Glory Days

Posted bynickletjogPosted inDiary

CAMINO FRANCÉS – Day 12: Sunday 12 April 2025 – REST DAY in BURGOS

The barriers were already up and ready early this morning, for Burgos’ Easter Day celebrations

A very Happy Easter Sunday to all those kindly following this Camino Blog, and I trust that you are all enjoying the long weekend. I certainly feel that I have had a break today, and that I have made it to the right place to enjoy the festivities, having walked a day ahead of schedule to reach Burgos yesterday. I had heard tales of the processions, the street musicians, and all the holiday-time partying in the tapas bars; and the city certainly did not disappoint. I have no maps to share tonight, as I have covered no further ground on the Camino Francés path itself today – although I have managed over ten kilometres just around the city centre in catching all the celebrations, and on my self-guided tour of the city. Here are my highlights of a busy ‘day off’.

The Rio Arlanzón, that flows through Burgos, is certainly in spate at the moment after all the recent rain, and the riverside paths are currently under water
I have not identified the subject of this statue (some further research needed when I am back home)
I love these plane tree sculptures, they must take years to cultivate into such a stunning avenue . . .
. . . and metal-work sculptures are also a regional craft, present in nearly every public open space
Memories of Pamplona
A view across the Puent de Santa Maria . . .
. . . and a ‘selfie’ in front of the stone gate into the Cathedral square (I was soon able to ditch the waterproof top back at my lodgings, as the forecast showers failed to materialise)
I attended the Easter Sunday Pilgrims’ Mass in the Cathedral of Santa Maria – strictly ‘Non Turismo’, so no photos until after the service . . .
. . . and then outside to the cathedral square . . .
. . . for an Easter display of traditional dances . . .
. . . to music from an oboe and drum
It turned out that the coffee bar I had chosen afterwards was the ’Green Room’ for the dancing troupe, and I heard their stories of rehearsals for this morning’s performance and for the main Easter Procession in an hour’s time
Busy streets ahead of the Easter Day Procession . . .
. . . approaching the hour, and with the crowds building . . .
. . . I took advantage of the dancers’ ‘top tip’ for the best vantage point – on the Cathedral steps
The arrival of the ‘pasos’ bearing the icons . . .
. . . and ‘my’ dancers – on top form, of course!
And then the Easter Day Procession itself . . .
And the small band, playing out the parade

So, it has been a fine day full of new experiences for me, and what a wonderful city is Burgos! I have been able to walk around, for once, without the weight of my pack on my shoulders, and so hopefully the shoulder spasms that I complained of yesterday will have eased a little when I resume my Camino walk tomorrow morning. My traverse over the Meseta Central, an open expanse of flat upland terrain, starts in earnest tomorrow, and I look forward to reporting back as my trek towards Compostela de Santiago takes me across some fairly remote countryside during the next week or so.

One weary pilgrim

For my own convenience and planning I have divided the 33 Stages of the Camino Francés (as set out in John Brierley’s guide) into five sections. These are not all of equal length (neither by day nor by mileage), and now, at the end of Day 12 I find myself at the end of my second such section, covering the five days since I left Logroño. For any statisticians reading this I have kept a tally of my metrics; on this second section I have walked 123 further kilometres (76 miles) on the Camino path itself, making a total of 286 kilometres (178 miles) along the way covered to date – at an average of 24 kilometres (15 miles) per day, including the two rest days in Pamplona and now Burgos. I have covered an additional 51 kilometres (31 miles) on diversions from the walk, for example to access my accommodation, in taking evening strolls, and on my walking tours during my two rest days. My cumulative height gain so far is around 5,100 metres, and I have spent around 72 hours on the trail itself, including breaks.

And after a quiet hour or two of route and accommodation planning, it was back into the centre to meet some fellow Camino trekkers for the evening . . .
. . . and of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Evie and Laurent, my French friends from the first week of the Camino, happened upon us in a tapas bar – glory days!

My Blog title today ‘Glory Days’ seems an apt phrase for an Easter Sunday spent in and around the spectacular Cathedral in Burgos. The song of that title that I have adopted today is a number from Bruce Springsteen’s seventh studio album ‘Born In The U.S.A.’ released in 1984. Featuring twelve tracks all written by Springsteen, the album was more pop-influenced than the artist’s earlier works, and it was recorded over two years in a New York studio with the brilliant E Street Band. Remarkably the album achieved seven Top Ten singles on the US charts.

I was fortunate to catch the closing few numbers from this 2-tone ska band this afternoon – although getting a decent photo through the railings of the bandstand proved beyond me, so this picture is of the five-piece group taking the applause of the crowd after their encore
As a postscript I love these ’eat and drink’ wine and tapas bars; a typical ‘round’ of two glasses of fine wine and two tapas ‘snacks’ costs under ten euros, and the variety and quality is astounding . . .
. . . but watch out for this little one, mind – it looks innocent enough, but it blows the doors off!

4 thoughts on “Glory Days”

  4. A belated Happy Easter. It’s looking amazing Nick.

    Paula & I are currently watching The Way, with Martin Sheen, on Prime. It’s a film where Sheen decides to walk the Camino trail. I won’t tell anyone more about his reasons….Spoilers.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment