Wed 30 Sep - Day 16: Burgos rest day

287km walked. 498km left to walk. No change from yesterday. 

Stocktake of sillos / stamps to date:

I need to ration as otherwise I will run out of space. The last 100km requires 2 stamps per day in order to get a "Compostela", the beautiful certificate that proves completion of the Camino. 

Win popped her face into the boys room just after 6am suggesting a pre sunrise wander up the castle. 

So that's what she and I did. The other boys went back to sleep. 

OK, I probably went a bit overboard with photos but hey, it was hard not to. 

Empty predawn street of Burgos...

Burgos Cathedral in the moonlight. 

Burgos Cathedral without the moonlight 

Behind the Cathedral, on both sides, there are steps so you can walk up the hill to the castle. 

Burgos Castle in the moonlight. 

Burgos predawn

Burgos Cathedral from next to Burgos Castle predawn

I used to be a ware wolf but I'm alright noooooow...

Then... Dawn over Burgos. 

The town looked really peaceful from above at this early hour. Very beautiful. 

Looking up towards Burgos Castle from the viewing platform. 

Sorry, some more early morning pics...

As the sun started to rise, Win and I started to walk down towards the cathedral again. 

We had a look inside the municipal albergue, which looked big and very modern, before stopping at the opposite cafe for a morning coffee and croissant. 

Back at Hotel Norte y Longres, the doors to the commodor (dining room) were opened so a quick peekaboo inside. It looked really stylish. However, at 6.60€ per person for a continental breakfast, it was never going to be an option. 

A bit of R&R followed for me while the boys had now started to move and were out in search for breakfast. 

Visit to ATM and supermercado was followed by a visit to Burgos Cathedral. I found the whole place over the top displaying both excessive wealth and gruesome biblical activities. Nothing inspiring and "arty" like my favorite cathedral to date, Notre Dame in Montreal, Canada. 

Here are a few pics from inside Burgos Cathedral:

The entrance doors from the inside:

 

These portraits were presumably of Archbishops...?

The courtyard though was quite lovely. 

Siesta then beckoned. And wasn't that great? 

At 2pm, we all went out for a Tapas degustation. At my suggestion.

The drawcard... 

Nine different tapas to try for 10€ per person sitting out on the terraza. 

Pretty good but not great.

There was a tapas with black pudding in there that I refused to eat, but otherwise OK. Not quite like Good Mrs tapas cooking, far from it, but a nice relaxing meal. 

After some Vino Tinto, I returned to the hotel to take full advantage of its facilities. 

That means, having a hot bath. It was very very very nice. 

Huge bathroom. There would have been a bunk bed or two in the bathroom if the hotel would have been an albergue.

Dinner...

Yes, I firmly believe that you can start your day with Weetabix but you can also finish it with Weetabix. When I found Weetabix on the shelf of a supermercado, I just had to get it. 

I also purchased a pack of 25 Twinings English Breakfast teabags. Some albergues do have microwave ovens so it is possible to heat up water. No kettles so far. Anyway, the 25 pack cost less than 1€. 

So, a bit more volume wise in the pack tomorrow although none of this is heavy. 

Except that I will be entering the long and dry and without much shelter meseta tomorrow. Extra water is recommended so I will carry 2 liters vs the normal 1 liter. It is what it is...