May 8, 2011 - Burgos, Spain

Burgos has a perfectly conserved old center of town. The national hero El Cid was born here.

• The Cathedral of Our Lady of Burgos is a massive 13th century building with over 17 chapel and many striking features. All of the chapels were donations by very wealthy people and showcase ornate altars. There is an ornately carved sarmental doorway. Under the floor of an area called the crossing lie the remains of El Cid and his wife Dona Jimena. The Golden Stairway is a huge Italian Renaissance style staircase in the transept. We were...
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Nov 6, 2010 - Burgos

@@@@@@@ Background Burgos was first and foremost the location of a strategic fortress on the frontline between the kingdom of Navarra (Basques) and their rivals, the Muslims. Several villages (burgos) grew up around the fortress and over time these grew into each other to form the beginnings of the city seen today. Much later, when pilgrims began to flow from France to the north and from Castile to the south, on their way to Santiago de Compostela; Burgos became a major stop on the Camino de Santiago. The routes that the pilgrims took...

Oct 5, 2010 - Burgos

We are up early and out heading to Spain – interestingly, there is no border check or passport check – the European Union is “open”. We stop and review our situation. Mark wants to go to Bilbao for two reasons: to see the Guggenheim museum and see the monuments to the destruction wrought by the British who razed Bilbao to the ground. But the more we read the more the more we want to steer clear as the robberies appear to be condoned. So, off we go to Vitoria Gasteiz, first passing through San Sebastian, but it seems just another big city....

Jun 8, 2010 - Phew!!

Day 12: Belorado to San Juan de Ortega, 24.3 km, 7 hours Danielle let me wear her Chaco´s again today. What a life saver!! It´s giving my feet some space to breathe and swell, and the walking surface is softer. It´s just a bummer that now I have completely no ankle support. And I had forgotten about my chant of "I hate walking on rocks. I hate walking on rocks," but it came back today. But I was blessed with an angel today. I was feeling down, walking slow, and all by myself. And this guy we had met a few days ago, Michael, caught up to me....

Feb 23, 2010 - Still preparing to leave......

We're still preparing to hit the road......we're glad the snow is slowly disappearing and we'll be able able to back out without problems. All the big ice bumps behind the RV are gone ;-) But this morning the step ups, the entry stairs of the camper wouldn't flip inside anymore......brrr....how many times have we been back to the dealer with this now ? We got the couch up, took the fuse out, that one was okay, so it went in again, and YES, the whole thing worked again..... Monday we'll drive by the dealer again, to get it checked.... and...

Jul 24, 2009 - Burgos and Ibarra with the Ibarras

An additional trip that we took while Jason’s family was with us was to the Basque Region. This area can be a little scary at times as this is where the feared ETA group lives. ETA is a Spanish terrorist group that is responsible for planting bombs throughout Spain that targets Civil Guards to show their independence from the rest of the country. It can be a little nerve-wracking at times. In fact four days after we returned from our trip, there was a bombing in Burgos…the town that we stayed in. The main reason for taking this trip was...

May 2, 2008 - Agès - Burgos

Een Franse dame heeft haar voet verzwikt. Voor haar is de Camino ten einde. Twee jaar voorbereiding is vergeefs geweest. Ze huilt. Rianne troost haar. Straks brengt de beheerder van de albergue haar naar Burgos, vanwaar zij terug naar huis gaat. Om 9 uur zitten wij op de fiets. Voor de zesde dag op rij een stralende dag. 20 graden, lichte sluier wolkjes. ´s Morgens toch nog fris. Bij Arlanzón nemen wij een helling van 8 tot 14 %. 700 meter lang. Gisteravond heb ik vergeten om mijn medicijnen in te nemen. Zonder bètablokker in mijn lijf...

Sep 30, 2006 - Enjoying a glass of wine in Burgos

Well over the last few days I have worked my way from Logrono, Najera, Santo Domingo, Belorado, St. Juan and now Burgos. It is raining. The first rain we have had in the daytime, so a good time to be in a cyber cafe with a large glass of rioja. Have left the vinyards of Rioja behind and for the last couple of days have been walking mainly through remote rolling countryside and farmland. Apparently many of the small villages on the Camino are sustained because of the Camino 'traffic'. Have stayed at some lovely Alberges. One was a 16 bed...

Sep 23, 2006 - Sat - Day 5 on the Camino

Saturday morning we helped one of our fellow pilgrims on a mission to be photographed with the new, not yet Bodegas de los Herederos del Marques del Riscal(winery/hotel) designed by Frank Gehry. She is creating a calendar for her children with photos of herself in famous places while wearing red high heels. She already has photos at Mt Everest, Mt Kilamanjaro and in Kenya on an African safari. As her photographer on this particular day and wrapped up in the excitement, Wendy mis-stepped and tumbled down a construction mound. No broken...

Jun 11, 2006 - burgos

interesting town, but pretty much completely closed on sundays. no shopping, no people, no atms, no bathrooms, and a few restaurants that open and close at weird times. stayed long enough to get into the cathedral (free - its sunday) - and tom walked an old woman across the street. awwwww - haha!

Jun 10, 2006 - Burgos June 10

Now in Burgos. Big city. It was 8km to get to city centre! Thats a long way on foot. I'd like to go back a couple of days to June 8th. I was walking to Belgardo but it was quite late and hot when I went through a small village called Vitoria. As I walked past an albergue (a refuge for pilgrims) this very pleasant young woman was concerned that I was too sunburnt. She insisted on applying lots of suntan lotion before she would allow me to continue. As she did this I talked to her and the idea of staying her became more attractive. Firstly...

May 23, 2006 - Naverette to Burgos (Day 9 Bus day to recuperate - 3 strikes and you're toast)

Before I begin I just want to say a big MUCHAS GRACIAS for all the emails. You don't realise how much they mean to us both. Laugh time everytime we check out the internet. So it had to happen. Couldn't stand it anymore. Had to get drugs. But not for any aches or pains. Caught a cold the second or third day here and coughing all night was taking it's toll. Especially sharing a room with 8 or more people was increasing my guilt about keeping people up. Mind you compared to some of the snorers in the room my coughing was quiet and even more...