After breakfast I rested for an hour before crossing the bridge over the fast flowing river to the Museum of Human Evolution, a magnificent new building. I spent two hours having a thorough look at everything, getting a better understanding of what I had seen at Atapuerca. In the bookshop, I was astonished to find not a single publication in English. Outside the museum is a larger than life bronze statue of a Homo Antecessor Man and his child, based on the theory that this extinct human species was indeed bigger than we are. The discovery of this new species and its implications is described in Reassessing the age of Atapuerca-TD6 (Spain): new paleomagnetic results. Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol 40, issue 12, Dec 2013, pp 4586-4595.
My hotel was in the same street as a new big public library, with free Internet access and a large periodicals room, so I was able to occupy myself for an hour or so, out of the cold. I also walked all round the outside of the magnificent Burgos Cathedral, where I had witnessed a posh wedding, complete with firecrackers, on my last visit. Later, I poked my nose into the large and popular municipal albergue, where late in the afternoon they were turning people away.
That evening, I wanted to try local delicacies at the 100 year old Restaurant Ojeda, which was in walking distance of the hotel. Menu: Asparagus a la Plancha; Cordero lecho asado; Vino de Casa Tempranillo 2007. The fresh asparagus was beautiful, but the roast suckling lamb was tough and stringy. It must have been warmed up a second time in the microwave. This needs a write-up on Trip Advisor. It is obviously a tourist trap, charging big $$$. My meal was 50 Euros, more than I’ve paid anywhere in Spain. I will eat in the hotel tomorrow. Suckling lamb is supposed to be so tender, you can cut it with the side of a plate.
Burgos Cathedral from the Museum of Human Evolution
Homo Antecessor
No comments:
Post a Comment