Media (27)
Burgos in celebration, reunions, and improvised bikes.
June 22: departure at 7:00, direction Burgos.
I left at 7:00 toward Burgos and arrived around 10:00. I found myself walking along Parque de Calistenia La Quinta, with a long pedestrian road that was very pleasant. Just before entering the city I saw the Italian group in front of me: Matteo, Stefano, Maddalena, Antonella, and the others. I quickened my pace and reached them.
Once together we walked around Burgos and took a photo in front of the statue in front of the cathedral. I had lunch at 100 Montaditos: a dive into the past from 5 years earlier, when during Erasmus in Barcelona I used to go there all the time.
Then I went to Capilla y albergue de la Divina Pastora, queuing up because when I arrived there were already several people waiting for opening. There I saw very strict management: several people were rejected without credential, arriving by bus/car, or considered "too fresh" to have arrived on foot.
Meanwhile I was also in contact on WhatsApp with Hongsuan (Ocean), the Chinese girl: she too would arrive in Burgos that day and had booked at Casa de Cubos. I wrote to her that at the tourist office I had rented a bike: they had 4 free ones for 2 hours and 30 minutes, fantastic. After a few hours she sent me a photo: she was on a bike too, taken at the same tourist office. We arranged to meet and rode around Burgos a bit by bike. It was fun.
For a couple of days I had really wanted to arrive in Burgos, because it was the first big city where I could find shoemakers: the sole of my boots was starting to come unstuck. It was perfect timing, because I would stay still for 2 nights and would have time to leave them there. The problem was that in all of Burgos there were only 3 shoemakers, and I found them all closed. Incredible: I realized right there how much the days of the week matter. I had arrived on Saturday and would stay until Monday morning, so a full weekend with that type of shop obviously closed.
Burgos was in full celebration: music, people in the street, beer, and a continuous energy that carried you to stay out until midnight. Burgos is a very strange city: until 23:30 there is a lot of people around, everyone celebrating, everyone drinking, and just half an hour later the streets are deserted. You can clearly feel it is a city of pilgrims who get up early in the morning :).
When you reach a big city after days on trails, the Camino changes rhythm but does not lose intensity: it becomes more social, more chaotic, but always full of encounters.
In this phase I had also chosen a clear line on gear: no backpack shipping, I would carry it myself all the way to Santiago.
After the city tour I returned to Divina Pastora; during the day I also did the bike tour thanks to the free tourist office rental (2h30). In the albergue where I stayed they did not accept people for more than one night: in fact the next day I had to leave and moved to Casa de Cubos, which was nearby.
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Day notes