Burgos in the Rearview Mirror

Rabe de las Calzadas, Spain
Burgos was dimly lit with pilgrims as the only sign of life as we got underway today. We'd scarfed down some bakery goodies purchased the night before with a boxed orange juice chaser but were hoping to find some coffee on the way out. The first town after Burgos isn't for 10 km, and we know from experience that getting your Fitbit buzz before coffee isn't a good thing. The first place we encountered was packed with pilgrims on the same mission, with the line out the door. Didn't get up early to waste the day standing in line, so we kept going. Just before we exited the city gates, we encountered a small store advertising the last coffee stop for 10 km and no line. We're in! Inhaling a small plastic cup of what passed for café con leche, we continued on. Today's path took us past wheat fields recently harvested, more sunflowers, and potatoes finally. Potatoes seem to be a staple of most meals here, but thus far the soil was not conducive to such a root crop. Now we know where they grow... on the meseta of course! We walked for a while with a French lady who had been living in England for 20 years and has a grown son there as well. She was concerned about the impact of Brexit and issues it might pose for her since she travels quite a bit. She has a year to figure it out and is contemplating moving back to France. Oh, the trickledown effect of politics. Another walking companion was a Hungarian obstetrician on a sabbatical and due to start an ultrasound fellowship in London in November. We had an interesting conversation about life while comparing notes on healthcare systems. Her English was impeccable, far better than our nonexistent Hungarian. She piqued our curiosity and we'll have to add Hungary to our travel list (after the Camino). We were sorry to part ways, but she's doing 30 km today and we are stopping after 13.3km in the tiny village of Rabe de las Calzadas. The short day will hopefully give Mike's shin splints another day to heal before tomorrow's 27.6 km journey to Castrojeriz. Over lunch we chatted with a fellow who divides his time between Seattle and Argentina. He and his wife are marathoners, covering 30-40 km a day on the Camino. They rented bikes in Burgos for the flat stretch of the meseta, and quickly discovered that it involved entirely different muscle groups not to mention those pitifully uncomfortable little seats. He swore he was thinking of leaving the thing by the side of the road. Easy to laugh at and so glad we resisted that temptation.Læs mere