When I went to bed last night, I made the decision to leave the hostel later than I have been leaving. With the relatively short 14-mile walk, I decided to be “normal” and start later like most pilgrims. Plus, I was tired of getting to the hostel and having to wait 1-2 hours before they even open their doors to check me in. But as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t lay in bed any longer! I thought, this is nuts! I can either lay here and listen to people snore and be frustrated, or I can get up and enjoy the early morning silence on the trail. I chose the latter. As I stepped outside, I realized, “Oh, it is cool and crisp this morning!” In fact, for the first time, I took my only long-sleeved shirt and layered it over my other t-shirt to try to break the chill of the 48-degree morning. But to me, that’s the perfect temperature to walk.
The first hour and a half of the walk this morning was glorious. It was a clear sky, so I could see the sparkling stars that God had flung into space so long ago! After about an hour into the walk, I began a fairly steep ascent up to what would take me over a mountain ridge. The 30-minute ascent made my heart beat fast, but it actually felt good! As I got close to the top of the ridge, there was enough light from the daybreak that allowed me to see clouds swirling at the top - these were not storm clouds, just the morning fog that would soon dissipate. I was so fascinated watching the fog swirl. But then, as I got closer to that summit ridge, something caught my attention. And even now, as I recount it several hours later, it still is so vividly etched in my mind. On top of the ridge was a cross! Now, for some reason, whenever I see a cross in an isolated area such as this, with daybreak in its beginning stages, it does something for me. I’m a softie and I get emotional! The cross means so much to me! I took a lot of pictures - I’ll post a couple for you.
But there was something else that caught my attention. It was something rather unusual. As I faced the cross, on the crossbar at the far right, there was a pair of shoes hanging! That brought a smile to me as I wondered, “How did someone get those shoes up there?” The cross was too tall for anyone to just reach up there, so I assume that somebody had shimmied up the main beam and then eased out on the cross bar and tied the shoes up there.
However it happened, it was quite a feat. (Or maybe feet! Yeah, that was really bad.) But I spent some time at the cross, just so grateful for its significance in my life.
As I walked away from the cross, it was all downhill from there - in two ways. The trail was all downhill as it took me down the mountain to the city that I would call home for tonight. But more significantly, it was all downhill because I went from a trail that was quiet and serene to having to share a trail with noisy cars - not fun! There was no shoulder, which meant there was little room between the cars and me. Most drivers paid attention and were careful to give plenty of space, but one distracted driver evidently didn’t see me until he was nearly on me, and he had to swerve sharply at the last second to avoid a way-too-close encounter with me. The last 2 hours were walked on asphalt or concrete, which made the rather short 14 mile day seem way longer than it really was.
But that took me into Burgos, a city with a population of slightly less than 200,000. Again, for those of us in southwest Missouri, the closest comparison would be Springfield with a population of 170,000. I have found my least favorite part of the trail has been the streets of cities like this. Each city of this size takes close to 3 hours to walk through. I did learn some unpublished information that some of the pilgrims do get to the edge of the city and flag a taxi to take them to the other side of the city. I’ll admit it is tempting, but today I walked to my hostel which was about 1/3 of the way through the city. Not looking forward to tomorrow’s walk to get through the other 2/3 of the city.
Burgos is a very significant city for pilgrims walking the Camino. One of the must-see places is the Burgos Cathedral of Saint Mary. Construction on this Cathedral began in 1221 and was completed in 1567. It has been declared a World Heritage Site - its size is truly impressive!
There are other very interesting historical facts about this beautiful city that you can easily research on your own. But when it comes to the common pilgrim who walks into Burgos, perhaps the most significant detail is that if you are walking the Camino from the French town of Saint Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela, your arrival in Burgos means that you have now completed a THIRD of the Camino de Santiago. Many people will take a well-deserved zero day and rest and explore this city.
For those of you in the fast class who are keeping up with the mileage that I put at the end of the post every day, you will notice that that the mileage walked doesn’t add up to a third of the total miles. The reason is that I am still considering the possibility of continuing past the end of the Camino and walking to the Atlantic Ocean. I’ll see how I am doing on time and how I feel, but I have such intrigue with a little town there called Finisterre, which means “End of the earth.” When the Apostle James, and perhaps the Apostle Paul, came to minister in Spain, they thought this was the end of the earth. They took literally the commission to spread Christ to the “end of the earth.” So the discrepancy in my mileage lies in that detail. If I decide not to continue the additional distance to the Atlantic Ocean, then I’m approximately a third of the way there. Otherwise I will need a couple more days under my belt to be able to say I’m a third there.
Regardless of where my journey ends, it has been amazing! God has kept me healthy, blister-free and feeling good! That is a tribute to God and your prayers!
My friend from Texas
Five minutes ago I just met a man from Texas who developed 15 horrible blisters walking the first few stages of the Camino and ended up in the hospital - so I don’t take my health for granted! Thanks again to all of you who are reaching out to encourage me! I love the fact that you are joining me on the Camino!
Buen Camino!
Approximate total miles: 560
Approximate miles walked today: 14
Approximate miles remaining: 379