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Published: October 6th 2014
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Today we took in the delights of Burgos. yesterday was the last day of a festival and the crowds were choking our progress.....so we joined in. The boulevard of stalls along the riverside sold traditional dolce (sweets), cakes, a variety of cheeses from a variety of animals, cured meats, weapons, yes weapons, and a range of artifacts and authentic souvenirs made in Pakistan and China. Jewellery and leather goods were also available and were local. All the stall holders wore traditional attire enhancing the markets theme.
Knights of some persuasion on horses paraded and damsels wander the streets. It was a great night of colour, sights, traditional music and an exotic blend of food smells; sensory overload.
We started today with a sleep in until 9am and after a shower we went downstairs for a breakfast of tortilla and bread washed down with cafe con leche and juice. It was tourist time !
First stop was an Orange shop so Tim could recharge his phone. Sue and I went for a wander around looking for a shop to by a warm top as my vest has gone missing. I walked yesterday with just a shirt and it was
freezing. After Tim had recharged we found a store and walked out with a 'hoodie', something I always swore I would never own. It's warm and cheap so I abandoned my principles this time.
The cathedral was next on the list, so after paying euros 2.50 (pilgrim discount) and having our credentials stamped, we entered this overwhelming world. The audio guides were invaluable throughout our tour and there is too much to describe. El Cid's tomb is here and the descriptions of its construction and evolution were amazing. It is interesting to go back 500 to 700 years and appreciate the craftsmanship and lack of timeframes in this age. These buildings are art, and more artisan carvers, sculpters and painters were commissioned on these projects than actual builders. A father might start a section in his youth and it would be finished by his son in his son's old age. In our world of 140 character grabs and instant gratification , this patience and attention to detail is refreshing.
We then had a lunch of tapas while waiting to go around on the Burgos Turismo 'choo choo' train. This is a huge confession to make but it seemed
the thing to do at the time; it was cheesy with a capital ch!
Filled with the excitement of the 40 minute ride still pumping adrenaline through her system, Sue left us to have a rest at the hotel. Tim and I continued to wander aimlessly around in vain, hoping to top our train ride. Really, it was not too bad and we saw areas of town that we would not have walked through. One observation that I think is fair to make is that I don't think the Spanish have built an attractive building since the 19th century. Estates of hundreds of appartment 'boxes' fill the suburbs and while I'm sure they would be comfortable to live in, they are not at all attractive. More modern shops are similar and are rendered out of necessity or in an attempt to brighten up their plain brick facades. Unfortunately this trend is creeping into Australia. Burgos and all of the villages we visited have been beautiful, but the fringes of the cities let them down. Only my opinion, so I'm prepared to be corrected.
Burgos has been a great break and we capped it off tonight with a visit
to a charming old world cafe near the river where we had chocolate con churros for dinner. These are those long Spanish donuts and you dip them in the chocolate to eat them. We will burn that off in our 21 kms tomorrow. The internet has been very poor so if no pics are here I will add some later.
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Ian
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Burgos
Sounds like a great day. Burgos sounds amazing. And so envious of all the food! Long long time ago I met a Spanish girl from Burgos who told me that it was where the word bourgeoisie came from. Dunno if she was having a lend of me though. And not sure why I remembered such a trivial fact from the 1980s! Have fun guys.