Spain
Plaza Mayor

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    • Day 22

      Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos

      September 26, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      Pospalismy sobie do 8:30 i po wykonaniu rytuałów porannych i śniadaniu, ruszyliśmy oglądać miasto. Głównym celem był dzisiaj odpoczynek, także kręciliśmy się głównie po starym mieście. Poczta, bank i apteka i na koniec perełka dnia- Katedra. Spędziliśmy tam chyba 3-4 godziny nie wiedząc kiedy minął czas.
      Żeby to wszystko ogarnąć będzie potrzeba kilka dobrych zimowych wieczorów z książką i dobrym winem.
      Czuliśmy się zalani ilością sztuki w postaci głównie rzeźb i obrazów i każdy jeden miał tyle emocjonalnych treści, że bardzo łatwo było się w tym pogubić, do tego jeszcze własną interpretacje, która często wysyłała w przeróżne często nieprzewidywalne krainy.
      Budowla tak naprawdę zaczęła się od romańskiej ale później przeszła na wysublimowany gotyk. Wnętrze głównie wykończone w stylu barokowym i renesansowym. Mam nadzieję, że oglądając zdjęcia zrobione dzisiaj będą natchnieniem nad dalszym zgłębieniem zakamarków i sekretów tej świątyni w niedalekiej przyszłości.
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    • Day 14

      Day 11 - Things to do and people to see

      September 26, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

      “There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.” - Rita Dove

      Day 11 - Burgos - approx 12km around the city

      Fairly successful day, in other ways than walking:
      • I was able to make a physio appointment for tomorrow at 10am, so happy to stay for that.
      • I got some warmer clothing including a jacket, which will be much needed in the days and weeks to come.
      • Had tapas and wine with a lovely lady named Monica that I have met before
      • Went up to the Castello Burgos - the highest point of the city and a great outlook point
      • Sorted out my next stages and have beds for the next 3 nights (I hate having to book ahead!)
      • Attended Pilgrim Mass at the Burgos Cathedral
      • Caught up with other pilgrims that are in the city, that I have seen throughout my journey so far

      This was a great rest day - if you can call still walking 12km a rest day. It was a cool but sunny day and a great day for exploring the city centre. I love the wide plazas and pedestrianized areas. We really should have more of these in Canada. The buildings are all so old and generally in this area of the city, well kept. Unlike the villages I pass through, there are very few abandoned looking buildings. Again, in this area at least, as I have not ventured very far.

      The old Castello was interesting. The rampart walls are still standing and look like quite a feat of engineering. First layer is 2.3m thick!! I loved the overview of the city from up there!

      This evening was a mass and pilgrim blessing at the cathedral. I am not catholic and did not understand a word other than Pilgrim and Buen Camino, but it was a beautiful chapel and service. As a pilgrim, I feel this has to be experienced at least once. I know I will also attend the pilgrim mass in Santiago, if and when I make it there.

      Although no steps were taken on my Camino today, I F eel like I have gotten a lot accomplished and I am ready for tomorrow. After my appointment, the plan is to have a short walking day - 12km or so, just so I get back into the swing of things.

      Here’s hoping tomorrow is a great day!
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    • Day 18

      Day 16 - To Burgos

      September 24, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

      Day 17 -To Burgos
      23 kms; Difficulty 1/3

      It was a cooler day with misty rain throughout my walk. I am in desperate need of more clothes because I have one pair of pants and the only long sleeve shirt I had I inadvertently left at one of the previous Albergues! And it’s getting cold in the mornings. I’m looking forward to getting to Burgos. In fact I am planning to spend an extra day there to tour some highlights and buy a few clothes.

      Enroute to Burgos I passed a small town called Atapuerca, famous for its archeological site.
      It became a world heritage site by UNESCO on November 30, 2000. This is where greater than 90% of prehistoric humanoid artefacts in all of Europe were found, including a new species identified as “homo antecessor”(dated .77 to 2.5 million years ago) and the last common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals. They were thought to have been cannibalistic.

      I had to laugh at what was written on this arrow sign. Some pilgrims have quite a sense of humour!

      The path was particularly difficult in spots today. With lack of concentration it was a recipe for twisting/spraining an ankle or falling and worse!

      I am wondering if anyone can guess what this road sign means!
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    • Day 19

      Day 17 - Day in Burgos

      September 25, 2022 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

      Day 17 - Day in Burgos

      I was looking so forward to shopping in Burgos. But much to my dismay and bad timing, today is Sunday and ALL the stores are closed!!! So there will be no shopping which is really unfortunate!

      Today the day started with a confusing and discouraging morning. I looked forward to the day off the trail, yet I was itching to get back walking. I felt lonely and isolated. If I said the Camino Trail does not involve soul-searching, I would be telling a lie!

      But my day improved, thankfully. I moved to another hotel which was closer to the Cathedral and Museum. I was fortunate to be able to tour the Museum of Human Evolution which was amazing!! It contains so much interesting information about evolution and archeological finds, some from the nearby village of Atapuerca which I mentioned yesterday. I have included a few pictures. I won’t bore you with all the things I found interesting, but these pictures are particularly interesting. I recommend you take a minute to read them.
      I then toured the cathedral, which was beyond belief!!! I took a million pictures and here is just a taste. Of course pictures never do justice to something so beautiful!
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    • Burgos and Rest Day Tomorrow!

      September 11, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

      I was not going to walk this morning, but once I got up with all of the other 7 bunk-mates in the Albergue (they were just in my room—many more pilgrims throughout! I thought I would try to walk as far as I could and get a bus to Burgos if I needed to—but I managed ok.
      I am so happy to be in a hotel with a private bathroom! Another bonus, I know I won’t have any snorers in my room!

      I love being part of the Camino community, and much of this entails hostel and Albergue living. We are sharing bathrooms and bedrooms. 99.9% of pilgrims are quiet, considerate, and so much fun to get to know. We truly encourage each other and look out for each other. The toughest nights I have had thus far were the 16-bunk mixed dorm. Men and women mixed among the 16 twin bunk beds. We had one men’s bathroom, one women’s stall, and 2 showers.

      The race is on once you get your bed assignment because everyone is hot, sweaty, and dusty from walking all day. A shower is usually the #1 thing I do once I arrive. Then there is the necessity to wash your clothes! There are generally just a few sinks to wash out your clothes and find space on the clothesline — so they dry by morning! Some of the albergues will either do your laundry for a small amount or you can find a laundry mat—which is typically positioned by a bar! Makes washing and drying clothes go by a bit faster!

      The Camino is the trail and the people—and it is quite an international group. Not just Europeans. I have made friends with individuals from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, and of course, all over Europe and the USA.

      P.S. I am so humbled by the prayers! I am so thankful for getting to see a doctor yesterday and really believe I will get to feeling like new soon! ✝️💜
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    • Day 22

      Highlights from a Sunday in Burgos

      October 9, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Starting with the Pilgrims mass in the Cathedral this morning to having a birds-eye view from the top of the Castillo to seeing how history is being preserved through the Museo del Retablo here in Burgos we have learned a lot & enjoyed our weekend here.

      This afternoon the sky was blue and it was about 73 degrees. The streets were packed with families enjoying the summer- like weather. We walked from one end of the city to the other enjoying the culture and people.

      We are back to our hotel early tonight. The city was hopping until about 4 AM this morning (our room has a window facing out to a main street in the city) I barely slept last night as Bugos won the soccer match last night. The city was celebrating! In bed early to start back on the Camino in the morning.
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    • Day 29

      Burgos

      October 10, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Don't let me stay in Burgos long. No chance of losing any weight here. The Spanish have mastered lolly shops, when it's siesta and everything in town is shut, there will be a shop that just sells lollies still open. But in Burgos we find the refined lolly shop, with nougat and marsipan and the smell of nuts roasting across the plaza. Blueberry nougat anyone?

      I digress. Burgos, home of the UNESCO World Heritage Cathedral of Santa Maria, in the Gothic style and influenced by the great Notre Dame in Paris, is a rather lovely place. I like walking by the Arlanzon River in the gorgeous tree covered arbors and people watching in the Plaza Mayor.

      There are cute statues everywhere devoted to the common man, lovely gardens, many historic buildings of course, and plenty of churches and museums. Kids clothes shops abound in Spain. It would cost a fortune to be a grandmother here. Too much cuteness temptation.

      Back to that Cathedral. I pay tribute to the amazing architects, artists, stonemasons, painters, sculptors and more that worked with great skill and mastery over the centuries to create what we see today. The money spent supporting these sorts of endeavours is why Europe has such a fine history in the arts. The church was first started in Roman times and greatly extended, modified and decorated over many centuries. My photos do it no justice and it abounds in fabulous ceilings, vaults, chapels and stained glass.

      The cynic in me was however somewhat appalled by the huge amount of money and resources that basically went into building fancy crypts for bishops, rich people and their families. Two thirds of the cathedral tour was for the many side chapels built for burial of the wealthy. I can't find much appreciation for things built from the wealth of Spanish colonisation, the Inquisition or the successes of the Spanish Armada. I not sure where God and Jesus asked for all these grand gestures or how a fancy crypt gets you closer to heaven but I'm pretty sure it was at the expense of the poor, the pilgrims and the indigenous of half the planet so it puts a pretty big dampener on the admiration.

      Heading off tomorrow across the plains. It's about ten days to Leon.
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    • Day 22

      Burgos

      September 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

      Kolejny dzień w Burgos. Pospaliśmy dzisiaj do 10 rano, pewnie organizm tego potrzebował. Po krótkiej naradzie zdecydowaliśmy się na pozostanie jeszcze jednego dnia w Burgos. Myślę że to się przyda.
      Po opanowaniu logistyki dnia następnego ruszyliśmy do opactwa Kartuzjanow, tzn zawiozła nas tam taksówka. Jest to bardzo urokliwe i wyjątkowe miejsce, w którym chętnie można zatopić się w myślach i nie chętnie wraca się do rzeczywistości. Kartusjanie zostali założeni przez Sw. Bruno, który poprzez milczenie i pracę, jak i również wewnętrzną kontemplację, odkrywał tajemnice wiary. Ich klasztory są w różnych częściach świata, również w Kartuzach koło Gdańska co jeszcze bardziej przybliża ich do naszych serc.
      W małym oddaleniu od Burgos na wzgórzu, perełka wyrzeźbiona misternie w kamieniu przyciąga swoim pięknem, harmonią i spokojem, który jest wyrazem doskonałego zmysłu architektów i budowniczych tego miejsca, przede wszystkim wspaniałego rzeźbiarza Giles od Siloe, który wyrzeźbił większość tutejszych dzieł sztuki. Jest tam grobowiec króla Juana II i jego żony Izabeli Portugalskiej. Jej córka Izabela Catholica razem z bratem Alfonso mają również swój grobowiec zaraz obok. Jest to dzieło wykonane w alabastrze z niesamowitą ilością detali i ponoć nadal można odkrywać w nim nowe elementy, które do tej pory były nie zauważalne. Obie Izabele były bardzo brzydkie i przedwcześnie się zestarzały. Również faktem jest to, że Izabela Portugalska nie mogła mieć dzieci ale po dwukrotnym spotkaniu z San Juan de Ortega (przyjacielem San Domingo), który miał moc w ciążach miała dwójkę dzieci.
      Główny ołtarz również jest bardzo skomplikowany z wieloma motywami i warto przeczytać opis bo zupełnie się to inaczej wtedy widzi . Blisko centrum ołtarza jest Maria Magdalena, która jest moja ulubiona świętą, także jej obecność dodatkowo wzbudziła pozytywne emocje.
      Taksówka zawiozła nas z powrotem do centrum koło katedry, gdzie spędziliśmy resztę dnia. Mieliśmy okazję posmakować hiszpańskiej szynki w najlepszym wydaniu (Wague beef). Do naszego repertuaru napojów dostało się calimocho, które jest na równi piękne jak Tinto de Verano. Jest to po prostu czerwone wino zmieszane pół na pół z coca colą i plasterkiem cytryny. Polecam.
      Powstało on przez inwencję organizatorów festiwalu gdzie okazało się że wino jest lekko słabe i aby uratować imprezę wymyślili, aby zmieszać wino z coca colą i proszę stał się cud.
      Wieczór spędziliśmy z przyjaciółmi z Camino pijąc, jedząc i gawędząc do późnego wieczora.
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    • Day 21

      Burgos

      September 8, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      Na szczęście noc w 8 osobowym pokoju upłynęła bardzo spokojnie. Nie było spadających pluskiew i nikt z lokatorów nie chrapał i nikt nie kursował do toalety.... O godzinie 6 zaczęli się wszyscy szykować do kolejnego dnia wędrówki, więc i ja spakowałam swój plecak i ruszyłam w drogę. Dzisiejszy droga do Burgos zajęła mi ok 7 godzin, który upłynęły na wspinaczce po kamienistej drodze do symbolicznego krzyża w miejscu którego rozpościerała się piękna panorama Burgos, jednak jeszcze wciąż odległa. Potem droga wiodła szosą asfaltową, następnie wzdłuż miejscowego lotniska, a ostatni odcinek przez uroczy miejski park wzdłuż rzeki , aż do centrum miasta, gdzie znajduje się nasz hotel na najbliższe dwie noce. A co będzie dalej zależeć będzie od gojenia się Tomkowego palucha. Dlatego dzisiaj bardzo ostrożnie, nie wypuszczając się daleko, wybraliśmy się na obiad w pobliżu katedry, od której trudno jest oderwać wzrok, szczególnie wieczorem, kiedy jest pięknie podświetlona. Za Tomkiem od dawna chodziła pokusa spróbowania lokalnego przysmaku, małego grillowanego prosiaczka. Dzisiaj marzenia się spełniły. Po prosiaczkowej uczcie jesteśmy gotowi na nocny wypoczynek. Myśl, że jutro można pospać "do oporu" bardzo nas cieszy.Read more

    • Day 17

      Burgos

      April 24, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      Another sizeable day with favourable tail winds and flat terrain- it took more than 2 hrs to have climbed 30metres! Just as well as all I could find for breakfast was doughnuts. Palencia looked interesting but seemed a hassle after the open roads. That said, my new best friend, Arno from Carcasonne, agreed too. He is cycle touring and our paths crossed several times today. After casteljeriz everything changed: we joined the Camino Santiago. Where there was no body there now were ramblers every 50 yards. Literally. And it's only April. My bell got a good work out. With the Camino also came lots of signs ( following EuroVelo 1 too: haven't seen signs for that sine day 1) and lots of auberges/ cafes, but also a choice between road (indirect: long day) and gravel( direct: sore bum) . Hotel central in Burgos which looks like a lovely cityRead more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Plaza Mayor

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