Day 11 - Santo Domingo to Belorado

     Today was a little different.  Jana took the bus to Belorado to give her leg a chance to recover.  Tomorrow, she will be bussing from Belorado to Burgos - which will take me two days to walk.

    Walking without Jana makes a big difference.  I find myself pushing faster and harder, and am not sure that is a good thing.  It could also be that most of today's walk was along a highway, and there was a lot of traffic noise, which distracts from trying to pay attention to the nature-stuff.

    We have left the vineyards behind - today was mostly all wheat and peas on one side, and the freeway on the other.  There were still some nice scenes, some of which are in the photos below (forgive me for not taking photos of the highway).

    We continue to make Camino friends.  After arriving at Belorado at 1PM, and catching Jana and getting somewhat cleaned up, we went to the town square and met up with some of old/new acquaintances, got food (2nd lunch), and hung out for a few hours before heading back to our room to get some rest.

    Today's walk was a bit more than 14 miles, in about 5 hours (including a 2nd breakfast and 1st lunch).
    I saw 32 bird species, including 3 new to me.

    Now for the photos.

    Leaving Santo Domingo this morning, the first sight was a White Stork next on top of a pole:

    A look back at the tower at Santo Domingo:

    The bridge here was built by Santo Domingo de la Calzada (the guy the city is named for) in the 1700s:

    A Eurasion Blackcap, photo taken from the far end of the bridge.  These birds have been with us since the start of our adventure (at least, we hear them), but we have not seen many - they tend to hide in the dense vegetation.  This guy popped out of the vines just for a few seconds before popping back in:

    Wildflowers as a buffer to the fields.  It looks like the poppies might not be around much longer, so I will enjoy them while they last.

    (VIDEO)  Took me a long time to figure out the source of this evil sound.  It is always in concentrated patches, and you can hear it from 100 yards.  Frogs:

    A bit of a grainy photo of a  new bird today - a Northern Wheater:

    Yesterday's photo of a Red-Backed Shrike was not so impressive.  Here is a much better photo of one (and its mate):

    Got a 2nd breakfast in Grañón.  here is a mural at the entrance.  On the right side - only 564 km left to Santiago!

    Across from the church in town (left) was a giant Compass Rose.

    Leaving Grañón we did have one segment of walk through fields before again paralleling the highway:

    A white horse.  There are stories about white horses and wine or something...

    A Western Yellow Wagtail doing that Wagtail dance thing.  I am not including the half-dozen pictures of a field of wheat as I kept trying (and missing) to capture this guy rising/dipping in flight.  2nd photo is after he landed

    Mesmerized by wheat:

    Crossing the border from the Rioja Province to Castilla y León:

    A White Wagtail.  Today, I saw white wagtails, yellow wagtails, and gray wagtails.  Lots of wagtails:

    Entering Redecilla del Camino is a pilgrim tribute artwork.  The city was quiet.  Buildings, but no people and all shops were closed.  It was eerie.

    Much of today's walk was on concrete/gravel next to freeway or construction:

    But there were wildflowers:

    So many wagtails:

    Entering Castildelgado.  Another empty city.

    Another (Western Yellow) Wagtail:

    A tribute statue to Santo Domingo in front of the church in Viloria de Rioja - another empty town.  Getting hungry.

    A European Stonechat with petals in its beak:

    The start of this construction zone had a mannequin (solar panels attached).  I am guessing that a remote can be used to raise its right hand to stop traffic:

    Another new bird (but not a great photo) - a Yellowhammer.  Males are very flashy.  The females tend to be more drab-colored.

    Wildflower:

    The road continues, along the road.  But the fields to the left extend forever.

    You do not have the preference.

    Coming into town in Belorado.  Suddenly, hills:

    And an old stone fortress behind the city, including houses built into the stone directly below the fort:

    The church at Beldorado:

    The building across from the church has a mural with some Magic Square numerology.  I'm not sure I understand the significance:

    This town has a lot of murals:

    There is also something like a walk of fame in the main streets:

    Later in the afternoon, the stork returned to its nest on the top left of the church:

    Tomorrow, I should be walking a bit more than halfway to Burgos (50km from here).