August 19th

The party outside the window didn't end till 1:30am. But it is bloody hot with highs hitting the low forties and people are just taking in the coolness of the evening. The one thing I had overlooked in my pleasure at finding a lone bed against a wall by a window was any noise but hell who would have thought in such a small village. The rose with its thorn. But it is fiesta season and even so the Spanish live a lot later into their evenings than where I come from. Even the children were playing till well after midnight.
The cafe was open at six so I managed a breakfast of espresso and toast before heading off to Burgos home city of the Spanish hero El Cid portrayed by Charlton Heston in one of his Demille like epics. Also the site of a recent Basque bomb at the local police station injuring sixty people. I walked down through the village of Atapuerca tuned left and started the short climb to a summit where a large cross had some very large rock circles added to its location by artistically inclined pilgrims. From up here I had a good look at Burgos and a hint of the Meseta beyond. I had a quiet morning walk opting for the longer route around the airport and down to the river and its urban path that leads you right into the heart of the city. I misturned once as did some others but a Spanish and Finnish girl called me when they spotted the way and I walked a couple of kilometres enjoying their conversation. For both of them their camino was coming to an end as their vacation time had run out. I left them as they sat for a break pushing on into the city past the bullfighting stadium and deeper into the city. Soon the cathedrals spires came into sight and and I finally turned on a bridge seeing the big El CID statue before walking along and entering the cathedral square. Half an hour of walking around finally brought me to the big institutional like albergue with it's two hundred beds. I signed in did my routine just in time for David to slide up silently greeting me after not seeing him since Lasronna ten days earlier. Outside I met Gontran who was looking for a tension wrap as his ankles were getting worse by the day. He had been walking for two months covering most of the distance by foot from Belgium. We agreed to meet for dinner and then I went off with David to have a beer and find a Internet cafe. I had planned to stay here for a couple of days and catch up on the blogging but there were an incredible amount of tourists and after getting burned on the price of a beer I figured I might just shove off in the morning. That was unusual for me as I generally thrive in inner city chaos but my being seemed to want the quietness of the trail so I surrendered to the itch and got ready to leave.

to be continued