Ledigos to Bercianos del Real Camino

Wow, it´s easy to get behind. I think it was about 25km from Ledigos to Bercianos, in a windstorm!!! I loved the wind so much more than the sun, though it occasionally threw dust in the air. I have been having mixed feelings about how far to go, because usually my feet are ready to stop but the rest of me could keep going, when it is not hot. I could go 32 or so instead... but for the sake of my feet I´ve been stopping around the 25km mark when I can.
Bercianos was another little dying town in the middle of nowhere. The two hospitaleros were volunteers from La Rioja who had walked the camino before, both men about 60 or so. They talked to us and made paella (free/donation) for dinner, which turned out to be just seasoned rice with a few chunks of beef. What exactly is the definition for paella? I am confused. But it was in about a 3 foot diameter paella pan and served 30 people, which was pretty impressive, and it was a good thing for getting to talk to people. I met a pro soccer player from Rome, several German girls, and some nice Spanish guys over dinner, and we sat and talked over the bad table wine quite a while afterward, fortunately in English!!

The second good thing about this hostel was that the hospitaleros had brought one of their dogs from home, a big dog with a big square head and I have no idea what kind it was but one of you will tell me when you see the pictures. His name was Attila and he was super sweet, and he kept following around this Hungarian girl (who got a kick out of his name... Attila the Hun, of course, being Hungarian) because she would let him come up on her lap and snuggle against her head. Me, not so much, at least not after I´d showered. But it gave the place such a homey feeling to have a dog. He kept picking up adobe bricks and rocks in his mouth and ignoring his rope toy. The third good thing was the communal prayer time/chapel service led by the local priest after dinner. He had different groups of people read different parts of the service in their own language, and then passed around a candle and had us each share a comment about our day or our camino, in our own language. And then we sang a Taize song while he went around and made a cross on each of our foreheads with water and blessed us. It was very sweet and meaningful. So I have concluded that every good hostel, in addition to clean facilities, plentiful showers, and few beds per room, should have a dog, communal dinner, and evening prayers.

I also investigated the little ermita that is the only church for the town now that the cathedral tower fell in on the church 10 years ago, due to lack of upkeep. So sad. There was a little old lady who was the attendant at the ermita, and she let me and three other people hide in there while it poured rain for about 10 minutes!!! First rain since the first day, and that was France, so first rain in Spain. It was wild. But the wind blew it past quickly, and that was the last of it. And if the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain, perhaps this will be the last rain I see.

So it was a little nothing town, but good community, which is exactly what I wanted.