Day Fifteen: Burgos is Bangin'
Burgos. A city of history, cathedrals and top-notch Spanish cuisine. We woke up psyched for our walk this morning knowing that this would be our end destination. There were no buses from Ages to Burgos, so despite my injuries I would make the trek on my own two feet.
Madeline and Jim started the morning with us as we climbed rocky hill tops through pastures and vineyards. At the very top we could see the urban sprawl of Burgos- still almost 20km away. This part of the walk became one of our favorite segments because we were able to follow alternate routes, allowing us to walk through rolling hillsides and clay tracks. We also were feeling quite proud that we could make our way into Burgos using sneaky side roads that avoided cemented roadways. Such explorers. Up until this point, I was in love with Burgos and we hadn't even reached the city.
Enter: the outskirts of Burgos. I nearly died- three cobras sunbathing on the pedestrian bridge over the freeway blocked my path. Can you believe it?! No- Cameron couldn't either. I guess if I'm being honest with you I may have overreacted. Fact: there were three snakes sunbathing, but they were only babies. I still stand by the fact that they will grow up to be cobras one day and therefore it was a terrifying sight. Cameron's vote is that they were gardener snakes. He can't take me anywhere.
Well back to why Burgos is both lovely and terrible. The walk in took us through snake pits, cemented roads, around an airport with barbed wire fences and a dump site. This then transitioned into a camp ground with one man car camping, sitting naked on a fold up chair and covering his man bits with a beer can. Burgos? Are you in there?
Thankfully this eventually opened up into a stunning park much like Greenlake in Seattle but two or three times it's size. Bikers, runners and fishermen filled the paths- trees to our left and a river flowing to our right. Buen camino- the people called to us. We walked taller. This park brought us right into the heart of Burgos, which offered all the sites we could have hoped for. Several statues dedicated to El Cid, cathedrals galore and winding pedestrian streets full of tapas bars and specialty shops.
En route to our albergue we 'accidentally' stepped into a hotel on one of these addicting streets and somehow found ourselves booking a room at the Hotel Jacobeo instead. Totally accidental. Whoops. The rest of our evening consisted of indulging in soft serve sundaes, baked goods and the worlds best hamburgers and local wine at La Parrilla.
To summarize: even though Burgos breeds cobras, it was one of my favorite cities on the camino.
