Day 118
Santo Tomas
Surrounded by cliffs where the Romans’ camped I thought we might have seen a ghost or two, but no, apart from the hardworking farmers working late and starting early we saw no one. So after packing up and with a friendly wave from a farmer we were off. Soon we headed into the hills on a smooth track. This is why we are here. No traffic, no one else, stunning views, easy riding with the odd hill just to help work off lunch. It was blissful, but they say, all good things must come to an end, and so it proved to be. We were heading to Burgos and our route took us onto a rough path next to a busy road. Komoot then advised us to take a path underneath the road, but it was so low I couldn’t stand up never mind Tom! We should have been on a beautiful cycle path by the river instead we appeared to be in a run-down industrial estate. Google maps to the rescue and we were soon back on track. The river flows through the centre of Burgos and we were loving the fabulous cycle path, more like France in design than Spain. Burgos though had so much more to give. In the centre stands the simply unbelievable Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos. In Spain the cathedrals’ size seems to relate to the size of the town or city it is in. So a village of say a couple of thousand at most, has a cathedral say, the size of Westminster Abbey. Burgos is a city with a large University, surrounded by industry and a beautiful busy tourist filled centre. So we’re not talking big, we’re talking ginormous!
Construction started in 1260, but it wasn’t completed until the 18th century. Its style is Gothic, but also Renaissance and a bit of Baroque thrown in too. The top artists of the time were involved with its design and construction and it shows. It was too late in the day to visit but one to view when we come back to walk the Camino.
We pushed on, re-joined the Camino and set up camp a few miles out of Burgos by the trail. We thought it was a quiet spot, but no. The local mountain bike group were out riding, local couples were taking an evening stroll, and of course the Camino walkers kept on coming. No one seemed to mind, and one lovely old local guy wished us a good night and hoped we would be warm, we were!
