A Much Needed Rest

The final push to Burgos was a long day, with a lot of elevation. We left San Juan early in the morning and blew through the first few towns while it was still dark and nothing was even open yet. We were navigating by headlamp, and nearly missed our turn a few times, but thankfully ended up on the right path — all the more important today, as there were two different Camino routes into Burgos, and we wanted to make sure we took the scenic route that didn't spend all afternoon trudging past industrial plants.

The towns we passed were unexpectedly artistic, and we saw some really beautiful murals along our way.

We started climbing up into the hills just before Burgos with a thick fog enveloping us, making it impossible to see anything until you were almost there. On the one hand, this probably prevented us from getting excited too early when we saw Burgos in the distance. On the other, it meant that when we passed a sign saying "This is the most beautiful view on the entire route to Santiago", all we could see was... The sign.

The climb became very steep, and filled with loose rocks. At some point in this climb, one of my companions' blisters popped. This was no small blister either, we had been documenting its growth daily for quite a while, and it even had a name. We stopped for an emergency medical session, and everyone pitched in to disinfect the blister and find a way to bandage it that wouldn't hurt.

(I received permission, and in fact, a request, to include this photo of Claire and her blister triage.)

I also caught some wasps when we stopped for lunch, after they wouldn't quit bothering people.

After this we started our approach into the Burgos metro area, and despite this being the scenic route, we were nevertheless treated to a 30 minute, up-close view of the Burgos airport as we hiked its full length, in full sun. We were ready for some food following that, but the only restaurant we could find was terribly disorganized and had hardly any food. We did eventually realize that, this being Europe, we could simply ask for toasted bread with butter and jam, which many of us proceeded to do.

Full of carbs, we made the final push, following a path along the river until it turned into part of a public park, and then into downtown Burgos. We beelined for our accomodations; no albergue this time for us, but rather a hotel. We had found a hotel that sold three-bed rooms which were only marginally more expensive than a number of the albergues we had stayed in, and jumped at the opportunity. After a brief check-in snafu, we luxuriated in showers that were as long and hot as we wanted, with real towels and soap we didn't have to bring ourselves. One of us even took a bath!

Refreshed, we headed out to explore the town, checking out some vintage stores in the area. I didn't buy anything, but I did find a Herky plush backpack, and it was a fun surprise finding something from Iowa in Spain! My companions then headed to mass, while I went back to the hotel to take a nap, as I was starting to feel the cold that had been going around coming on, and was hoping to head it off.

Once mass was done, we all met up again for sushi, enjoying our ability to get non-Spanish food for once. Unlike the last time we tried to get Japanese food, this time it was real, legitimate sushi, and we had a great time getting some variety. Then we headed straight for the hotel, eager to go to bed and excited for what we were doing the next day — nothing! For the first time this trip, we were taking a rest day, and the idea of not having to pick up our bags and walk tomorrow was exhilarating.