Made a big mistake this morning…after a somewhat sleepless night, I got up and was ready to leave by 7am…I could have stopped for coffee at the little cafe, but wanted to start walking so figured I’d stop in the first town Ciriueña… But when I got there, 6 1/2 miles later, the town turned out to be somewhat of a ghost town…a golf course and tons of townhouses were built years ago then the bottom fell out of the market I guess, anyway, no coffee there, so I walked a total of over 10 miles to Santo Domingo, and a little after 11 am finally had my first cafe con leche.  The learning…you can’t really tell from the map what is in store for you in each village/town.

It was overcast when I left, and I was in a very introspective place…last night I’d had dinner with 5 German men and had a couple of glasses of wine…I felt the need to re-focus this morning, so welcomed my alone time in the magic morning hours on the trail.

I did some ho’o’pono’pono and enjoyed my solitude until I hit Cirueña were I fell in stride with Kevin a man from… Wait for it…Kona!!!  He works at Jacks Diving locker!  We walked and reminisced about Hawaii for a couple of kilometers then his long legs took him on ahead.  

I got into Santo Domingo a place I thought was my destination for the day at 11:00am…a fairly large town, they are in the middle of a 3 day fiesta, so there was lots of noise, music and merry making.

The day had also turned into glorious sunshine, a perfect day to walk….the decision to keep going was a no-brainier.  So, after my long awaited cafe con leche and tortilla (potato quiche… Kinda sorta), I grabbed my pack and was off…I passed a wedding procession and saw the Cathedral ahead of me.  Since I still had plenty of time, I decided to cough up 3E and tour it.  Another phenomenal church, with tons of gold, and lots of little alcoves with priceless relics.  I sat in one with a beautiful statue of Mary called ‘the Virgin’ (with a hard g) here…and prayed  for Cooper.

I was on the road again before 12, feeling remarkably good.  I met another pilgrim from yesterday and we walked into Grañon together.  So proud of myself, this was my furthest day yet…25.5 kms, and less tired than on previous days.

I asked for the albergue in town, being so small I knew there would be few choices…I had made a reservation at a nicer place but found out it was an extra 2 kms, and I was done.  This place is very old, but gives you the authentic Camino experience…including a communal dinner this evening.

I then went to explore the town in the gorgeous afternoon sun.  I was attracted to the church…the energy was so powerful as I walked through the door, I knew here was the place I really needed to pray for Cooper.  The gold behind the altar is I guess pretty standard here whether it’s a cathedral or small town church.  I discovered there is a pilgrim blessing mass at 7… I was thinking yesterday that I really wanted to attend at least one of these.

I have run into at least 6-8 people that I’ve met before.  Starts to feel like home quickly.  As one said this afternoon, “this town is magic” and I have to agree…I feel a deep spiritual energy, incredibly peaceful infusing this whole village… I feel very blessed to be here.