Ending Section 2 and Rest Day in Burgos

April 21, 2025 Atapuerca to Burgos. Distance 12.35 miles. Weather- cold and sunny- mid-60s. Not much to report today. Breakfast was basic continental and I had a nice lunch stop with WiFi at about mile 8.

There are 2 ways into Burgos. One is the official way which is very ugly, along the road, and hard on feet/legs because it is all paved. There is also an alternative, the turn off for which is not marked and takes you into the city via a river walk. Much nicer, but still a lot of pavement.

After lunch I continued through a few more towns and the path took me on an overpass, which was, quite frankly, treacherous. There was barely enough room for me to walk and I had to climb over a road barrier.

Bizarrely, there was a Spaniard on bike coming the other way. He got off his bike and proceeded to tell me, in Spanish, how to find the unmarked turnoff which was about 100 feet on the other side of the bridge. We wished each other well and I got a kiss on both cheeks to send me off.

It was, indeed, a much nicer option into town. Even so, my feet were beat by the time I got to my underwhelming 4 star hotel.

After doing laundry in the sink, I did a quick walk into town to try to find dinner and ended up at the pizza place across the street back at the hotel. Hard day on my feet/legs. And am glad for a rest day tomorrow.

April 22, 2025 Rest day in Burgos. Weather: mid 60s and sunny. Nice breakfast buffet and took some extra oranges and cookies. I saw all the tourist attractions today and am beat. Thankfully I didn’t track how far I walked or would probably be more tired!

I started with the Museum of Human Evolution and realized the place in Atapuerca was not near the dig- the dig was in caves in the nearby hills, so was disappointed. An interesting museum and was surprised that I spent 90 minutes there. I can only think it was more interesting than seeing yet another church.

My route through the town took me by the statue of El CID- Burgos’ native son, and through the Paseo del Espolon which has wonderfully pruned Plane Trees and ends at the Arch of Santa Maria. The Arch was open, which meant I could walk up and see the view.

Next was the Cathedral. The Cathedral in Burgos was truly amazing and awesome. I can’t believe Santiago will be more awesome, but I might be surprised. The main cathedral had 12 incorporated chapels and each was completely different.

The Church of St Nicolas held church art taken from churches throughout Spain. The churches in question were unable to conserve the art for various reasons.

From there I walked up to the Castle which was closed for reconstruction. The grounds were quite nice and had a great view of the city.

Back to the Plaza Mayor to try to find some tapas which wasn’t warmed over bread, ideally a restaurant with a place to sit. I managed to find some gazpacho which was delicious.

On the way home I stopped at the grocery for a salad and some rolls for dinner and had dinner in bed.

This is the end of Section 2 of the trek and will be difficult to say goodbye y to the olive trees and grape vines of Rioja and Navarre