The refuge at “Burgos”

Route segment: 13

Sunday 8th October 2000

My leg and feet have kept me awake all night plus a minor fever. I decide that some days rest is required and order a taxi to
take me to the next stop, which is “Burgos“. It is a risk as I have already lost touch with Caroline and Ferdinand and as it turns out I will never see Geordie or Lisa again. I hope they are all right. The taxi does not take long and drops me right in the centre of “Burgos”.

It is a city which is said to be very aristocratic and that is confirmed by the airs and manners of the Spaniards I see
walking around. They are all well dressed and look well off and a bit aloof. They are all dressed for autumn and the site of a big Scotsman in shorts is obviously too much for them and some of them are openly gaping at me. I don’t mind. It was sunny and as I only have the one pair of jeans I want to save them for evenings or when I have to be presentable. At this point it might be worth checking over my Camino packing list for next time!

I see a hotel close by and check in. The room is very basic and smells funny but it will do. It has only a half bath, which I
fill with hot water immediately. A long soak in hot water does my leg a great help. So much so that I feel like walking around
afterwards. I go to find the refuge and have some difficulty finding it. I figure that my friends will also have difficulty and
as “Burgos” takes at least an hour and a half to walk through I reckon that they would appreciate a friendly face telling them that the refuge is not far.

I start walking the Camino path in reverse and eventually meet up with Carlos and Olga and later on Frederick who as usual
has a woman helping him. As I thought, they are glad to see me and to know the refuge is only 15 to 20 minutes away. That is the last I will ever see of them also. If they read this I want them to know how much I valued their friendship even though
it was brief. I continue walking but do not meet anyone else I know. I had hoped to meet Ophelia, Margaux and Thierry but
they won’t arrive until tomorrow, unknown to me.

I go back to the hotel and wash my clothes. If you have seen the film “Crocodile Dundee” then my room was just like his
hotel room in New York with the cloths strung across the room to dry. And no, there was no bidet so I did not have to shout
out the window.

I do some work on these web pages and give up by midnight. The following day I have a long lie in and in the afternoon go back to the refuge again to see if I know anyone. To my delight Margaux and the others are there and we exchange smiles all round. At that point I decide it is time to start walking again and agree to meet them next morning. They want to go out for a meal but Thierry is having his feet massaged by the gorgeous Margaux and a team of horses could not drag him away.

I joke with him about it the next day. It seems that a bit of romance is in the air and a parting between them later in “Frómista” looks painful to me. I admit I was somewhat jealous of them. I eventually go out for the meal with Ferdinand and a German girl whose name I did not catch. I could see a bond developing between them also and so left them to themselves early.