Depart Time: 8:30. Temp: 60F RH: 100%
Walked m: 2.5 mi. Camino 2024: 101 mi.
Picking up with our discussion yesterday, we’ve decided to give ourselves a break. Each of the combinations of walking and taxi required us to walk at least 10 of the 23 miles to Burgos, except one. It would require a very short walk of 3.5 miles and two different taxis… which seemed hardly worth the hassle and the cost (~80€) versus the gain of logging a few extra miles today.
But alas, after a brief discussion with the hotel concierge last night, we discovered another option… there is a bus stop less than a mile from the hotel.
So, this morning we walked to the Villafranca bus stop and…
…boarded at 9:07 for the 8:52 bus to Burgos. (Spanish buses are not quite as punctual as Spanish trains).
It was an interesting ride, taking us away from the Camino, then entering the city from a different direction than when we walked in.
We pulled into the Burgos station after the 40 minute ride and had breakfast in the station bar/restaurant.
As we walked out of the bus station, just a few steps ahead was the Santa Maria Bridge which crosses the Arlanzón River and leads immediately to the the magnificent entrance of the Arco Santa María into the Plaza del Rey San Fernando.
No matter how many times we have entered through this arch, today we were again overwhelmed by the beautiful, flamboyantly gothic and dominant Catedral de Santa María of Burgos.
We walked back out of the plaza and walked along the park that borders the Rio Atlanzón, following the Booking.com app to locate our hotel.
Once we located our “habitación”, we returned to the Plaza Rey San Fernando, found a bench with a good view of the Catedral and watched it and people until our room was ready at 12:30.
After check in, we got lunch/dinner at a nearby restaurant…
… then returned to our room to do some chores and get an early start on our two day rest in Burgos.
Jimandi 