Burgos to Leon

Another Great Leap Forward! This time it’s a 2 hour bus ride, departing at 5.30 pm. I organised a late checkout from Meson del Cid, so that I had plenty of time for sightseeing and then a short siesta.

I had to decide between the Museum of Human Evolution, with its display about the archaeological site at Atapuerca, and the Monasterio de las Huelgas, with its exhibition of medieval costumes. In the end I went for las Huelgas. It was a pleasant walk along the river (1.7kms) and I arrived in plenty of time for the 10.30 am Sunday opening. I found it was compulsory to take the one hour guided tour, and that the first one was fully booked, by online bookings I suppose. So I took the 11.00 am tour and bought a guide book in English to make the most of it.

Only 532 kms to Santiago!

Storks nesting at Las Huelgas.

The guided tour was a strictly controlled affair, with a security guard at the back, to ensure there were no stragglers or people taking illicit photos. Photography was only permitted outside.

The small cloister.

Moorish architecture in the earliest part.


Back in Burgos, dancing outside the Cathedral.

The bus ride was not the opportunity for a rest or a snooze that I imagined. I was sitting opposite a fractious toddler who grizzled for the first half hour with a whiny, get-on-nerves sort of grizzle. Everyone felt like throttling the little blighter!  He only stopped when he was given a bag of cheesy snacks to keep him quiet. Some little girls at the back of the bus were either singing, chatting, playing games or quarrelling; not as annoying, but still noisy. 

On the Camino many pilgrims dislike the Meseta because they think it’s flat and boring.  I’ve walked across it in its entirety and found it interesting because of all the small towns it goes through as well as the wide open space and big sky. On the bus, taking the motorway, it certainly was flat and boring though. We didn’t go near any towns at all and everyone was relieved to arrive in Leon. I decided to take a taxi to the Hotel Posada Regia even though I had an idea of it’s whereabouts. It was a very warm evening and the streets were packed with people enjoying their Paseo on a Sunday night.

Leon Cathedral in the evening sun.

A shandy and a creative tapa at a street cafe.