Saturday, June 18, 2016
Burgos to Hornillos (Isar)
Day 18
Leaving Burgos, we walked along the street on the high side of the cathedral. From that perspective, the cathedral’s spires were gorgeously outlined against tbe blue sky. Our departure took us by the University of Burgos, which looked to be a thoroughly modern campus. Once out in the countryside, we saw how rocky yet fertile the soil is. And with less to look at, we had time to observe some things more closely.
All along The Way we have seen discarded objects. Mostly it has been hiking boots and athletic shoes, but once we even saw an abandoned metal suitcase out in the middle of nowhere. At first, the discarded items were usually left on a roadside marker or pile of stones, but folks are getting more creative.
We saw a couple of variations of hanging shoes on this day. The first one was as we walked through the university, and I suspect students might have been responsible for that one. But the tableau above is quite far out in the countryside. I couldn’t help thinking of the Clint Eastwood film, Hang ‘Em High. I think a number of those “spaghetti westerns” of his were shot here in Spain.
We planned to walk to Tardajos and take a bus from there. The hotel receptionist in Burgos had told us that was possible, after phoning the bus station. It tuned out that the information wasy wrong. No buses served Tardajos.
We asked about taxis, but they wanted 30 € for 10 kms, so we walked the whole way. This was one the few times we did the whole distance, 21 kms, double our usual amount. Camino conditions were good–a cool day, a relatively flat road, and a good road surface except for the last steep decline into Hornillos, when I used my walking sticks. We actually stayed in a nice Casa rural in Isar, an even smaller village not far from Hornillos.
Steps Today: 37,430
For photos of our walk, see Burgos to Hornillos
The Half-Fast Camino Walking* Club 