Day 26 - 21.6 Kilometres

Naherra - Santo Domingo De Los Calvos

More rolling hills. They day was somewhat overcast, which made things much cooler, so the miles went fast. We arrived in St Domingo by about noon, checked into our Alberge (the parish house from a 12th century monostary), and set out to explore the city.

The expression goes "St Domingo, where the chicken sings after he is cooked." This is because according to local legend, there was a family of pilgrims. The inkeepers´ daughter fell in love with the pilgrims´son. He did not return her feelings. For revenge, she planted a silver chalice in his luggage. The penalty for stealing at that time was death. The son was hanged. The family wanted to see him one more time before continuing to Santiago. When they went to see him, he said "St Domingo has saved me. I am alive." They rushed to the judge who was just sitting down to a chicken dinner to give him news of the miracle. He scoffed "Your son is as dead as these chickens on my plate." At which point the chickens jumped up and began to crow.

So, in the cathedral of St Domingo, there is a chicken run. It is an elaborate edifice within the church - it looks a little bit like a small organ loft without the pipes. In this loft, there are a pair of live chickens. They hang out in their gothic chicken run and people come and ask blessings of St Domingo through the chickens. The monastary next door keeps chickens in its courtyard so that no two chickens have to spend their whole lives in the church. I guess it´s hard work being a medium for a saint.

And for a bonus picture: A very friendly Spaniard pilgrim working on his english by doing the best imitation of Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York." This man deserves a Tony!