Maria and I were chatting about what will be possible with the time left. I will have to skip from Logroño to Burgos. Today I took a bus to Burgos which was fun. I bought a ticket for the 11:45 am bus and met a couple of Italian peregrinas travelling to Burgos also. I had the first seat which was enjoyable with the lovely elderly Spanish lady sitting to my right by the window. She pointed out areas of interest and tried her best to communicate with me in Spanish. She pointed out a church clinging to the side of a mountain. She poked me in the side with her elbow and curled her fingers to say it was clinging. I winced and then nodded and said gracias señora. Those little old ladies are strong.  At the end of the trip she wished me a buen Camino when we arrived at 2:00 pm. 7.70 euros for a 2 hour bus trip. The bus makes a few stops along the way through the towns and villages I would have walked through. It was nice to skip the walk today  because the wind was a ripping and the cold rain was falling. I thought of my Camino family and hoped they were okay.

The Burgos cathedral is unbelievably beautiful. The front steps were decorated with flowers as this was La Fiesta de Las Flores. The cathedral towers over the city and I can’t wait to see inside it later.

Heading for the municipal albergue, I arrive 15 minutes later to find it is full. As I was leaving 2 gentlemen (1 Spanish and 1 American) offer to show me where they were staying. They said perhaps there would be a room available. Weaving in and out of streets using google maps we find the pension. The guys were sharing a room (room 6) and the lady said she had 1 more room with a double bed for 26 euro. SOLD! Room 9 – simple and clean! I have 3 keys. One for the main front door, one for the 2nd level door and one for my room.  Locking and unlocking doors in Spain is interesting. You insert key and turn it to the left for 2 full rotations. That unlocks it; then you enter your room and insert key and make 2 full rotations again to lock yourself in. You can’t do this in a hurry and if you are lucky, the hall lights will stay on long enough for you to get in the room. In some hotels, you have to insert your door key into a slot to turn on the lights. It is interesting learning how things are done over here.

I quickly freshen up and head to the cathedral for a tour. It is quite the architectural work of art. I’m glad I had a chance to see it. I got ripped off on the price but didn’t find out until later. I did get a stamp for my pilgrim passport.

On my way back to the pension, the Spaniard in room 6 spotted me on the street and we chatted for a while. He has done the Camino Frances 5 times along with the Camino Norte 2 times along with the one from Sevilla to Santiago. Unbelievably we can communicate and he doesn’t speak a word of English. Besides being handsome (imagine Dos Equis man – The Most Interesting Man) he has tanned, strong legs. He asked me for coffee but I declined with thanks. I had to find my way back and as it turned out I got lost and it was windy and cold. Should have gone for the coffee. Everything is basically closed until dinner time. Perhaps we will see each other at dinner.

I’ve decided I’m not hanging here for another night. The sun is supposed to come out at 7:00 am tomorrow and so the plan is to head to Hornillos del Camino 21.0 km. I wonder what the Camino has in store for me and who will become my new camino family? It’s exciting not knowing.

490.4 kilometres to Santiago.