Burgos - Day 2

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This morning saw us board the bus for a tour of Burgos and environs. The walking tours have been occasionally challenging, as autumn has brought periodic rain to the area. As it was raining this morning, we rearranged our tour to begin with a visit to the Monasterio Cartuja de Miraflores. This monastery is just outside Burgos, and was founded by Saint Bruno. Burgos is home to many monasteries and churches, as it is directly on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. This monastery is notable for being the birthplace of the modern rosary. They still make rosaries here, with beads made from rose petals. The monastic community here maintains silence, and keeps to the longstanding tradition of "Ora et Labora" (pray and work).

After the monastery, we returned to Burgos proper, where the rain had let up, for our walking tour. Highlights of the tour included the Cathedral, the old city gates, the monument to El Cid, and a bank. The bank was not just any bank, though. It was a restored palace used by Ferdinand and Isabela to receive Columbus on his return from his second voyage to America. This palace is also the site of the political union between
Aragon, Navarra, and Castilla y León, making it the birthplace of modern Spain.

After our tour, lunch, and a little nap, we returned to the Cathedral for rehearsal in the Capilla Santa Tecla, where we performed our evening concert. As in Salamanca, the crowd in Burgos was large and extremely appreciative. One man was willing to crown us Champions before we even arrive in Tolosa.

I was later reminded of something one of our audience members in Salamanca said after the concert. She could not say enough about how nice it was to see a choir do something other than stand and sing. She very much enjoyed our utilization of gesture and movement to convey a different level of meaning, and to close the gap between performance and audience. Though we chose different literature in the Burgos concert, the audience was very moved, and at great pains to tell us so. We are so glad to be living our mission!

Tomorrow, it gets serious. After the morning at leisure in Burgos, we travel to Zarautz and begin our festival participation. We have concerts nightly, and compete on Monday the 31st. More tomorrow!

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