Camino Francis, Rest Day

 No up & out the door time today. I was able to sleep in until 6:30ish. Got on my phone, made a couple of  reservations @ Albergues for May1&2. Burgos was my last town that I had per-booked my Camino accommodations, so now I am doing just 1-2 days ahead. Today’s weather shows clouds w/ sun but no rain. Well we all known how that has been working out. It looks to stay in the upper 50’s to upper 60’s today. I’ll take my rain jacket just in case though.

My first order of business was to go and get some breakfast. I chose to stay and eat at the hotel. They had a pretty decent selection of food, and most important cafe con Leche. Some of you may be wondering what exactly is a Café con Leche. It is basically a cappuccino without all the foam. I would describe it as more of between a latte and a cappuccino. So the next time you are in a Starbucks, ask your barista to make you a café con Leche, and see if they know what it is.

The next thing on my agenda was to gather all my dirty clothes and head over to the coin laundromat, which was about five minute walk from my hotel. This particular coin laundromat, you don’t have to put in the soap or in my case my the washer sheets that I brought.  These machines dispenses the soap as it is being washed, or so they say. I cost 5 euros for a wash And the dryers are set at 15 minute intervals at 1euro. I wanted to get my laundry done early because these coin laundromats can fill up really fast, especially with all the pilgrim staying around here. I met Bob and Claire two pilgrims from San Diego, at the laundromat. This is their 2nd time walking the Camino. They started from Saint Jean on the 13th which was five days before I started. So they are just kind of taking their time walking the Camino and they actually hit snow on top of the pass going over the Pyrenees. They also said that a couple people had to be rescued by helicopter that day😬. I also meet an Australian man, Jason, who now lives in the US (Phoenix) & snowbirds here in Burgos for the summer. He said Burgos is a great city, and just loves it here. I was also informed that it is a some type of National Holiday in Spain tomorrow, but the receptionist at my hotel, informed me that the cafes & restaurants will still be open on my walk tomorrow. 

Another task completed, grocery store. Picked up a smaller water bottle to carry instead of that big 2L bottle I picked-up in Granon, after I lost my original bottle. Also purchased a bag of mixed nuts, 2 tangerines, banana, & a sleeve of Oreo cookies🤣, I am weak!!!!!

Next stop, was to the Summit hiking store. I have been wanting a pair of open toe Teva’s. I have my Keen sandals but they are a bit heavy and they are a closed toe sandal. I have seen quite a few pilgrims hiking in there Teva’s. My good fortune they had just what I was looking for, WhoooHoooo!!. I also purchased a piece of Paracord and a Carabiner and I was able to make something similar to what I had before for my water bottle holder. This way my water bottle still hangs off my pack strap, just like before. Just call me MacGyver!!!. The man at the hiking shop was actually kind of impressed with that idea.

I am making great progress on my list of chores. Next thing on my list to accomplish is, go through my pack and take out everything that I’m not going to use or live without. Currently at the post office right now. I put all my stuff into a box and sending to Ivar who is someone we follow in Santiago. He has a luggage transfer service, but you can also send him things to hold until you get to Santiago. I am sending my Keen’s, puffy jacket, a shirt, pair of socks, gloves, beanie, and my IKEA bag that I put my pack in when I fly on the plane

1:20pm, and all my chores are done. I was able to offload 4 1/2 pounds. That is amazing. I’ll literally be running down the path now OK maybe not running. So now I am off to do the tour of the Cathedral. Weather update, still mostly cloudy w/ the sun peaking through at times.

15:30pm, that was a awesome tour of the Cathedral. I was able to use my own earbuds and do the audio tour. It’s hard to fathom, the first actual stone of the Cathedral was laid down around 1221. There was a much smaller church on this location prior to the building of this Cathedral. Burgos, the city, was becoming an important aspect of this region at that time, so a bigger church was needed. It has actually been built in many phases. Each monarchy wanted to put their own on stamp on the church, hence all the different styles of the Cathedral. My mom would have spent hrs just walking through this Cathedral. It’s a visual history lesson in art works, stone sculptures, architectural designs, stain glass, wood/metal work, etc…all incorporated in this massive beautiful structure.

Currently sitting at a cafe  in the main courtyard of the Cathedral. Actually it is not a courtyard but a plaza. Plaza Rey San Fernando, fancy right. Found this nice restaurant, perfect view of the Cathedral. Sitting out side, ordered a salami & cheese pizza w/ a Coke Zero. I scarf that down, pay my bill and off to explore the town a bit. I find myself high above the city, where I find a Castle that is being renovated, but the views of the city below are awesome. The sun has finally broken through and it has given me a perfect view of the city and the surrounding landscape. It is green as far as I can see. I head back into town, coming across two more churches. My goodness, how many churches does one little town need. I have one last chore to do before I hit the trail tomorrow, and that is go get some money. It’s always a good idea to get you spending money in the bigger towns than in the small towns or villages. It’s just a little bit safer. 

I bumped into one of my Camino pilgrims friends at the Cathedral. He said a few people were getting together around 8 for dinner, and I was invited to go. Not really a big fan of eating dinner at 8pm, but I told him, sure I would be there. 

A little update on what’s in store for the next few days. I will be entering what is known as the Meseta. The Meseta is a flat, 130+ mile stretch between Burgos & Astorga. It contains endless fields of wheat & sunflowers. This is where the mental aspect of the walk starts. Where as up to this point it’s has been more of a physical challenge, now we get into the miles and miles of  quiet solitude. Think of it as walking from Barstow to Needles on Interstate 40, just long stretches of the same thing. But the advantage of walking the Camino this time of the yr., the Meseta will be green, green, green with hopefully some pretty wildflowers. Of course there are plenty of small villages along the way and places to eat & sleep. I am estimating it will take me a good 5 days, I figure to get through it. Then on the other side, is the town of Leon, another metropolitan city. 

I thoroughly plan on seeing a new crop of pilgrims on this next stretch. Mainly because everyone is on a different agendas. Some pilgrims are walking slower, some faster, some who didn’t even stop in Burgos, but kept on walking. I am kind of surprised that I haven’t seen many of the pilgrims, that started around the same time as I did, here in Burgos. Tomorrow’s walk out of town is by far shorter than the walk into town. I will be walking to Hontanas, about a 19 mile walk. But the weather forecast does show possible rain showers for tomorrow. ☔️

Stats- Burgos, Day +12 Rest Day

Miles- 6.5, still managed to put some miles in.

Duration- 0

Elevation- 0

Temp- mid 50’s to mid 60’s

Song- InThe City, The Eagles

 Thanks for reading. It’s back to the trail, no more slacking off.