Day 14 – Ages to Burgos

Day 12 – April 16 Ages (Km 513) to Burgos (Km 490) = 23 km - Cumulative 261

"Today I walked from Ages (Agees?) to Burgos, about 22 km. When I was about 3 or 4 km from the centre of Burgos I decide to try taking a city bus in to the centre. So I found a bustop going in the right direction. There were about five or six ladies (señoras) there. They recognized right away that I was a peregrino and began to ask all sorts of questions. Where was I from? Where did I start? How far had I come today? etc. One lady said that she had done the camino herself. And when I began looking at the route map at the bus stop they quickly came to help me. Pointed out where I was. Asked if I was looking for the alburgue. No, I was looking for a hotel in the
centro urbano (All this conversation was going on in Spanish). They assuered me that this was the right bus. I asked about the bus fare. They told me, but one lady insisted on paying my bus fare. We continued this conversation on the bus. What languages did I speak? They knew a bit about Canada. They asked what percent of Canadians spoke French and did we speak French or English where we live. I told them mostly English but because there were many imigrantes, there were actually many languages spoken. Anyway they made sure I got off at the right spot (the Plaza España) and made my trip much easier and much more pleasant.

Spanish Breakfasts
One thing about which I am not very enamoured is the Spanish concept of breakfast (Desayuno). Usually just breads, pan tostado or sweet breads or buns or croissants or brioches. Nothing even vaguely resembling a good cooked English breakfasy. In Logroño I was staying at a nice 3 star hotel and I went in for breakfast at 07:00. There was a nice cold breakfast buffet laid out, and on every table was a sign saying Huevos revueltos y bacon (scrambled egges and bacon). So I asked for the scrambled eggs and bacon. I quickly came to understand that this was another Si Pero No story (Yes but No). Yes there would be scramblerd eggs and bacon but not until later when the cook came in. So I had the very nice but cold breakfast buffet. And by later I was already on my way out of Logroño. In Santo Domingo de la Calzada I also stayed in a three star hotel and went in for breakfast at 08:00. Just Zumo de naranja (orange juice), cafe con leche (as always) and breads. It makes you appreciate what an advanced intellectual concept the simple Egg McMuffin is.

By the way Jean Santo Domingo was the first and only place where I saw tea being served! "