Amazingly, I slept well last night inspite of the fact that sleeping from 9:00pm to 6:30pm Madrid time is 1:00pm to 10:30pm Toledo time. But, I was tired, my body needed the rest and it didn’t seem to care what time of day it was nor where it was.
Sally was up an hour before me showering and getting ready for the day. We had purchased some pastries last night at the grocery store next door and had those for breakfast. Our bus back to the airport from the hotel left every 30 minutes. We picked the 7:35am and arrived in the lobby at 7:20am to let them know we wanted a ride. There was already 12 people waiting for a ride when we arrived. A representative of the hotel asked which Terminal we were headed to (4). She moved us outside and soon a taxi pulled up and whisked us away to the airport. There were four of us in the car and not enough room in the trunk for all our luggage so I rode with my pack on my lap.
At the airport we had about an hour and a half before catching our bus to Burgos. We got Sally a Coke (no Pepsi in sight) and took a table to wait. Outside, we waited for our bus. It was a few minutes late, but soon we were boarded and on our way.
I was impressed with the bus, it was very new and super comfortable, although they did cram a lot of seats in so the leg room was far worse than an airliner. The highway between Burgos and Madrid was excellent; a beautiful divided four lane highway with stylish guardrails. The countryside reminded me of eastern Washington-rolling brown hills dotted with houses.
We pulled into the Burgos bus station about 11:45am. It was a circular area with a pipe infrastructure supported roof. We exited the bus station into a bustling town with many, many pedestrians going about their business. The cathedral was plainly visible across the river and we made our way in that direction, backpacks on our backs and a bag in our hands. The cathedral is very impressive, a UNESCO world heritage site and considered the greatest example of a gothic cathedral in the world. It is modeled after Notre Dame and from the outside appears exactly the same. Later in the day we toured the inside. It is very ornate with many side chapels off the main nave. A treat worth visiting.
We made our way to the albergue (hostel) behind the cathedral and took two bunks at 6 euros each. We were on the 2nd floor and found our bunks (255 & 256) were in a room all their own, although there were no doors on the room. It used to be the laundry room, but they removed the machines, capped the pipes and put in bunk beds. It seemed like we had won the lottery, at least until later in the evening when we returned from dinner and found the lights on, yet no way to turn them off. They are wired into the hall lights and are controlled by the people that run the hostel. We wanted to get to bed by 8:30pm. Unable to turn off the two can lights in our small room, I lay on the top bunk bathed in bright light, unable to sleep. I devised a blindfold about 10:00pm, convinced by this time that the lights would be on all night. I peeked out from under my blindfold at 10:20pm to see the lights were off.
For lunch we had Tapas at a bar on Calle de San Lorenzo, a side street somewhat hidden from the rest of us tourists. We took a walk, then returned to the room for Sally to take a nap. I used the time to write, take small naps and check out our hiking route for tomorrow.
I woke Sally up at 4:30pm. We toured the cathedral, then began a search for our anniversary (42nd) dinner. In our search, we met Elaine and Nigel from England. She was a hoot and soon together we were searching for a restaurant to satisfy our wants. As is to be expected in Spain, most of the restaurants were closed until 7:30pm. Elaine and Nigel were willing to wait, we wanted to eat early so we could get to bed. We parted company and searched until we found a Tapas bar that served mussels. We ate them smothered in peppers, pickles and olive oil (our favorite) and steamed. We also had potatoes with a white garlic sauce. Delicious.
A quick walk around the squares and back to the hostel for our two hour bright light torture session.
A word about Burgos. The area we were able to visit adjacent to the cathedral was beautiful. It was reminiscent of Rome with one open square after another dotting the adjacent area, some with fountains, some without, all car free and teaming with pedestrian, yet there were not any crowds to speak of. People were friendly and kind. The area was super clean without tagging. My first impressions of Spain are excellent.
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