Burgos to Rabe 13 km

A beautiful day for walking and surprisingly warm for Burgos. I’ve been frozen here in the past at this time of year. My first job was to find a bank. I wanted to change some Australian dollars into Euros. They offered me such a lousy rate in Madrid Airport that I couldn’t bring myself to accept it. I was out of luck as Banco Santander had no currency exchange. I had to settle for an ATM using my Barclaycard.

It was a familiar route for me going out of town: no need to take a bus to avoid industrial suburbs in Burgos. Walking along the river was a pleasure, with birds singing, cuckoos calling and plenty of dog walkers with tiny pets.

I passed the University area and then the prison, then I was out in the countryside. I felt out of practice and unfit on this Camino. I stopped at Tardajos for some lunch at 1.00 pm. Unbelievably, I’d once been here for breakfast! Today I enjoyed a shandy with a slice of tortilla and some olives. I wished I was staying here, but I had another 2.5 km to do to Rabe. I was joined for this last part by a couple (she was French and he was Spanish, and they had walked from - wait for it - Jerusalem! They used to keep the vegetarian Albergue in Hospital de Orbigo, but it had been sold so they thought they’d just go on a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

I finally reached Rabe where I had a booking at the HR La Fuente. I went upstairs for a long siesta. This is the place: