Burgos, a Cathedral in Renaissance
It was a very difficult path: physical and mental. We started walking at 5:30am. We have a lot to cover. I felt back in the Podonis Walk in France. We walked it high Speed (6 km/ hour)till San Juan de Ortega.
We reached 1,120 m up at the Alto pick. Before it was the monument to “los caidos”, those who died during the Spaniard Civil War. It is not a monument, but a graves mark for those executed in the silence of the night. It was so painful to hear Pedro about how many men were taking from their homes and taken to this hill and others remote areas. They found so many common “fosas.” No one has ever explained this genocide. There was a death silence on this hill. Listening Pedro, I could hear the voice of the men-begging for pardon. He lost his grandfather, and other members of his family this way. Today, Franco is a killer, for his followers a saint. The fascist Spain wounds still have not been healed.
Arriving to San Juan de Ortega, the temperature dropped 20 degrees. It was cold, and the bikers were complaining.
We asked the owner of the coffee shop to sale us bread, but he said no. Therefore we ate our lunch without bread.
For many the church in this village has many magical powers. Queen Isabel of Castile, was a barren woman, after she visited the church in 1477 she conceived a child.
We passed Atapuerca. It is official site of the earliest human remains ever discovered in Europe. We ascended to Cruz de Matagrande, where pelegrinos have started to build an amazing maze of stones. I added mine.
From here we had the best view of Burgos. We passed Villalval, but did not entered, over the village. Arriving to Cardeñuela Riopico, there was something not right. The shelters were very commercially advertised. The town had celebrated its festivities last week, and they had kept all the banners and flags hanging on Main Street and homes.
Two more km on the road was Orbaneja, where Mariano and Simona’s house was, Pedro’s parents. The house was on El Camino. They invited me to stay for the night. Simona prepared lunch and dinner for us.
After lunch, Pedro gave me a tour to the Carthusian Monastery of Miraflores. It was a gorgeous place well preserved. The place had a rose fragrance. The monks prepare a rare incense that is preserved under ground for three years. It was for sale, but it was very expensive.
We toured the Real Monastery of Las Huelgas, but the nuns closed the public access today on the Feast Day.
Now was the time to visit the Burgos Cathedral of St. Mary. It is a jewel! They really invested a lot of money to restored it. They charge 4.50 Euros to have a audio tour. It is a place to go and see. It is a medieval Cathedral with a Renaissance spirit. I asked Peter if he knew a small chapel to attend mass in town. He took me to the chapel of Mary, the Divine Shepherdess. Really? Mary was wearing a shepherdess dress and hat, baby Jesus in her arms is playing with a sheep.
It was a very joyful mass. Fr. Javier must be a composer and singer. He was amazing, and at the end of mass he passed a copy of a song that we all sang with his name on.
After mass we went for a city walk, and I saw a familiar face at the distance. He was a French young man that started with me in LePuy, France. We had been together in so many “gites” of France. It is a small world! We sat across the city shelter, and we talk for hours.
Returning to Pedro parent’s house, dinner was ready for us. It was like eating at home. There house was like the house I grew up. It was a very special time.
I woke up at 7am, Pedro was ready. The night before Pedro’s Dad, Mariano, told me that from Orbaneja to Burgos was the most dangerous road of El Camino. Therefore, Pedro wanted to take me to Burgos. I appreciated that, but it was my Camino. He understood. I walked from his home to Burgos. It was 9 km in hell road. Pelegrinos are pushed to walk directly on the road passing the Burgos airport, crossing heavy car intersections, and am industrial avenue. It ends in the neighborhood of Villafría (the cold village, literary translated).
Coming from Burgos last night, Pedro made me aware of two business men that change the arrows markers on the road every day. When we passed last night, one of them painted it black over the yellow arrow that guide the Pelegrinos. By this morning the sign has two arrows pointing left or right. Pedro recommend me to take the road, but I took the left to discover that some one had pulled out all the signs. It was terrible. I had to go on the road all the way to Burgos with only God.
On the way I entered a Fruits Store. A very rude man scream to me that I should not touch the fruits, and made a very vulgar comment. I asked him to apologize to the women in the store. It was so bad. I don’t understand why I paid him. I should abandon the store immediately.
Later I entered a cafeteria for coffee down the street. It was so different. Very nice people.
The city of Burgos has been well planned for people to live in downtown. All the building 5-10 stories with the first level of commercial property. Every thing is on one block to reach: grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants, hair dressers, cloth stores, clinics, laboratories. It is amazing to see all of them full, and people walking on the street.
I walked 21 km today, and ended at Rabé de las Calzadas. In the middle of town there is a restaurant: Las Fuentes. I walked in and the faces looked so familiar. I asked them: are you from the Caribbean?They answered: yes! OMG! When I saw the tapas on display, I knew that they will taste like home, because the color and presentation. I was right! It was delicious. How in the world, I would find a Family from the Dominican Republic in the middle of nowhere. I was back in the afternoon for dinner. And believe it or not, they knew what a Monaco was! I had my first Monaco in Spain after France.
I must confess that their is a commercial war in every village I have entered in Spain. It is very sad. People wants to sell you an experience that only you can have for free. You make the Camino. Many shelters want to jailed you and put you in bed by time. I never saw that in France. The French shelters are more concerned of healthy issues. Backpacks stays out of bedrooms, because bug’s contamination. Only today, the lady of my shelter asked me to put my backpack on a plastic bag. I applauded that. I had been attacked by bugs in Spain several times. France also has better roads marks for el Camino than Spain. I really don’t know what is the official road mark since I entered Spain. I pray every day for whoever took a can of yellow spray paint and decided to make the marks that I follow.
After showering, I decided to walk the streets of the village. A woman was walking her neighbor dog talked to me for half hour about all the dogs of the neighborhood for half hour. I walk down the street to a local bar and ordered a lemon beer. The owner encouraged me to go outside and enjoy the great weather. It was really gorgeous.
From nowhere a women showed up and asked me permission to sit at my table. She immediately started touching my bracelets. I was very uncomfortable. She did not look right. She said that she was a “hospitalaria.” I don’t know what that mean. She was wearing a yellow pin in an arrow form, which she wanted me to wear. I was getting a headache by listening to her. Something was not right! I went to the bar and asked the owner who she was. He told me that she was not from town, but that she was “muy pesada”. He really apologized. I told him that it was not his fault. As I leave the bar, the woman was waiting for me and wanted the pin back. It has been the weirdest experience of the Camino. I really felt to wash myself in Holy Water!