*For walkers, riders, drivers, bikers, skateboarders, and others; it's the attitude, not the method of locomotion
June 18, 2016: Burgos to Hornillos and Isar
From behind the Burgos Cathedral, the church’s towers are dramatic against the sky.The crenellated tops of the spires were a latter addition to the cathedral towers. Take those off, and the facade of the church would look a lot like Notre Dame in Paris.In New Orleans, we visit the French Quarter and tend to think of the balconies with lovely grill work as French. Any tour through Spain, however, reminds one that Spain governed New Orleans for a number of years, and the grill work is probably a result of Spanish rather than French influence. These grilled balconies on an ordinary building as we walk out of Burgos sweep me right to New Orleans.Our pilgrim saint marches everywhere with us.A shoe sculpture in the sky.I mentioned being carried away to New Orleans by the Spanish balconies and grill work. These clumps of wildflowers remind me of bluebonnets and Texas.The troubadour of The Camino.Fields that seem to have more poppies than crops.As we walk through smaller towns, interesting public spaces like fountains appear.Who would think the youth of Spain would be aware of and concerned by fracking? We see similar anti-fracking graffiti several times as we walk along.As a girl raised on a ranch, I can’t help but notice agricultural conditions. The land is filled with stones. Occasionally I see a field like this, which appears to be used as a dumping ground for stones from nearby fields.Or there will be a stone mountain in the middle of a field.Or alongside the road.But even with all the stone removal, cultivating this land remains a huge challenge for farmers. It makes one appreciate the deep delta dirt we have along the Gulf Coast.Sometimes larger stones are piled up in interesting formations.When we finally come to the top of a hill and spot our destination for the day, we breathe a huge sigh of relief.