Day 10

19/12/13 13:04

As usual we started off at a cracking pace but slowed down as injury (Andrew) or hills (Wayne) became apparent.

A very helpful sign. First time we have seen these but they were there all day.

Andrew has needed to start on Meloxicam again for his Achilles, which he believes may be a little swollen.

Andrew lagging behind me for once, poor bugger.

I'm better on hills than I was last week but a long way from perfect! Then, Andrew overtakes me…

Here is the Santo Domingo from a distance, you can see the church tower...

And here is the church tower, interestingly it is not attached to the church but it is in a separate building. This is the fourth one, the others kept collapsing. This was put in a slightly more stable location!

Outside the church proper, but still in the same building there is a museum showing some interesting artefacts including some Chinese ones which was a little confusing.

This is specially for Sally, I' don't think yo can read the label in the bottom right hand corner but basically this is the hymn book for chant. If you think it looks large you are correct the pages are about a metre tall.

Wasn't quite certain what to make of this — a village scene from the middle ages? The iPhone camera won't have picked up the details but some of the figures were great!

Now onto images from the cathedral proper.

See close-ups of the three panels below

The flagellation

The removal of the dead Jesus from the cross

Meeting Veronica on the way to Golgotha.
Not a canonical account, so I don't know where this comes from.

The famous chickens! Here is the story (from wikipedia):

The most famous miracle, however, concerns that of the rooster and the chicken, which is said to have taken place at Santo Domingo de la Calzada. The story goes that in the 14th century, a German 18-year old named Hugonell, from Xanten, goes on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with his parents. A Spanish girl at the hostel where they were staying makes sexual advances toward Hugonell; Hugonell rejects her advances. Angry at this, the girl hides a silver cup in the German’s bag and then informs the authorities that the youth had taken it. Hugonell is sentenced to the gallows, in accordance with the laws of Alfonso X of Castile.
The parents sadly decide to examine their son’s body, still hanging on the gallows, but suddenly hear his voice — he tells them that Saint Dominic has saved his life. His parents quickly make their way to Santiago de Compostela to see the magistrate. The magistrate, who is at the time eating dinner, remarks: “Your son is as alive as this rooster and chicken that I was feasting on before you interrupted me.” And in that moment, the two birds jump from the plate and begin to sing and crow happily.