Day 11: Bivoac in Burgos

Yesterday's slog, it turned out was, 41.8 kilometers, way, way more than my longest of 32 kilometers from the Portuguese Camino four years ago.  We were wiped when we got to town.  We checked into a hotel where we'd stayed before with the family, showered, and napped.

Last night, we had dinner at a fabulous asador.  An asador is a restaurant specializing in roasting meats, usually suckling pig and baby lamb.  In this part of Spain, the specialty is baby lamb: cordero lechal.  The restaurant, Casa Ojeda, is famous, and dinner, early as we had it, was fabulous.

Casa Ojeda

This morning, we learned that our traveling companion Karin had opted to continue the Camino.  Tonight, we learned that she caught up with our young friends Tristan and Antonio from the past week in the town of Hontanas, where we plan on being tomorrow.

Karin and Tristan in Hontanas.  Even with new socks, we'll probably not catch up to them.

Ours was both a day of rest and a day of making crucial changes for the Camino.  I bought new socks in the hope that less bulky socks would lead to fewer blisters.  We mailed back Tina's sandals and my old socks.  The package was 1.1 kilograms--that's the better part of 2.5 pounds.  There's no reason to carry that much extra weight for three to four more weeks.  How much would you have to pay to buy a bike that weighed 2.5 pounds less?

The glass ceiling at the Burgos main post office.

We also bought toiletries and a three way expander so we can charge all of our devices when we have to share a single outlet at an albergue. 

Burgos is a beautiful city.  We've stayed in a bunch of tiny towns that didn't even have gas stations, but this is a real city with everything you need.

The 900 year old Burgos Cathedral from the front.

The Cathedral, viewed from the side.

I wanted to have lunch at something other than a traditional asador, so I found us a farm-to-table restaurant near our hotel.  This was not Camino food.

Salad with Goat Cheese

Eggplant and red pepper with anchovies.  OMG!

Merluza, AKA hake.

Monkfish.  Sorry!  I already took a bite!

After lunch, we tried planning out the next phase of the trek.  The Meseta is the high plains of Spain.  It starts here and goes on for something like 160 kilometers before you get to the city of Leon.  Tina's got an aggressive plan that's predicated on us starting in the wee hours each day to avoid the scorching sun.  Tomorrow, will be the first test.

Tonight, when we were ready to go out to (1) find where to rejoin the Camino, (2) buy fruit for the journey, and (3) get some dinner, we were greeted by thunder storms.

The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain.  (The Meseta, in this case.) Tina alongside El Cid, who's buried here.

We paid for our hotel room tonight, and we'll hit the road tomorrow around 5 AM, ready for anything.  Tina will let you know how it turns out.