Going For A Walk

Blog

  • Quiet Day

    My “off day”in Burgos happened exactly as planned. Great night sleep, laundry done this morning, I walked around, took a nap and getting ready for restarting my walk tomorrow. Holy Thursday is a big deal here. Not sure if it’s just Burgos, or all over Spain. It seemed like a quasi-holiday with a lot of families walking around. There were processional bands, roaming around the old town near the cathedrals, lots of flags and official looking people wearing white and purple smocks.

    I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning. I’m finding it harder to find space in the alberques. Not sure if it’s because of Holy Week, or more people joining the Camino. I’m set for the next two towns….I’ll be looking for availability as I travel west.

  • The alter of the church of Saint Lesmes, the patron saint of Burgos.
  • The front of the Burgos Cathedral. Built in the gothic style, meant to rival the other great cathedrals of France, Germany and Italy.

  • Burgos

    April 16. 13 mile walk this morning. I left the alberque at 6:30. I hiked up a large hill, to find a huge cross and a South Korean pilgrim insisting that he take my picture. The cross and the fog and the sun rising behind me is the picture below. Not sure why he needed to have me pose for the shot (my Korean is really rusty!). I think it looks kind of creepy, but people that I’ve showed it to, seem to like it. Another act of kindness on the Camino. I’m in Burgos now. A bustling and busy city with lots of links to Castile royalty, the church, wealth and the Camino. The #1 attraction here is the Cathedral. I took a self guided tour of the church. The art and architecture of this gothic masterpiece was unbelievable. In fact, it bordered on too much. Every cardinal, bishop, wealthy patron needed to add their “look at me” statement to the place. It was incredibly impressive. I’ve included a couple of the many photos that I took of the interior. What I also found out that by identifying myself as a pilgrim, the normal 12 Euro admission fee was reduced to 5 Euro. Score one for the pilgrims budget!

    Tomorrow is my first rest day, or “zero kilometer” day since I began. My first chore is to head to the laundromat to wash my clothes, most of which I haven’t cleaned since I left Cambridge. I think I’m a little ripe!

    I had dinner tonight with 3 Germans and a Brazilian. We had a good time, but by 8:30 everyone started looking at their watches, looking to pay the bill and head to our beds. Pilgrims are not party animals. Early to rise for our Camino walk and early to bed.

  • 3-D presentation of the crowning of Mary in one of the side chapels.
  • Exterior of the cathedral.
  • One of the many tableaus hand carved in alabaster in the cathedral.
  • One of the side chapels in the Cathedral of Burgos. It’s the resting place for one of Burgos’ major patrons.
  • Old City Gate of Burgos.
  • Sunrise on top of a mountain outside of Ages, Spain.