A Cathedral That Will Turn People Away, and a Church That Won't

We set off early again, though not quite as early as some days recently. Today's towns lined up nicely, so we were able to walk ~6km, eat breakfast, walk ~15km, eat lunch, and then walk ~7km more to our destination.


Breakfast was a pretty standard affair, we got pastries in a roadside cafe, and the town was small enough we didn't even have a church to visit. We'd also bought some stuff for breakfast the evening before, so this was supplemented with a protein drink and a banana.


Around noon we made it to Santo Domingo, the classic stopping point for this stage of the route. We attempted to find lunch, and after a few false starts found somewhere that served "hamburgers". The only catch was that they served them without onions, tomatoes, lettuce, or cheese. Or a bun. So it was just a hamburger patty with fries. But in their defense, it was a very good hamburger patty!


We tried to visit the cathedral on our way out of town, but it cost €5, and we were both wanting to get to our destination and not huge fans of a church charging us to enter. We walked on, and it was another long, hot, gravel road in the afternoon. We made it to Grañon eventually, but the walk was draining.


I'm Grañon, we are staying at a donativo albergue in a church, which has a reputation for cooking dinner all together, having everyone sing songs from their home country, and generally being one of the most communal-feeling places along the route. The volunteers running it are clearly tired, but their commitment to not ever turning a pilgrim away from their doors is such a wonderful expression of the way a church ought to be.


Sitting in the courtyard and singing along with everyone, while one of the volunteers leads on guitar, was a beautiful experience, and listening to the wind rustle through the trees overhead while everyone came together in this way was one of the most peaceful experiences I've had on the Camino so far.


At 7:00 we attended mass, where there was a special pilgrim's blessing, then, as we were lucky enough to be visiting on the one day a month they do it, we got to watch the whole sanctuary lit up with a beautiful (and impressive) light show. After that we went immediately to dinner, helped clean up, then participated in a ceremony where we passed around a candle and talked about our experiences and hopes on the Camino. Overall, it has been a beautiful and unique experience staying here, and even if the accomodations lack some luxuries, I'm very glad to have had this opportunity.

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