I was definitely the last one up this morning, whoops! I was up way later than I ever intended to be, but hey, we made it out by 7.

The walk to Burgos was pretty uneventful. There was just one hill in the beginning to get up and over and after that, mostly flat. This hill had some serious rocky points.

Even though we had cut time out of the original walk in, making the actual mileage of today shorter, it felt long and Debbie was not feeling well. It started out just fine. We stopped for breakfast, saw Frances, Lisa, and Keith. Chatted, ate, and headed out. But after that, Debbie’s feet were just killing her. Not sure what happened, but she was not well. She doesn’t know why either. Went through some small towns and accidentally took the street route instead of the nature one. Not what we intended, but what happened. It just made most of our walk into Burgos flat, industrial, hot, and full of concrete. Which was NOT helping Debbie.

We got to Burgos with some confusion. Big cities are the worst at posting Camino signs it seems. But once again, the kindness of strangers proved evident when a confused Debbie and Desirée were graciously helped by two different noticing strangers passing by and stopping on their own to offer help. And once again, a kind human walked us the right way. People are inherently good, I know it.

We got to the albergue just as it was opening and waited FOREVER to get checked in. Debbie was not doing well. She went and sat inside while the line dragged on. Eventually, we got registered and sent to the third floor. I immediately jumped in an open shower, by the time I got out, Debbie was passed out asleep. We had seen Emma going up to our bunks and her and I agreed to meet up later. So until then, I decided to wander around the city on my own and look for a farmacy while I was at it. It was such a beautiful city. Filled with fancy shops, cafes and loads of people out and around just, doing what they do. Dressed so beautifully. It was great to see. I loved every minute. I found the farmacy, just as the gates were sliding down FOR FREAKING SIESTA. So, I decided to head back and get a snack.

I walked through a little Bazar shop hoping for some aloe. My arms didn’t looked burned, but they hurt. I woke myself up sleeping cause I turned onto one of them in my sleep. No luck. So I found a cafe and enjoyed myself some patatas bravas 🤤 so I could use their WiFi. Talked to my parents a bit and was able to text Emma to meet up. She was with Mike and we decided to go walk around for a farmacy aaaanndd the H&M. I wanted a tank top and comfy shorts! I’ve been wearing the shorts I hike in all day, showering and putting them back on! I wanted comfy shorts for after hiking. And a tank for this unanticipated heat. Emma wanted new clothes and had been itching to get to H&M, so we did and it was fabulous. We got all we needed and there was an open farmacy next door! I got aloe and some muscle pain oil? I wanted icy hot but quickly realized I don’t know what that would be called in Spain nor do I know what icy hot is made up of to look for that. Soo.. muscle oil was it. I think it works.

We eventually headed back and I wanted to check on Debbie. I had been gone for a couple hours at this point. We walk into the albergue, into the main kitchen area only to find Jens sitting with some other people we have seen along the way. We sort for a minute when I hear someone tell teacher and I look up to see New York waving at me from the washing machines. It was his last night here. Tomorrow he is going to Rome. It was kind of a genuinely sad moment. He admitted he was going to miss me (not in a weird way!) But I was too. It’s in the way of the Camino. You make friends and see the same people all the time that the comradery evolves into something sort of magical. Because while every single persons Camino experience is different, you simultaneously share something so unique with a whole bunch of people you don’t even really know. Its enough to connect you. Because they’ve literally traveled what you’ve traveled the days you’ve done it. They get it. More than just anyone who’s traveled the Camino. They get it because they’ve been on YOUR Camino. And you on theirs. It connects you in this really strange way. It really is something quite special. And because of that, New York leaving is sad.

We talked for a few minutes. He bought some what I’ve come to call real-human clothing from H&M for Rome. Who wants to be in Rome in hiking gear? He pulled out his clothes he purchased, asking for fashion advice (see Mom, it even happens here). He told me he saw Debbie walk outside. I ran out to find her, eventually finding her and told her of my adventures and purchases. She decided to head out on her own and look for Advil and I went back inside for a few moments to the kitchen then ultimately upstairs to pack my bag and maybe nap, or at least rest. Emma invited Debbie and I to meet back down stairs at 6 to go get dinner with some Aussie friends, her Dad, Jens, and Jen (yeah, well, that’s confusing to read).

Debbie returned and we talked for a little when Aaron walked over. Aaron was part of a group behind us in line to get into the albergue.

Aaron from Arkansas.

He sat on the the floor, feet under Debbie’s bed and talked with us for over an hour. He heard me say aloe and came to ask if he could have some because Aaron is from Arkansas. And the sun has been out these last couple days. We talked about the mission work he’s done, which had allowed him to spend some time in Cambodia, right near where Debbie has been living for two years, so that’s a small world. He explained his dream for opening up a home for children with autism in the D.R. He is a really nice guy but I was so tired I just laid down trying to stay awake while the conversation continued. Ultimately it was almost six and we needed to head down to meet Emma.

We go down and eventually we all move to the restaurant to have a drink first. It was a big group. The Aussies are a group of four, Jens, Emma, Kieran, Jen came from her hotel, Debbie, me, and Kat joined us. Kat is from Florida. Her first day on the Camino is tomorrow and she found Jen and Emma by being lost in Burgos looking for the albergue and asking them for help. She’s the baby of our group, rolling in at 23 years of age. Her parents are both retired Navy officers and so she moved around about growing up- but Florida is where she had been the longest. This is her first trip abroad and her first trip abroad without her parents. So all of us and Rupert joined as he walked by for a beer, sat and had drinks before heading out to eat. Debbie was still not feeling well so she grabbed some food and went back in for the night.

Rupert, Emma, and Jen

Jen, Kat, and Yens

We went a little farther into town and say where we could get tapas. I ended not get tapas, rather a Cesar salad that tasted like the dressing had fresh anchovies in it. But we had a blast. Jen bought wine for us to share and we all just sat around this table and chatted and ate. Jens taught me about NFC, which is essentially Android’s version of Airdrop. It was awesome! But it requires you to place your phones in contact back to back, which feels weirdly intimate haha. Emma took this funny photo of Jens and I as he was aidropping the group photos.

After we left, we headed to the Irish bar because last night Kieran and I were talking about Guinness and they happened to have a bar in this big city that serves it! So we all went and had a pint. After that, trying to make our way back to the albergue (curfew was 10:30) we ran into Frances, Keith, and Lisa who insisted upon having a night cap. So into the restaurant across from the albergue we went until it was close to 10:30. We had a blast, it was quite fun with all of us sitting around talking. Walking in, we passed a priest who is walking the Camino. Well, he looks like he might be a preist? He wears the old school stereotypical-halloween-costume type robes. I don’t know much about him, but I’m curious.

Day mileage: 12.4
Total mileage: 189.9
Personal mileage: 17.8