An Eternity of Walking

After days of walking together and staying in the same places, Simon, Marc, and I were getting very close. I woke them both up after our night in the less than stimulating town of San Juan de Ortega. Marc and I were ready quickly, but Simon seemed to take forever. We waited for him outside in the cold dark morning and were glad we did, as it was nice to start the day together.

Sometimes we would see these massive rock arrangements... Aliens?

Andreas started after us, but caught up later in the morning. That day was exciting because we would arrive in Burgos, one of the largest cities along the way.  Unfortunately walking into big cities is pretty miserable. First of all, walking on concrete and pavement is hard on your knees and hot. Also, walking into cities feels like it takes an eternity. You walk through suburbs and outskirts, past shops and markets, alongside streets with lots of traffic, but you can still be kilometers from the city center.  

A midmorning break

Most of the day was really nice, thanks to my companions.  We made fun in small ways, half-singing songs and me learning bits of German. I found out that David Hasselhof is extremely popular in Europe (at least in Germany and Switzerland). This was so shocking to me that I thought Marc was joking when he said he was a fan.

The last kilometers into Burgos I started to feel really bad. At one point we were a little lost, so I just sat in the middle of a sidewalk at an intersection while the men decided which way to go. 

I think Marc noticed that I was lagging and in pain. Sometimes he’d slow down to walk beside me and I appreciated his encouraging smiles.  

Finally, we reaching the main plaza in front of a stunning cathedral.  As the Camino de Santiago is an ancient pilgrimage, it takes you from church to church where the pilgrims of old would find shelter.  The cathedral in Burgos was by far the most amazing building we had seen thus far.  

We sat down at a restaurant terrace in the square to eat olives and drink expensive cokes.  None of us were sure what to do next. Marc and I knew that we wanted to stay an extra day in the city and that meant we needed to find a private hostel to stay at because the municipal only allowed pilgrims to stay for one night. Simon hadn’t decided if he would stay an extra day, so he headed to the municipal albergue and Andreas ended up treating himself to a night in a nice hotel.

Marc and I agreed that we would find a non-camino hostel so that we wouldn’t be awoken at 6 or 7 AM on our tourist day.  Our hostel search was far from fruitful.  The one we wanted was closed and others seemed few and far between. The few that we checked out were over 50 euros and we couldn’t justify spending that.  After walking around 30 kilometers to get to Burgos we probably added on another 5 that afternoon just wandering around. Finally, as we had nearly given up, we went into a slightly sketchy hostel not too far from the cathedral. The proprietor was friendly and soon enough we were checking in.

The view from our restaurant

It wasn’t a very high class location and the single bathroom was shared by a lot of people. I waited several hours before getting a chance to shower. After showering and relaxing a bit we walked around the city some and found a restaurant that served delicious cheeseburgers. Heading back to the hostel we ran into Harry and Tippy who we hadn’t seen since my birthday. It was nice to catch up a bit with them. 

Marc and I both went to bed early that night and I slept very well.  

The farther I walked on the camino the farther I felt from the dreams and expectations I had started with. I didn’t feel like I was gaining a ton of new insights into myself or what my life should look like, but slowly the life that I’d thought I wanted was slipping to the back of mind as I focused on each day as it came and watched my feet take step after step.