Burgos Rest Day - May 21

It seems like quite a few of my pilgrim cohort took an extra day in Burgos as I have seen familiar faces in my wanderings today. I spent a leisurely few hours this morning in a cafe doing yesterday's blog over coffee con leche and then toured the Cathedral. It was very impressive and took over 2 hours to do the audio guided tour.

 

The Burgos Cathedral is very impressive. The city itself has no real high rises and the city centre is a densely packed area of very narrow streets, so typical Burgos photos show the gothic spirals towering above the buildings as this is exactly how it is when you are walking about.

 

The Cathdral has the distinction of being designated a World Heritage sight on its own right - due to its impressive architecture and size, unlike other Cathedrals which are joined with a city designated as a world heritage sight as well. I will upload some of my Cathedral pictures, but if you want to know more go here to get more info on the Cathedral.

Look at the clock in the upper right

Papamoscas a symbol of Burgos

The "Papamoscas" (flycatcher) flaps open his mouth like a German nutcracker with each hour's chime and the small Martinillo figure to his right hammers on the 2 bells to mark the quarter hour.

 

 

 

The Cathedral is immense and one could easily get lost except for the arrows and the self guiding audio device everyone has hung on their ear, There are 17 separate chapels surrounding the 3 centre naves separated by massive columns which supports the nerves vaulted ceilings. Built in the French gothic style, it is a sight not to miss in Burgos. It was build in 1221 over 22 years and improved over the next 500 years.

Burgos itself is a very pretty city with a lot of open plazas and walkways.

On a more personal note, I have had a wonderful rest in my private hotel room a splurge in these last two days! I have also found some warm leggings to replace the ones left behind in Zubiri in a fit of optimism about the temperatures I could expect during my walk. The overnight low has been 5 degrees Celsius for two days running, with daytime highs of just 12 and nothing higher than 16 in the next week! Not too very bad for walking, but not pleasant enough to sit on the patios with Sangria in the afternoon. Anyway it is going to be mostly sunny and a bit warmer the next week when I am in Zamora.

 

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