful, reminds me of home in the springtime..    Read more

Join us:

FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android

  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice