Sabbatical Sayings: Burgos is Beautiful!

Tomb of San Juan after Mass & Pilgrims' Blessing.

On the road early from San Juan. I left at 6:20. Today's route is longer and ends in a large city (170,000) which is always difficult. Burgos is about 17 miles away with just one 100 meter climb. Again it was a gorgeous morning. But I want to add something wonderful that happened last night.

Pilgrims' Blessing in English.

At the Pilgrims' Mass at San Juan there were only pilgrims there about 25 of us. The priest was an older man a little reserved and did not deviate from the book. The only strange thing was the offertory hymn which was sung to the tune "Blowing in the Wind" for all you Peter Paul and Mary fans out there. After Holy Communion, the priest invited all of us over the the tomb of San Juan for the pilgrims blessing. While he read the very beautiful prayer in Spanish copies were provided in about 8 languages which cover all of us. I think the majority were English-speakers. It was an even more wonderful ending to a glorious day.

Sunrise

Back on the road I did most of my walking with Chelsea and Amanda, theVirginia Tech Twins. They are both very impressive young ladies. I was thankful that I spent the time with them. The walking and chatting did slow my pace considerably. What I thought was going to be closer to a five hour stint was over six. It was a long hall.

Pictured at 3, 510 feet in front of the Cruceiro.

Luckily, today is a double stop over in Burgos which means I'm in a hotel room tonight not too far from the Cathedral of Santa Maria. Burgos is by far the most beautiful city in Spain I have seen so far. It is on both sides of the Arlanzon River with square after square filled with people. In the afternoon while walking around I had to ask a lady if today was some holiday because there were so many people and families out. Her response: "No, this is Burgos!"

Museo Marceliano

As with so many places before, the historic city is mostly a walking mall closed in by the ancient walls of the city. Central to it all is the Cathedral. A big minus though is it charges an entrance fee. Like in Santo Domingo and other places there is an entrance fee to enter the cathedral as museum. I will not pay it. Most places let you in free for Mass. Here they have an entirely separate place for prayer that is open in the morning and evening. So while at Mass at the Cathedral light night I never even saw the Cathedral!

Statue of Our Lady with Cathedral in Background.

I had a lovely lunch outdoors in front of the Cathedral for $20 (a little pricey but worth it). Then after siesta I went for a great walk (I know!) for about an hour and a half.