Burgos and the Cathedral

 

Entering the gate into the Cathedral Square

Bussed it to Burgos this morning.  It was about a two hour bus trip, and the Camino path followed the highway most of the way.  The country is beautiful with vineyards as far as you can see, but this stretch of the Camino was close to the road with very little shade.  Did not look like we were missing too much, no regrets there!

Got into Burgos about 2 pm, our hotel is in the old city directly in the shadow of the gorgeous Burgos Cathedral.  After dropping off our stuff, we headed out for lunch and found a great little cafe right in the area.  Marghareta pizza was the order of the day with olives on the side.  Barb got a salad as well, which turned out to be a big hunk of melted cheese in a delicious tomato sauce.  Not exactly as anticipated, but yummy nevertheless!  

Next we headed for a tour of the Cathedral.  It cost 10€ to enter, 8€ if you are a senior citizen, and only 5€ if you are a pilgrim.  Of course we opted for the pilgrim rate, but they wanted to see our credenciales which we had left in our rooms.  Lu pulled out her camera to show Camino pics, I had a picture of my credencial and they finally agreed we could be pilgrims.  Lucky for them, because I was going to show them my feet with Compeed and bandaids next!

 It is indescribable, the size, the intricacies of its ornamentation, the treasures in its museum, all amazing.  It is the 800th anniversary of the Cathedral, and there is a year of celebrations planned.  (It began in November, 2021.  Pictures do not do it justice, but I’ll try a few:

Supper was a small cafe with a variety of tapas.  People watching is superb here, as yet again the streets fill with families and friends.  The promenade by the river is beautiful.  There were street performers and musicians along the way, a guitarist was playing Dire Straits and a harpist was playing Simon and Garfunkel.  Goes to show you, world over, our generation’s music is still the best!

On our way back after dinner, there was a procession from the cathedral with the Virgin Mary carried on the shoulders of a group of men followed by the priests and nuns and what looked like members of various societies, some complete with costumes.  The statue was greeted with cheers and flowers.  Apparently May is the month of Mary, and they have not been able to hold processionals for the past two years until now because of Covid.

A little gelato to finish the day and off to bed!