Tardajos, Spain - July 14, 2016

This morning, we collected several care package items, purchased for our son Olin's twenty-third birthday. The process in the Burgos Post Office took extra time due to the language barrier. I'm convinced that the box will arrive on, or before, the big day.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria was our next stop. The entire structure, inside and out, is a piece of art. Architects, sculptors, glass artists and painters have worked on the site for hundreds of years. We checked our backpacks and wandered through the circuit of masterpieces, pushing numbers on our portable tour-guide devices at each location. Each piece moved my eyes upward, leaving my jaw hanging loosely from its hinges. I felt like I was searching the stars when trying to comprehend the effort involved in creating such a place.

The concentration of resources in single locations, and with privileged individuals, is an undeniable part of our human heritage. Is this reasonable? As my footsteps follow the Camino, I'll explore this.



Leaving Burgos late, we cut our day short, covering 10.6 kilometers (6.5 miles). Upon entering the town of Tardajos, we noticed a sign for what looked to be an interesting albergue.

La Fabrica had been an old flour factory converted into an albergue / restaurant. Pictures of the remodel process were proudly hung on the walls. I was particularly attracted to the mix of old stone and new, freshly painted drywall. We washed clothes and hung them to dry in the wind before dinner.

The three course pilgrim meal (10 euros) at La Fabrica was the best we've had so far on the Camino. I chose the risotto, salmon and yoghurt. The salty-sweet layer on the outside of the fish is, even now, difficult to forget.


1 comment:

  1. The Catheral looks beautiful. Are you finding walking several miles per day to be strenuous? Looking forward to meeting up with you when you arrive.

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