1st Oct. Exploring Burgos

Last time I was here I was walking the Camino Frances and arrived tired and time pressed. I had a massage and did the minimum sightseeing. This time I have really enjoyed exploring the city and discovering its vibe. We are so lucky to have finally arrived in the middle of a festival. The Cidiana- festival of medieval times and commemoration of El Cid. I have decided I have a crush on him. He seemed a really interesting person and what a looker! He is buried in the Cathedral here. He is a real hero in Spain.

Peter and I visited the Museum of human development. It traces human development from the earliest times with bones and artefacts retrieved from the archeological dig at Alapuerta outside Burgos that has traced the development of humans in Europe. It was fascinating and with new human species discovered in the last 20 years it is filling the gaps in evolution. They had excepts from Darwin’s journal that made me think I should read The Origin of the Species. His wonder at the variety of flora and fauna was inspiring.

All that brain strain brought on a raging hunger so we left for lunch. Our tickets were free because we are Seniors and lasts all day.

Revived by lunch we went up to the castle that looks over the town. While we were wandering around we kept seeing people in medieval costumes. Then we heard music and singing so we returned from the castle to watch some jousting, archery and sword fighting.

I made a trip into the Cathedral while Peter went souvenir shopping. It is the fanciest cathedral with lots of embellishments but also some beautiful sculptures, altars and stained glass. This time the cloister was open. I had not registered previously that it had one!

We bumped into Karen and Andy and headed back to the jousting for a snack and a look at the medieval falcons. There were several birds and two kookaburras. I felt a bit sad to see them but the carer was very attentive and the birds seemed affectionate with him.

We finally returned to the flat for a dinner of lentils and rice and headed out for the night parade. There were horses and lots of people dressed in medieval costumes with flaming candles. At the end we went home but there was another parade at 11.00 pm! It was all to do with El CID’s life. Also the commemoration of the Cathedrals 800 years was achieved by art installations around the town and a lot of restoration work in the Cathedral.

The place was abuzz and occasionally I wondered about Covid. It has not been mentioned here though people wear masks sometimes and always in a pharmacy and on public transport. Life seems so normal. It has been a great relief to be away from the constant barrage of Covid news or in fact any news! We have dipped in a little but not much.

It was a wonderful day and so lively compared to many of our nights on this trip where everything was closed.