September 16: Rest day in Burgos

Today has been various combinations of chilling. We had a lie in, a second cup of coffee at breakfast, then wandered over to a launderette (900m away from our hostel). This was our third wash/dry since September 1st. Even so, the sheer appreciation of not having to scrub our socks in the shower remains high.

Robot laundry is truly one of the most consequential inventions of the industrial age. Google summarizes: “the washing machine revolutionized human history…freed up women’s time for education, paid work and political engagement…contributing to economic growth… also improved hygiene and health.” We all know this, but the Camino brings it home, hard. Just another reason why we both gravitate to the Camino lifestyle.

Burgos partakes of 2 UNESCO world heritage designations: the Camino de Santiago is a global cultural heritage. The Atapuerca sierra is a treasure-trove of paleontological information about hominid evolution. The Camino is one “layer” of history, continuity, scale, one that feels (and is) ancient in terms of one human life. The science of the Atapuerca finds reveals that hominids were on this land 1.3 million years ago. That’s a whole different scale and perspective.

The Museum of Human Evolution, which we visited today, is a fabulous space: huge and airy. The basement is a dark space, blacked out, with extraordinary bones, tools, skull fragments illuminated like relics, because they are relics. The exhibition takes you up, floor by floor, through the development of material culture; symbolic thinking, music, language; interactions between hominid species; farming and climate change. There is an entire floor on the The Origin of Species. We both felt ourselves dropped into a totally different headspace: a lot of information, and a really relaxing and reviving afternoon – broadening our perspective and focusing on the science. Carey (the atheist) puts it this way: “I was feeling Jesused out.” A “shot” of science revived different (not better, not worse, just different) thought structures. It was a wonderful, effective way to spend a rest day.

We then wandered into the old town, over the shady green park that traces the river, for a fancy coffee in the main square, surrounded by tall, wooden-framed buildings with red, yellow, pink plaster faces. We strolled around the Cathedral, a beautiful, Decorated Gothic masterpiece, which honestly feels more barley sugar fantasia, than the enormous limestone edifice it is. A lovely avenue of pollarded plain trees houses fancy cafés and restaurants between the medieval gate and the Grand Theatre. It is a lush, historical city that has both.

It is interesting to take a day “out” of the Camino rhythm. I had already lost the feeling of living any other way. So, it’s been a little disorienting, being off trail. There are actual “reintegration” courses for pilgrims who need help reintegrating into the “real” world. I’m most definitely able to make the transition, but it is an immersive experience that requires a step-change back to “normal” life. That’s part of what makes it so rewarding.