Burgos

I am now in Burgos and have only 501km left to Santiago, while on the one hand that seems like a long way, it is I portent to remember that I have travelled 299 km thus far.  I am feeling pretty good, have had a couple of small blisters but I am thankful that is all.

When I last posted I was in Belorado, it was a delightful town with a nice Albergue and some good food.  Leaving Belorado we were treated to some more hill climbs, the overall elevation gains for the day were a out 500 meters.  The day began with some gentle hills through rolling farmlands, lot of grass bases crops in this area and very little else.  Part way through the day the trail turned sharply wards and I was into the trees for the first time in quite awhile.  The track through the trees for about 12.5 km, while it was pleasant, after that much distance it was nice to come down into the grasslands again to the sleepy little village of San Juan de Ortega.  After a brief rest stop I continued on the the even sleepier little town of Ages.

In Ages, the Albergue provided mattresses on the floor in a big attic room, there were over twenty of us up there and the mattresses were really more like foam pads, not the best night but that is the Camino.  Notwithstanding the acclamation, the owner of the place was a character.  I ate in his "restaurant" that night with a nu, Eric of others and between, his complete lack of English and my pretty minimal Spanish, we all still had a pretty good time, he seemed to like our little group because at the end, a little more wine appeared.

The next day was a bit of a slower start, did not get going until 7:30 or so, no, not because of the wine but because it was a relatively easy 22 km to Burgos and I had reserved a hotel room so there was not the pressure of time.   Leaving Ages in the morning there was a little bit of flat grasslands before the inevitable hill, only a 200 metre hill this time, it is getting better.  The views both forward and back were Gain spectacular, we could see far in front of us the City of Burgos.  Once off the hill it was back to flat land again a a bit of a long slog through the outskirts of Burgos.  The group I was with managed to get a little off course but eventually found our way to the old town and the hotel.

Burgos is a spectacular old town, the classic narrow streets, many of them pedestrian only, lovely big town squares and of course the cathedral.  I have been fortunate in my travels to see many magnificent cathedrals in Europe and this is one of the best, I think it easily surpasses Notre Dame in Paris.  I have taken the day off today to let my feet and body rest, it is lovely to,sleep in a bed with no one else in the room and to have a shower with room to move and no one waiting impatiently for you to finish.  

Last night a group of us found a lovely tapas bar, enjoyed some marvellous creations and a good bottle of wine, oh yes, and the tapas bar was. Michelin starred facility, no wonder it was good.  Dinner was with a mixed groups of nationalities again and included a little bit of Sangria.  Today I have spent my time doing the cathedral tour, wandering Round the town and of course eating a little bit.  It will be hard to get going again tomorrow, I will be evading into the Meseta for several days of long and very flat Nd likely uninteresting walking, some say it is torture, some say it is the most introspective time of the trip, I suspect by the time I do my next post I will have my own views.

Until next time

If you look at the little bit of brown on the top left of the picture you will get a sense of the walker's view of the way forward, while well in the distance, we get there eventually

Beautiful downtown Ages

Plaza Mayor in Burgos

The cathedral

Looking down from El Castillo

Looking out towards the Meseta

Street in Burgos