Day 14 - Burgos

Today was our day off in Burgos.

Although yesterday was neither long nor hard, the 12 days and 295 km we have walked so far have had a cumulative wearing down effect, and a rest was in order.

Last night we meet a perigrino from Montreal who was doing the Camino in the reverse direction (having done 1,600km on the Camino starting in France and going to Santiago last year).  We had a great chat over supper, knowing that we would not see him again as he was going in the opposite direction.  It sounds like he is quite the world traveller and we discussed places we had each been, comparing notes, and places he or we had been. He is going Israel next and we told him the places we had been there on our pilgrimage with Emmanuel in 2012. He is not planning on going through any check points (ie, going to any Palestinian territories). We said he really should go to Bethlehem.

The restaurant, which we chose because it offered a Peregrino special, was almost empty when we arrived at 8pm (the time they started to serve dinner), and by the time we had consumed our meals, it was standing room only.  Families and singles, mostly non-pilgrim's eating the same perigrino meal we had just finished.  He didn't even have a stamp to stamp our pilgrim passports. Perhaps it is the historical district's inexpensive eatery?

This morning we went down to a very nice breakfast with lots of variety and healthy options, but still no bacon and eggs (which Russ is interested in).  The only thing missing Lynn would have appreciated is granola.

Walking around Plaza Santa Maria outside the cathedral yesterday we never saw any indication of what time mass was, only signs about tours of the cathedral. On the way to breakfast we asked the hotel clerk 'do you know what time mass is at the cathedral this morning?' She said 'sorry, I don't understand, what is mass?' Taken back a bit Lynn said 'you know, Catolico misa' and then made like she was receiving and then eating a host. The clerk said, 'oh, but its Sunday, they probably aren't open today'. This is life in a secular society. Unbelievable.

We went over to the Cathedral to the ticket office and were told mass was at ten and waved off in the general direction. It turned out mass was held every hour of the day. We ended up in the wrong chapel, but figured that out quickly enough when mass actually started. It was in Spanish of course so totally undecipherable, but the chapel was magnificent and the 40 minutes passed quickly just admiring the alter and domes.

We have found along the Camino so far that paying your dues by attending mass grants you free access to tour the church. This was definitely not the case here but we did get in for half price with our pilgrim passport. We then spent 2 and a half hours touring the magnificient Catedral de Santa Maria.  This is one of the most beautiful of the cathedrals in Spain, and it isn't very long before you go into sensory overload.  You are led through the church by your (thankfully available in english) audio guide, with every turn revealing more amazing sights than those which you had just seen.  The cathedral was built in the 1200's but has been added to and revised ever since.

We also wanted to go to the museum of Evolution which the tourist office told us was open today until 8pm. We ran into Jack and Margie who had just been there and said it closed at 3.  It was now 1pm.

We wanted to hurry up and were tired of the usual cheese and ham baquette lunch. Instead, we had a donair served by a Spanish speaking Pakistani.  His family had come to Spain in 2005 to escape conditions back home.  The sandwich was delicious. Once again, the  comforting familiar.

Burgos is a beautiful city, with areas designed for walking.  Near the hotel there is a tree lined street, with shops, grass, trees, statues, fountains and benches.  People walking  or sitting, the kind of place that Sparks Street should be.

The afternoon was spent at the Museo de la Evolution Humana.  Fortunately it really was open until 8pm and we were there from 1:30 to 5pm. The museum narrates the history of human evolution using static and dynamic displays, and various audio/visual presentations.  The museum takes you through the last 7 million years of evolution, with an emphasize on the finds at the Sierra de Atapuerca (which we passed on the trail yesterday).  Actual fossils discovered at Atapuerca are on display, including those of the newly discovered "homo antecessor".  More info can be found at www.museoevolucionhumana.com

We could have gone back to Atapuerca by bus to view the dig site but the bus left at noon and returned at 5pm, the tour was in Spanish and the dig site is 500+ metres underground, a place where Lynn wouldn't go anyway. The museum was excellent. Having been on the dig in Bethsaida, we think we probably knew what we would see in Atupeurca.

After being on our feet from 10am to 5pm it was back to the hotel to rest from our rest day.We figure we could easily have walked the average daily Camino distance of 22km in that time. So much for our day of rest!

Summary - a very poor day of rest, actually doing as much walking as on a normal day.  Burgos is a lovely, vibrant city where one could spend much more time.  Tomorrow we start the mesa, which is supposed to be spiritually difficult.