DAY 14 More of Burgos

A special thanks to David Conde at La Caixa for assisting us in getting our cash and being such a wonderful "ambassador" for the City of Burgos.  It is in the small moments of life that people can make a great impact on the day of others.  I know this is true because I know how good I feel when it happens to me.  We genuinely appreciate you treating us like guests and not as customers.  BBVA and Banco Santander (of which I am a shareholder) could do a much better job caring about people and improving the customer service they didn't care to extend to an albeit small, but potential customer.  I can't help but wonder how much more revenue they are foregoing.  I recommend La Caixa to everyone needing banking assistance in Burgos.  To the other employees at La Caixa that helped us, thank you.

We have checked out of our 4 star hotel and we are now in the 2 star Hostal Happy Carrales.  Private room with bath.  It is small, yet comfortable.  No tub or concierge, but the manager is very nice and has a white cat named Mitsy that Vicky and I enjoy petting.

Here are some more pictures of the city of Burgos.

DAYS 13/14 Burgos

We have enjoyed two nights in Burgos.  It is a very beautiful city rich in history.  Vic isn't so much into history, but she always seems to appreciate it when she hears what happened at a location.  Go figure!  The Cathedral, churches, palaces, shops, gate to the city, and fort that was conquered by Napolean are all fun to see.  So many statues.  You really need a lot of days to see it all.  We are staying a third night.

We both have to be careful about how many pictures we take.  We are as giddy as a first timer, eight year old at Disney World.

We  have to confess that it is nice to be able to use our credit cards.  I never thought I would say that since we pay them off every month.  But I do now realize their ease and convenience.

We will leave on a bus to Leon tomorrow (Saturday) at 5:20pm.  As such, I don't know if I will have a chance to post.  Thanks to all of you for your emails, kind words, and comments.  Maryanne, I hope your students don't find the blog too boring.

A young lady in Lograno told us that if we liked the pinchos in Pamplona, the tapas in Lograno, that we had to try the tapas in Burgos.  She said they fix them a little differently.  She was right.  We love the ones with langostino and the ones with sausages.  Neither one of us has conjured up the nerve to try the anchovies.

I have to confess to also dining on a hamburger and nachos.  What can I say,  I'm not perfect, I'm an American.

DAY 12 To Burgos

It was another cool, foggy morning when we left San Juan Ortega.  Our spirits were high as we knew we would be in Burgos tonight.  Real restaurants, supermarkets, deluxe hotels, all of which will take my credit cards.

We quickly walked to and through Ages.  Before long we were walking through Atapuerca.  We were indeed moving at a quick pace.  We travelled on in the fog and soon found ourselves ascending another hilltop above 1,000 meters.  We heard sheep, smelled their aroma, and then saw them.  They were ambivalent to our passing.  Just more peregrine on the Camino.

As we made our way up to Cruciero the terrain became very rocky and somewhat jagged.  Vicky's contempt for the terrain was soon born on me.  It was my idea after all to walk the Camino.  She was in full princess mode and nothing I would do could quickly recover her high spirits.  We soon came upon a poem to pilgrims.  I will have to get someone to translate it for me.

As we were coming down the hill we were joined by a young man and young woman from S. Korea.  I'm not sure if they were a couple.  She had been to the US and was eager to express her love for it.  I told her we love it too.  They explained their was a short cut to Cardenuela Rio Pico that would save us over one kilometer.  We walked with them and Vic's spirit began to recover.  As we entered town there was a bar.  We had few euros left so we split a sandwich, chips, and each had a coke.

I asked the bartender where we could catch a Burgos municipal bus as we have heard many negative things about walking through this side of Burgos.  She said by the hotel.  It turns out the hotel was 5 Kms away.  To make matters worse you have to walk around the Burgos Airport perimeter fence.  I just don't buy into the idea that St. James had to walk around that airport.  Two French peregrine were waiting for the bus and we waited with them.  They said they were going to attempt walking the Mesata between Burgos and Leon.  Not much to see and said to be mind numbing.  We will take the bus to Leon.  My mind is numb enough already thank you.

We arrived downtown and rented a room in  the 4 star hotel Almirante Bonifaz.  We are close to the Cathedtal, shopping, restaurants, and nightlife.  Not that we are eager for nightlife today; but if we wanted it we're here.

Tomorrow will be a day of rest and sightseeing.

DAY 11 To San Juan Ortega

Today started out bad and went downhill the rest of the day.  We exited the Albergue to a cold, misting morning.  Vicky slipped and fell on the moist tile.  She bruised her right elbow, thankfully her backpack prevented her from hitting her head.

Don't believe the part in the movie "The Way" about credit cards.  They are great in Pamplona, Lograno, and the other big cities.  Except for hotel rooms, they just aren't accepted in the small towns.  Trusting in the motto "Visa, it's everywhere you want to be", I didn't get enough euros for this part of the trip.  We are two days away from Burgos and it's ATMs.   We have only €50.  Our plan is to eat tapas and stay in a cheap Albergue.  Since we feasted last night, we had a coke for breakfast and started walking.

As we arrived in Villafranca Monte de Oca, we crossed the pedestrian bridge.  The stream was moving surprisingly fast for such a shallow stream.  I should have remembered from physics about gravity creating velocity.

We tried to find an ATM in Villafranca. No luck.  When we reached the end of town there was a sign that indicated the next town was 12 Kms.  We still had not eaten, but we weren't hungry.  We decided to move on in the fog and mist.  We were immediately confronted with the tallest hill of our trip so far.  We kept going up and up.  I had to stop several times and wasn't sure I was up to this part of the walk.  The peak is over 1000 meters (3,250 feet). No wonder the stream was moving so quickly.

Needless to say we were out of energy and had no food with us.  We were hoping there would be a bar or store somewhere up here.  We rifled through Vicky's backpack and found two small bit-o-honeys.  To make matters worse, the temperature was dropping as we went higher and the fog was getting thicker.  We hoped we did not miss a yellow arrow.  Not that there were many places to go the wrong way.

The views from up there are said to be spectacular.  With the fog, we missed them.  Once we went over the peak the descent was at a very fast pace.  Much of the downside was on a rutted, logging road.  The sun was burning the fog away as we got our first sight of San Juan Ortega.  We had left Villafranca at 10;  we knew this because we heard the church bells.  We arrived at San Juan Ortega a little after two.

We rented two beds in the Albergue for €10, dropped our packs, and went to the bar next door to eat.  The bocadillas was unremarkable, however, the salad was good.  Fresh vegetables were not something I would miss.

Upon our return to the Albergue, I realized just how cold, dark, and grim a place it actually was.  There must have been 48 beds in the room.  All bunk beds with tired, sagging mattresses.  I was reminded by how I had to throw two mattress sets of much better condition away when we sold our house five months ago because the charities would not accept bedding out of fear of bedbugs.  The longer I stared at the mismatched bedding and linens I knew this wouldn't work for me.

To my surprise and horror, Vicky said we paid for them, let's stay.  We saw a small hotel when we entered town.  Having my second princess moment in two days, I knew what I had to do.  Get us a hotel room.  I found out you rent the rooms at the bar.  The bartender said they would take a Visa card for the room.  He swiped my card, the transaction processed, and printed two copies.  He examined the two pieces of paper and said the card didn't work.  The receipt read vente €45.  I was sure they had charged my card.  The bartender did not speak English and I don't speak Spanish. My third princess moment was at hand.  Fortunately, young Josh from California had arrived and he spoke Spanish.  The card had indeed been charged and Josh was able to resolve this with the manager.  Thanks again Josh.

We retired to the hotel room and watched the animal channel in Spanish.  No wifi, but we weren't in that dismal Albergue.

Memo April 9

We have arrived in Burgos.  Wifi is slow and we are tired.  We will post tomorrow and update day 10, 11, and 12 with pics.  Adios.

DAY 10 To the Town After Tosantos

Let me start by telling everyone how wonderful our stay was at the Albergue La Casa de loy Sonrisas in Granon.  It felt for a moment like we had travelled back in time to San Francisco in the 60s.  Love and kindness was indeed genuinely given by our three hosts.  We had a supper of vegetable soup followed by pasta with chicken, wine, bread, and cookies.  It was nice to dine with the other pilgrims and our hosts.  I clumsily dropped the bread on the floor and apologized.  No problem, it was recovered quickly and no one seemed to care.  I guess they have the 3 second rule here too.  Unfortunately, my back was killing and I retired early.  I could hear our hosts, guests, and Vicky talking.  They all had a delightful time.  It turns out Vicky and Christina both make jewelry; a very nice connection for them.  Christina has walked the Camino four times.  She is an experienced and caring hostess.  Not a 3 star as far as facilities, but we give them 5 stars for the experience.

We awoke to a cool morning.  The day was broken up by lots of small towns.  Our goal was to make it to Tosantos.  The church Albergue was said to be visited by sister Theresa and said to be special.  When we arrived, I learned that you sleep on mats on the floor.  Okay, the way my back was hurting I had a princess moment and decided to walk 1.7 Kms to the next town.  We were rewarded by staying at a fairly new, private Albergue with only 14 beds.  As luck would have it, we were the only peregrine staying that night.  Yahoo, a private room for only €12.  Sweet!  The owner did our laundry for €6 and prepared a delicious meal  for €9 each of pasta with sauce, followed by peppered chicken, wine, bread, and cream puffs covered with chocolate syrup for desert.  There went a day's worth of calories spent walking.  No wonder Yost from Amsterdam didn't lose weight on the Camino.  The WIFI was not working so I couldn't post to the blog.  For any wayward peregrine having a princess moment, I highly recommend  this Albergue.

While we were walking we talked with quite a few people.  An American couple that paired up in Madrid as walking friends.  Josh from California and a sweet gal from Utah (sorry I didn't  catch your name).  Josh would turn out to be a big help in a couple of days.  A nice young guy from NY that just has a gift with people;  he will go far!

My favorite picture of the trip so far is of the cat in the window.  He seemed to ask the all important question, why are you walking?  A question shared by Vicky at this point.

DAY 9 To Granon

We slept well in the Albergue in Azofra.  We decided we would try to make it to Granon today.  We walked 22 Kms.  A lot of it was farm land with very few opportunities for ladies to use the restroom. Nature calls and the giant hay stacks provide the cover.

We walked up a tall hill that had a wonderful little park at the top of it.  Cement loungers and a water fountain was provided.  We  then walked by a driving range and club house.  We had arrived at Circuena; a very new looking community with lots of empty homes and buildings.  It appeared to be a boom and bust development.

We headed out to Santo Domingo.  A bit industrial when you arrive from the East, but much nicer when you get downtown.  We had a cold beer and decided to press on.  The temperature was in the mid 70s, but felt much hotter with no wind nor shade.

We  are spending tonight in the Alberque La Casa de Loy Sonrisas, the house of smiles.  It seems like a page out of the 60s, but the host Ernesto is very welcoming.   Vicky complained of sore feet and he got her a plug in foot bath massager and a glass of wine.  She was happy!  The place is a donatavio which means you pay what you can.  We are in a room with 2 beds.  Dinner will be served at 8pm for however many people stay at the Albergue.