June 11: Bougie Rest Day in Burgos

We are at the end of a splendid rest day todayt, in Burgos. We had a long day yesterday, about 27km, including a 5km stretch walking through greater Burgos, heading for the old city. It is beautiful, when you get here, but it is also a sprawling modern city that comes as something as s shock when you realise you are “in” Burgos, but still have 3km to go! It wasn’t that bad in reality: we have learned the “trick” of finding “the river route” into town (not obvious); we are (as we have often noted) “match fit” and also the day was relatively cool, which made walking the tarmac much less exhausting than we had feared (and experienced previously).

The Way took us up to rocky olive groves and ran alongside a military firing range. There is a large wooden cross right at the highest point, with barbed wire on one side (and an armoured car parked nearby!). Peter and Mary, who were about an hour behind us, snapped some tank manoeuvres (without getting arrested). We heard the gears and gun turrets grinding behind us as we descended (somehow tank noises are unmistakeable when you have context), but missed seeing them. We certainly weren’t climbing BACK UP for the sight.

The verges were absolutely stunning on the descent – billowing yellows and whites, purple turrets and thistles, glowing poppies, just spectacular, spilling onto the road, framing chartreuse barley and sage-grey wheat fields with frothy colour. My photos give only the merest hint of how glorious they were in person, but there are several in the album for week 8. The gutters and edges of the path were pouffy (a technical term) with poplar pollen, which is shedding like sheep’s wool from the trees at the moment. My beloved goldfinches are also abundant – they love the thistles.

You will also see a lot of grainy shots of birds of prey in the last few weeks. Peter is a birder and we are sharing/swapping raptor sightings: red kites, buzzards, black vultures, lammergeiers (griffon vultures?), peregrine (?) falcons (being mobbed by finches), and (possibly) booted eagles. As you can tell – identifying the family is pretty easy (overall silhouette and the combination of wing and tail shape) . Species is often a guess. Except for the kites, are usually VERY high up.

We slept late, had an exceptional and lazy breakfast and went to the Museum of Human Evolution, which was a “highlights” tour, because we have been before. It is a spectacular modern building – a huge light space laid out into themed spaces, each of which has a different feel, lighting and soundscape. After that, we got a light lunch, with a local rosé, had a nap and went out for an evening stroll, popping into the cathedral and ending up with a cool glass of beer at one of the bougie bars on the main promenade beside the river, under a complicated avenue of pollarded trees. It’s been such a luxury down-day!

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Inspired by our 2024 Camino Francais, Karen has a periodic podcast called "I sent you a bloody boat", personal thoughts on faith by a person who believes in thinking. Also, known as "The Reluctant Christian". You can listen to it on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts at: