We enjoyed a very leisurely morning, strolling 14km into Burgos for midday. For the first time we found ourselves walking for awhile on a fairly major road. There wasn’t too much traffic, but what there was moved quickly.
The outskirts of Burgos started much earlier than anticipated, and it wasn’t pretty. We basically followed a main road through an industrial area before it gradually started morphing into residential. While visiting the Church of Santa Maria they almost pulled us into the back office to give us a stamp for our credencial which was fine but we also wanted to see the church, turns out it was closing time. We also managed to find an outdoor shop to replace the worn through rubber feet on our walking poles and save Jess’ sanity from the continual metallic tapping.
Eventually we arrived at the old town and the contrast couldn’t be more marked. It’s an incredibly attractive area with small cafes and bars spilling onto the street as the temperatures have started to rise. Tree lined avenues and gothic buildings surround the centrepiece of the town, a huge 13th century cathedral.
Burgos cathedral is possibly the most impressive religious building I’ve ever visited. It’s on an immense scale, as cathedrals tend to be, but the level of craftsmanship in the sculpture and the sheer amount of detail is mind blowing. With extraordinary chapels jutting off the main nave we found the audio tour a little overwhelming with facts and figures about what was built, by whom and when.
We stayed on the next morning as the curse of Monday had struck again and all the museums were closed. There is a fascinating museum of human evolution. It’s in a huge space with English translations to nearly all the displays, there’s also an accompanying app in English. The basement level covers in some detail the archeological dig at Atapeurca, the town we’d passed two days ago. This is where fossils of the oldest human ancestor in Europe were discovered. Darwin’s theory of evolution, including a partial replica of the Beagle sits alongside a display of the distinct species of human ancestors and an insight into the human brain. A third floor looks at the similarities and differences between Neatherthal man to Homo Sapiens in areas such as hunting or treatment of the dead. All in all a very interesting couple of hours.
For a moment we almost forgot we weren’t on holiday & had some walking to do. If there was a direct flights to Burgos it would be making a mint as a tourist spot, as it is, prices are very reasonable and the main tourist trade seems to be fellow pilgrims.
The Ottners 