Day 13: Burgos to Hornillos - 21km

From my Dad:

Vanessa asked for this picture

Today we crossed the 200 mile barrier.  We've basically hiked the equivalent of our house in Fairfax to Granlibakken in Lake Tahoe in 13 days.  We know The Camino is not a race, but if it were we'd have a shot at winning ... hah hah hah.  I'm so desperate for sports that I asked if there was a soccer game in Burgos and most friends know I hate soccer.  Honestly, today's hiking conditions were perfect ... 65 degrees, slight easterly blowing at our backs, easy terrain and only 13 miles.  I told Sue if I had my tennis shoes I'd go for a run ... again just kidding, but we do feel like we continue to get stronger.

The three good sized cities we have visited thus far ... Pamplona, Lagrono y Burgos ... are cities I'd visit again if on vacation.  The Burgos Catedral was historical with 21 chapels and absolutely gorgeous, plus overwhelming ... too much history can throw me into a coma.

We do go into a coma almost every afternoon with our hour naps.  They are amazing and I will continue the tradition when I get home.

Last night we strolled Burgos then parked ourselves in the plaza and once again enjoyed watching all the people, especially the young children running around playing tag.  We ended up in a cafe for a glass of wine y pincho, known as tapas in other areas of Spain, and we were content/happy to drink/eat and feel the warmth of the Spanish locals.

I once again slept very well because of my earplugs but Sue was up until 2:15 as Spaniards party all night!

It's educational to hike into and out of cities.  If you were driving you miss so much.  It was 3 kilometers into Burgos yesterday through the industrial area and today leaving was one beautiful hour of gardens, parks, schools and universidad ...

We are officially in the dreaded Maseta ... high desert ... think of Needles/CA or Palm Springs.  We have chosen to embrace it as there's no choice but to grin and love it ... although some Perigrinos hop on a bus to Leon and skip it.  We don't judge as we all have our own Camino.

An alternative to hiking The Way is via bicicleta.  It actually looks like fun and requires fewer days and many can't get enough time off work to hike for five weeks so they choose to ride mountain bikes. Most bike about 50-60 miles per day and it's a combination of our same path and country road.  The Albuergues won't allow bicyclists to check in until after all hikers have been accomodated.

Today in Hornillos we had a language barrier with our hostel ... I thought they were saying I didn't have a reservation, but what they meant was they'd pick us up around 2 to drive us to the hostel ... it's off the beaten path 6 kilometers.  Hilga finally picked us up and brought us to her family owned establishment and it's nice to be with the locals.  I'm hoping my much improved Spanish will convince her to give us a ride mañana at 6:15 back to Hornillos as we want to start hiking at 6:30.  The weather will be in the 90's tomorrow so we will start hiking in the dark for the first hour.  I just bought a flashlight as the moonlight has dissipated.

Dinner at our Hostel was incredible and we greatly enjoyed the chef/owner and he's also our driver mañana!

Hasta Luego

S&S

Leaving Burgos

Our friend, Jesse from Australia y Sue

A yellow ribbon for Jesse's sister who recently passed away 

Hombres welcoming us to town

Streets are quiet so we walk in the middle of the road 

Peregrinos outside of Albuergue

Roadside vendor selling fish and fruit

Jesus & Mary

Heading down into Hornillos del Camino 

Not our blisters! Thanks goodness!

Sue's dinner - delicious!

Love to you all!

Incredible Cathedral Burgos

Sue teaching Spanish girls English