Burgos

       In Burgos we stayed in a private albergue called Divina Pastora, a very odd little place located above a chapel and in operation since 1466. The hospitalera gave us bottom bunks since we'd come from Agès (by bus...shhh) since at Divina Pastora--complete with creepy shepherd statue--the first are last, etc. this meant the tiny Japanese girl afraid of heights had to be on the top bunk. Then she gave us a long explanation of the same old things before letting us leave--between 10:30 and 6:15 the albergue had to remain at absolute silence. Absolute silence!! And at 8 you must be gone. Gone!! Don't make me kick you out or you will see what an angry hospitalera is. Direct quote from Lauren: "it was like being the red-headed step child no one wants but feel obligated to host." After Petunia Dursley was done with her diatribe, we explored all thirty feet of paltry facilities and were glad for a fun evening out while all the other pilgrims seemed to sleep in the dim albergue all day and night. 

        First stop was the tourists office to get information on a birthday detour to Santo Domingo de Silos, which Lauren totally took charge of with a can do attitude that meant so much to me. She knew it was important to me to go and see the cloister there (more on that later) and was willing to jump through a number of hoops, including what would be a two night detour from camino, to make it happen!

Conveniently, Burgos is in the midst of its annual two week fiesta celebrating the city, which meant our time here has been a huge party with parades, music and above all, the tapas festival. All over the city, booths are set up with competing tapas for less than 2€. Each one has a hot and cold and i made it a personal mission to eat as many as I could stomach. And I could stomach a lot. Among the highlights were bacalao (a salt-cured cod which is fried), some great mushrooms with shrimp, and baby sepia (yup, squid in a garlic butter sauce and grilled). Plus beer and dancing and friends in the square--definitely one of the best nights of the trip!

The next morning, the lights in Divina Pastora came on at 6:55 and we were firmly shown the door at 7:53. After eggs and ham (not bread??!!) for breakfast, Lauren and I took our packs to the bus station to be stored for the day while we went in the cathedral. 

         Burgos Cathedral is too much in much the same way that the Vatican is too much, except delicate Gothic tracery instead of gaudy Baroque gilding (mostly). In other words, it's wonderful. Anywhere some ornamentation could be added, it was. Endless chapels in the normal hodgepodge of styles, really brilliant ceilings, a great set of cloister doors, and a number of pretty hideous altarpieces make it overwhelming and extravagant and well worth the two and half hours Lauren and I spent there listening to the majority of the soothing-voiced audio guide. My favorite bit was the central dome, completed in the later 16th century and probably the most spectacular dome I've ever seen. 

There was also an amazing late gothic carved altarpiece that really blew me away. Lauren has good art instincts I'm realizing though she pretends not to know or care at all.

Later we caught the Giants parade with huge, odd figures that were somehow rooted in Catholicism and danced through the streets surrounded by children in costume. Followed by chocolate con churros at Cafe Ibánez, our favorite Burgos spot and where I'm sitting to write this post!

After a leisurely afternoon at the cafe and a quick trip for cheese and chorizo to bring, we boarded our bus for Silos to see the chanting monks! Due to bus schedules, I knew I wouldn't get to see my cloister but we decided it would be worth it despite this--and it was! To be continued...