We bid farewell to the Rioja region this morning and enter Castile and Leon. Castile is the medieval kingdom that brought to completion the re-conquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors, gave birth to modern Spain and gave the world Castellano, Castilian Spanish, the language spoken by hundreds of millions of people the world over. Our journey today takes us through Viloria, the birthplace of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and later to Belorado.

A friendly farmer provided fresh walnuts on our journey and the dinner at our quaint Hotel included a delightful potato appetizer we talked about for days. Fortunately the entire trip to date has been a gastronomical affair which lessens the burden of the day.