Thursday, May 24, 2018, 24 kms … 15 miles … Cloudy and Cool
“Our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.” ~ John the Apostle
Today was an exciting day but also a sad day. We were all excited about walking into Burgos. We all had a few errands we needed to do in Burgos. Errands? What kind of errands? This was a big city with shopping. Some needed a cell phone card while others a fanny pack. We all were excited about the Cathedral.
Now the sad part was we were losing a family member today. Sue was walking into Burgos with some new friends. He also had to make a change in plans. He was needing to get back home sooner than he expected because he just got a job as he was walking!! So, he was going to bus from Burgos to Astorga and then walk into Santiago! We were so happy for him but at the same time so sad to see him go!
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia was still with us. Today was her final day walking with us. She would stay in Burgos an extra day and meet her friends and then proceed to Santiago.
Morning Walk
This morning was absolutely perfect. The sunrise was beautiful and the air was crisp and cool. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Our routine seemed to be to walk for about 2 hours before stopping for our breakfast and first break. As I said earlier in the posts, morning is the best time of the day. Your body is fresh and the weather is cooler. We looked at the map and decided to stop around Cardenuela Riopico.
The terrain was nice, mostly dirt paths this morning. As we left Ages we were going downhill which quickly turned to an incline. The path was nice and at the top of the hill was a huge cross. We decided it was a great spot for some photos.
Today’s walk had many options. The path would give you choices a few times. One of those choices was right after the peak, so we had to pay attention. It is easy to miss a turn on the Camino even when there are markers. Especially if you are talking or not paying attention. The path to the left would lead us to the café options. So, we definitely turned left, it was breakfast time.
Breakfast
What a surprise for breakfast! We stopped at this little café and to our surprise they had smoothies and other options! Of course, they offered a tortilla, but a smoothie. I was definitely getting a smoothie. Cale was brave and went with a blood sausage sandwich, no thank you! We enjoyed this break. Nice clean restrooms and great atmosphere.
Onward, next break Castanares
Our next break would be Castanares, which was only 4 kms away. We figured let’s stop there and then just another 4 kms into Burgos. Good Plan! Our group works well together. I love how we could make plans and we always agreed. Simple.
We didn’t really see other pilgrims we knew today, not sure what time everyone left. So, we just kept going and talking among ourselves. It so much fun when we all are just talking and laughing. We stayed together at times and then walked separately as well. Minh was doing well today; his blisters were not causing much pain. Poor guy, he has had blisters for most of the Camino.
Just after our breakfast, we hit another spot where we needed to make a choice. The choice was to walk straight along the highway into Burgos or turn to the left and walk in a park into Burgos. We chose the latter. We wanted trees and not the loud cars. Now to find the turn off.
We saw the sign and turned left but then all 6 of us missed the next sign and we made a circle around an apartment complex. Then back out to the beginning to look for the sign.
“There it is! Someone yells” Off we went down the hill, still unsure of our decision because the sign was old and very hard to read. We didn’t feel better until we made it to the bottom of the hill and saw another sign around the corner. Perfect, now we can walk with confidence.
Castanares
We made our way to Castanares and found ourselves a café. Cafe con Leche please! As we sat down to enjoy ourselves, we said Buen Camino to a couple sitting at a table. We started to talk to them. We asked the normal Camino questions.
Where are you from? Where did you start the Camino?
We were all feeling pretty good about ourselves. We have walked 12 days and a lot of miles. The couple proceeded to tell us that they were from Germany and they started walking from their front door.
Wait, What?
They had been walking for months (I can’t remember the exact time).
Wow!
What a humbling experience. When we asked the question, I was feeling so good about myself and this just brought me back to reality.
Ok, I get it. Don’t get too big for your britches. Be thankful for this opportunity. Enjoy this and remember not everyone has the opportunity or can do this. Be thankful. Thank you, Jesus.
“Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real. ~Thomas Merton
Walk into Burgos
We crossed the river and made our way into the park. It was beautiful. Trees, walking paths for the locals, green fields and the river. We continued the next 4 kms walking along this river. I thought this would be an easy walk into Burgos.
Not quite. While walking the Camino sometimes your brain gets in the way. It never fails, when you are a few kms away from your resting spot, your feet and body start to ache. So, this walk seemed to last forever. My feet were burning and my legs were tired.
When we hit this feeling, we all seem to walk alone. Again, we respect each other and just walk.
It always helps to see something that can get your mind off of your body. This is exactly what happened. All of a sudden, we saw Sue! Sue, we all yelled. He was resting with his group, so we talked for little bit and then kept going. We would see him in town, we were all heading to the Municipal Albergue.
The crowds picked up as we got closer to Burgos. Moms walking with their strollers, children playing, and business men and women eating their lunch. Or maybe, just a guy looking at the ducks.
We started to see the buildings and we had to start paying attention to make the right turn to the hostel. We just knew it was by the Cathedral. It was nice because the Cathedral was so big, we could usually see a peak of it.
All of a sudden, we heard someone yell our names, we looked across the river and there were Sean and Nithyaa walking. We waved and said a few words over the river. That just took our minds off of our bodies, nice!
We crossed the river and made our way to the hostel.
Hostel: Amigos del Camino de Santiago, 150 beds, 5 or 10 euros
When we arrived at the hostel, we were all checking in and Marcia couldn’t find her passport. Remember the passport is what you need to be able to stay at the hostel. She must have left it in Ages. Thankfully, she was able to get a passport and stay. Clearly, she was a pilgrim.
Once we claimed our beds and showered, we knew it was time to do laundry. We gathered our clothes and decide to do the laundry when we returned to cook dinner. We had arrived early so we had plenty of time to do everything we needed to do here in Burgos.
First stop, Cathedral. It was beautiful.
The rest of the day was spent exploring, eating and relaxing.
When we returned to our hostel something interesting happened. We were sitting in the dining area doing our laundry and some high school kids from Burgos approached us. They were doing a school project and needed to interview some American pilgrims. So Marcia and I, were asked to be interviewed. It was so they could practice their English. It was fun! We were asked bunches of questions and then they asked us to do the Macarana! Haha, let’s just say that was entertaining!
I was just glad to be a part of it.
As we were going to bed, we said our goodbyes to Sue. We would still see Marcia, Marcia, Marcia in the morning.
Good night and Buen Camino
My Journal:
Thursday, May 24th, 24 kms..15 miles, cloudy
Today we had a family member leave us. Sue walked with others and then he will bus from Burgos to Astorga, so he can get home earlier for a job. Minh is still with us and is doing well. His blisters are still there but some days our good and others are tough.
Our group is learning more about each other. It is nice. No rain today just a nice beautiful day. Cool weather. Walking into Burgos was long, confusing and we had to walk through the ugly sections to get to the historical section. We arrived early, checked into the municipal and went to the Cathedral and to explore the city.
Trying to find more prayer time. But today this message was placed on my heart, “by giving of yourself that is a form of prayer”
Reminding myself that the Divine is all around. The Divine is within all of us.
