Today started out even colder than yesterday. So we set out wrapped up in multiple layers to try and keep warm.
We stopped for breakfast in a restaurant near to our starting point only to be served 1 small cup of coffee and 2 very small slices of burnt toast. Which they charged us €3 each for!
To get us warm the path took us up a steep hill to a small plateau which was very reminiscent to us of parts of the Corfu trail, scrub with lumps of limestone sticking out. Before us down below we could see Burgos our destination for the day. It only looked a few kms away but it would be 4.5 hours before we reached its centre.
Our path took us down through more corn growing country, before reaching the outskirts of the City. We then had to go around two sides of the airport, cross a busy road and walk in a park alongside Rio Arlanzon for 8 km before we reached the town centre.
After we grabbed some lunch in a cafe we checked into a very nice new hostal very near the Cathedral. The hostal was arranged in corridors of two sets of bunks separated by a stack of lockers. There is a shower and basin for each corridor, laundry facilities, and vending machines.
We got our domestic chores done and headed into town, to have a look round and do some shopping.We had seen a pilgrims mass advertised for 7:30 at the Cathedral. At 7 the bells began to ring out and we went off to the Cathedral. What we came across was a bit more than your average mass. For a start the service was being filmed and shown on TV screens all around the building. Secondly, when we arrived there must have been about 300 people there, including many nuns and priests in their dog collars, in fact none of the congregation looked at all like pilgrims.
The service started with the entry of the clergy, about 40 or 50 in robes, followed by no less than six Bishops (three with purple skull caps under the mitres). Obviously it was not just because Lesley and myself were on pilgrimage that such a noble company had gathered!
After the Bishop had censed the altar, a lady read a long statement with lots of references to the Pope, St Raphael something and Burgos. This was followed by the head Bishop censing with incense and sprinkling holy water on a statue, standing to one side of the altar. A priest then tied something around it's neck.
The service continued. When it came to the sermon, the Head Bishop read out a long statement with references to Pope Benedict, the local Cardinal and lots about St Raphael something and also about Burgos. My guess is that the Pope has made this Raphael of Burgos into a Saint and what we were witnessing was the official unveiling of his statue and the official proclamation of why he is now a saint.
Unfortunately for us it was all in very fast Spanish, so I am only guessing. Also it all took a long time and we were on a deadline if we wanted to get a discount pilgrims meal and get back to the hostal before lock in. As a result we had to leave before the end of the service, so I can't report what happened next.
On the Camino in Spain
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