Dear Christine and Renee’.

We arrived in Burgos yesterday, Tuesday.

The Hotel Norte y Londres is as convenient, comfortable, and welcoming as ever.

I have unhesitatingly recommended it to pilgrims along the way, a few of which have chosen to be guests here instead of lodging at one of the many albergues here in Burgos.

Burgos is a town where one should pause, rest, and reflect.

Teresa is still managing the hotel. She greeted me and welcomed Britton as if we were dear friends, perhaps even family.

She still remembers you and me from 2013 and me from 2022. I commented to Britton that it is amazing that someone would remember us from just a couple of brief encounters over the years. His reply, “No it isn’t”.

Teresa pulled a few strings and arranged for me to have a massage today.

After we checked in, I left Britton to shower, rest, and connect with his friends and his family. I gathered up the laundry and was off to a nearby laundromat.

We were past due for clean clothes.

Monday and Tuesday have been very reminiscent of last days on the Camino. Christine, recall how often in the past we would turn a corner and virtually walk into dear people with whom we had made a deep connection.

On this Camino Britton has become his own person rather than walking in my shadow. He personally feels the momentary joy of these chance encounters, and upon parting the sadness of not knowing whether he will ever see these good people again.

The countries that these Camino friends represent include: The Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, France, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Poland. There are others.

This is heady stuff for any adult let alone a 15-year-old.

Yesterday we toured the Cathedral.

The expression on Britton’s face said it all, awe inspiring. These few pictures hardly do the Cathedral justice.

Witek and Kasia, our Camino friends from Poland, are also staying here at the hotel. Kasia is trying to work through painful tendon issues with her ankle. At the moment further progress for them on the Camino is an unknown.

We met them at the Cathedral for our tour and later for dinner at a highly regarded restaurant near the hotel.

Our plan had been to enjoy dining on the outdoor terrace, but thunderstorms drove us inside. The rain did not depreciate the evening experience with these wonderful people.

When dinner concluded they would not let me pay. The dinner was their treat and gift to our friendship.

They have spent significant time on the island of Malta. Their description and pictures are captivating. I think that you and I should explore this as a future destination, perhaps even meeting Witek and Kasia there!

As I write this, Britton is enjoying sleeping-in for the first time on this journey. I am enjoying writing this with the day yet to unfold rather than burning the midnight oil and shorting myself on needed sleep. It is still strange for me to imagine that while it is 8:30 in the morning here it is 1:30 AM in Kansas City.

I wish you restful sleep and sweet dreams. Love to you both. Peace. Dad

PS. Sarah at Ultreia Osteopatia y Acupuntura here in Burgos gave me a wonderful and pain relieving massage. Thank you Sarah and thank you Teresa for making the appointment for me!

Dear Christine and Renee.

A short day today. Some clouds but mostly blue skies and pleasant temperatures.

We had a mostly uneventful hike and are staying tonight at the elegant Hotel-Albergue San Anton Abad.

You and I were here in 2013, but lodged in the Albergue. Remember that it snowed the next morning? No chance of that happening this time.

Britton and I are in the Hotel portion. Breakfast is included and late departure is permitted.

There is a pilgrim we have encountered periodically, Brenda from New Zealand. She is around my age, walking solo, and usually distinctive for her bright yellow-green attire, Think School Crossing Guard.

Britton and I stopped for a bite at a small cafe in an equally small village. On one of the outdoor tables I spotted a pair of bright yellow-green sunglasses. The proprietor didn’t know who they belonged to, and with his permission I took them, certain they were Brenda’s.

I figured that we might see her in Burgos, but she is quite a speedy lady. As luck would have it she is staying here at the same rural hotel as us. Indeed, they were her glasses which she had given up as lost forever. My good deed for the day.

We also again got to walk with Rocío, the very pleasant Spanish lady from 2 days ago.

We were still close to the highway noise and the day included a fair amount of elevation gain.

There were also a LOT of bicycle pilgrims.

I will let my pictures and captions offer details.

Love to both of you. Peace. Dad.

Dear Christine and Renee.

Today was a long day, often soulless as the Camino tracked for many kilometers alongside a busy stretch of highway.

There were bright spots. A wonderful little food truck, permanently in place with a garden and picnic tables.

Soft music played in the background as a peaceful accompaniment to coffee and a chocolate croissant.

The surrounding hills and farm fields were eye candy, the cars and trucks thundering along on the nearby highway were not so kind to the ears.

There were four small communities evenly spaced between our start and finish.

Each features its own unique church. Viloria de la Rioja is reputed to be the birthplace of Santo Domingo (1019-1109). The baptism fount (9th century?) by which he was christened is displayed in the church.

As we entered Belorado we passed a “different” albergue. Large colorful wood cutouts of pilgrims “trucking along” like the 1970’s Mr. Natural are the advertisement of choice. How I date myself!

Our hotel in Belorado features a nice restaurant where we ate a better than average pilgrim’s dinner. We are in a region where each town features its own version of Morcilla, blood sausage with rice and spices mixed in. Britton loved it!

Somehow we rated a room with four beds and a private bath.

There is a real bathtub. I enjoyed a hot soak which was real medicine for my back.

We are next to the town church and cliff caves which once were home to medieval hermits.

Atop the church bell tower are huge stork nests.

Tomorrow is much shorter than today and precedes our arrival into Burgos.

Loved you both. Peace. Dad.

Dear Christine and Renee’.

Except for a few brief spits of rain this morning it has remained dry.

The sun came out and (thankfully) helped my shoes to dry along the way.

They had remained wet and uncomfortable from yesterday.

Speaking of uncomfortable: In the morning when I wake up my lower back and right hip are really tight and painful. Ibuprofen barely helps. But an hour of walking and I feel good again.

Somewhat similarly Britton starts to feel twinges of discomfort in his right knee by the end of a long day walking.

Again, it is not the one day walking, rather it is the day-after-day walk that is the challenge. In these matters we are not alone.

We see other pilgrims with taped ankles, taped knees, blisters… and we think we are not doing so badly. (Knock on wood!)

Today we encountered a grandfather and grandson from France walking the Camino. Grandson is 14 and grandfather 62. We are not alone!

Britton’s shyness again raised its head. It occurred to me that he is not shy with using his language skills, he is just shy as most 15-year-olds are in meeting strangers. Give him a little time with people and he is more personable than many adults.

I think he and I have found our comfort levels with one another. We seem to both now seem instinctively to know what to expect from each other. It’s all good!

There was time today for a little fun and to pose behind some “cut outs”.

One remarkable sight we had been alerted to was that of a huge olive tree at the entrance to a local bodega. The tree is huge and reputed to be well over 1000 years old!

I have continued to work through plans to assure us of reaching Santiago in time, but with a minimum of discomfort. As pilgrim Anna from Montana has recently told us, “There is no trophy for suffering the most!”

We are doing a good job of taking care of each other.

Love to both of you. Peace. Dad.

PS. in the evening there was again dinner with our Polish friends!