Day of Rest

Though life was brilliant, I looked forward to a day of rest

on the camino. I took three in total, the first had been in Pamplona and my day in Burgos would be the second. For the first time in weeks I was able to sleep past 7:30 and see the morning and afternoon come and go from the same location.
Marc and I had a relaxing beginning to our day. We went to a bakery around 9:00 for breakfast and then lay around until check out time. We sat quietly at a cafe until the muncipal albergue opened and then settled in there easily.

A statue of a pilgrim washing his feet.

Simon and Marc had arranged a meeting time, as Simon had pretty much decided to stay in the city as well. He had spent his morning in the Museum of Evolution and had lots to tell us about the museum as well as his night in the albergue. Though it was early afternoon, and most pilgrims wouldn't have considered moving on, Simon was indecisive about what to do next. He considered just walking to the next town and staying in an albergue there, or possibly going to the hostel Marc and I had just come from. While sitting in the cathedral square discussing these things we were approached by Bill, an older American man who had met Marc earlier on the way. Bill was a nice man, also looking for a hostel so he tagged along as we searched for one for Simon. Unfortunately, Bill had a bit of a hygeine problem and smelled terrible.
Bill continued his hostel search alone when the three of us decided to get a picnic lunch from a supermarket and enjoy the beautiful day. He was welcome to join us, but we were all a little relieved to be just the three of us again. After eating we checked another albergue and were very pleased  when Simon decided to check in there and spend the rest of the day in Burgos
In front of Simon's hostel we met Henrik and Andreas and the five of us conversed in the street for a while. During that conversation I discovered that Simon had been walking the entire camino with juggling balls in his backpack and had yet to give us a show. I was excited to see him juggle, but Marc, Andreas, and I had agreed to do laundry together that afternoon so we made plans to meet again for dinner.
Often, laundry along the way meant using a sink and some soap you had brought to wash a few things by hand and then hang them to dry. In places like Burgos though, there were usually machines to use. No one on the camino had more than three or four outfits so we often combined laundry to economize paying for a machine. While the machine ran, Andreas and Marc talked to each other and I journaled.
Like Simon with his juggling balls, I had brought a few less than practical things as well. After laundry I took a shower and put on the skirt I carried for days like this when I wanted to look like a woman not a pilgrim. Then I took out the small watercolor set my mom had given me and prepared to walk into the city and find a bench in the sun where I could paint. I didn't invite Marc or Simon, who I ran into at the door. As much as I enjoyed their company, I looked forward to some time on my own.

In the end, I had only a few minutes to myself before Andreas, Marc, and Simon all descended upon me with good spirits and smiles. I didn't mind much. There's a different kind of peace that comes with being around dear friends.
The four of us found a really cool bar to hang out in that evening. There weren't a lot of seats, but we found a table to stand at in the crowded room. Everytime you ordered a drink at this bar they gave you some pizza as a kind of a bar snack to go with it. We made this our meal and stayed at the bar for about four hours talking, laughing, and half watching the music videos on the TVs around us.
Marc, was a pretty heavy smoker, going through about a pack a day on the camino, though he said he was smoking less than normal. That night in Burgos he happily smoked his last cigarette and we all gleefully congratulated him. It was Marc's intention for the camino to be a new start for him. Sometimes it felt like the camino had this magic that could inspire you to change or delevop. However, we came to find that the way is more about learning. Learning who you are, what you want, and just how hard change really is.