The Journey to Burgos

Originally we had planned to take Sundays off as our day of rest....that worked well in Estella...we had a nice pension to stay in and a few things to do and see after church.  This Saturday we ended up in San Juan...population 20 and you cannot stay in the Alberque two nights.  So we needed to move on to Burgos...which is great because it is a beautiful city with an incredible cathedral and lots of historical sights.  But it meant that we walked 7 days in a row...a total of 106 miles.  Way to much!

We started walking around seven...I was pretty tired after waking up at 4:00 and listening to snoring until six when I just gave up and got up.  We walked about 2 1/2 miles to Ages where there is a delightful, clean, well ordered, nicely decorated cafe with a TV,  it was nice to sit at a table inside and eat a simple but tasty meal.  The sound was not on the TV news channel, but we did see several minutes of the flooding disaster in COLORADO!  We have also seen clips of the fires in western Spain.   The area around Santiago is usually quite rainy, influenced by the ocean near by.  This year they have had drought conditions and now these fires.  We are not sure what we will see on the Camino when we get that far in a few weeks.

Unfortunately there were several places along the way that were not clearly marked and confusing.  We walked through Atapuerca where prehistoric caves were found in 2000.  They say the earliest human remains ever discovered in Europe dating back 900,000 years were found....an exceptional record of the way of life of the first human communities.  The archeological dig is ongoing.

From there we started a long gradual up hill ascent to the highest point  at 3,510 feet.  To the west you can see your first glimpse of Burgos.  There was a metal cross and a labyrinth made from stones at the top.  On the descent my shins started hurting.  By the bottom, the right leg was really slowing me down.  Bummer....letting me know I really needed a day off today, not a 16 mile hike.

Much of the rest of the walk was on asphalt or concrete, which didn't help.  It was a long go into Burgos.  Part of it was a nice park along the River Arlanzon.  Lots and lots of families out foe a walk on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  There are only three Albergues in Burgos...two are small ones run by religious orders and we knew they would be filled by the time we got there.  We weren't sure about the modern municipal hostel just behind the impressive cathedral that has 150 beds, so we went to the Information center.  In the smaller towns the Information center will help you find a place to stay if the hostels are full...not so in Burgos...you are on your own.  So we headed to the large Albergue, hoping they could help us.  The sign on the door said FULL so we went in asking about pensions in the area.  We were very tired and aching by this point.  Then received another gift from God...two beds on the sixth floor were still available.  We were so surprised and grateful.  Tomorrow we will figure out the pension, but for tonight we have what we need, once again.

The labyrinth at the top of the hill.

The view with the beautiful city of Burgos in the distance.

The wonderful, fairly new Albergue where we stayed.  So grateful God held two beds for us!

In the square in front of the magnificent Cathedral of Burgos...a must see when in Spain.