Trekking the Camino Days 9-10 (Nájera, Burgos, Boadilla)

Nájera to Burgos - 0.0 miles walking (a bunch by bus)

(First part written on 5/21)

Shoutout to the Nelson family--thanks for following along on Instagram! Fun fact: your son taught me how to solve a Rubiks cube!

Greetings from Burgos. Or rather, the university hospital at Burgos. I’m still fine (ish) but my medical issue isn’t improving, so Deya and I are driving all over Burgos trying to find specific care. I’m ready to give up and amputate everything, but Deya, the hotel receptionist, her boss, the hospital receptionist, and the cab driver refuse to to take “no” for an answer, so we are in another waiting room hoping to be seen. While this is *not* the way I want to be spending my afternoon, I have tremendous gratitude for Deya and the people of Burgos for their kindness and willingness to accommodate.

(Editor's note: I got fixed! Or at least I'm the definitive path to recovery with signs of improvement. And they didn't even have to amputate :). I will say that I got this issue resolved just in time to catch whatever bug is going around our group, and I'm now quarantined in my room with a mild fever. I'd say about 7-8 students have also had whatever I've got, and it seems to resolve itself in about 48 hours.)

I’m hoping that a few of our students will do a write up and share photos of the Burgos cathedral so I can include it in the blog. And the Museum of Human Evolution. I am *bummed* to miss these sites.

(Editor's note: Kimmy volunteered to do a write up--thanks, Kimmy! Also, I was able to get into the cathedral about 30 minutes before they closed. They let me in for free (thanks!)--it was arguably the fastest speed-run through a very, very large and impressive space, and I didn't have time to listen to the guided audio tour, so after getting Kimmy's write up, I'll come back and edit this post with some supplemental context about the cathedral).

Today was a glorious zero day—no walking. Allows everyone to recover after our super burly day yesterday. A few folks are developing blisters and/or muscle soreness (which is to be expected after logging 50 miles in 4 days…), so the majority of folks seemed pretty relieved by the decision. We ate breakfast in Nájera and boarded a bus set for Burgos. En route, we stopped at La Atapuerca.

(Post now being written on 5/22)

I'm laying low until dinner, so I can finish this post. I would love to be able to describe La Atapuerca in my own words, but I don't think I'd do a particularly good job so I'm going to link to the Foundation's website (which you can read in Spanish or have Google translate it) and I will include a quick blurb from...erm...Wikipedia. Y'all, someone is gonna revoke my faculty card.

"The archaeological site of Atapuerca is located in the province of Burgos in the north of Spain and is notable for its evidence of early human occupation. Bone fragments from around 800,000 years ago, found in its Gran Dolina cavern, provide the oldest known evidence of hominid settlement in Western Europe and of hominid cannibalism anywhere in the world. The archaeo-palaeontological records have also confirmed a continuous settlement from the Early Pleistocene (Lower Paleolithic) to the Holocene (Bronze Age), with several species of hominids (Homo antecessor, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens) exploiting the same territory.

It was designated a World Heritage Site in 2000.

Okay, so hopefully that gives you a *little bit* of context for this site. We took a bus from the main visitor's center out to the excavation site. I don't remember our guide's name (Jeff and Deya, help me out!) but she was lovely, and very knowledgable about the site itself, and was able to explain how discoveries at the site fit into the larger picture of human evolution. We got to learn about how different hominids (see above) had different brain shapes and skull shapes based on their evolutionary needs at the time.

Learning about La Atapuerca from our guide

We're serious excavators

Exploring the differences in hominid skull development with the help of Sophie and Chris

The whole group standing in front of a site

Students looking at one of the excavation sites

One of my favorite parts of the tour was learning about La Sima del Elefante (The Pit of the Elephant). The pit received this name because scientists found a fossil of what they thought was an elephant but ended up being a rhinoceros (rinoceronte). Also, the word "sima" ("pit") was used a lot. And every time it was used, my brain immediately associated it with the song from Parks and Rec that Andy Dwyer sings about the pit in Anne's and his backyard. Sing it with me!

The Pit Music Video (from YouTube)

The pit
I was in it, the pit
You were in it, the pit
We all were in it, the pitThe pit
I was in it, the pit
You were in it, the pit
We all fell in the pit
The pitI fell in it, the pit
You fell in it, the pit
We all were in that pit
Oh, the pit
I fell in it, the pit
You fell in it, the pit
We all fell it in, the pit
Sometimes life gonna get you down (the pit)
Hit the ground runnin', take a look around (the pit)
You think you found love, but you're standin' in the pit
Sometimes life gonna get you down (the pit)
Hit the ground runnin', take a look around (the pit)
You think you found love, but you're standin' in the pit
The pit
Well, I was in it, the pit
You were in it, the pit
We all fell in that pit

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Mark Allen Rivers

If you're wondering, "what the hell am I reading right now??", I would politely remind you that I'm running a fever and I'm low-key delirious after a 12-mile hike today.

Once we got to Burgos, we all scattered for lunch. Afterward, Deya and I left the group to seek medical care for me and Jeff took the students to the Burgos cathedral for a tour. From my conversations with students and Jeff afterward, it sounded awesome! I'll post cathedral pictures when I'm able to upload media, as well as Kimmy's write-up. Any other students reading this, send me your words!! Be like Kimmy!

Image of the Burgos Cathedral

Image of the Burgos Cathedral

Image of the Burgos Cathedral

Image of the Burgos Cathedral

Image of the Burgos Cathedral

Image of the Burgos Cathedral

Let's see...students and Jeff also visited el meseo de evolución humana, and according to students, it was really cool to see many parts of the exhibit reference La Atapuerca and have context for it. I had tremendous FOMO again but I'm glad everyone had a good time and learned alot.

We had dinner together at the hotel and then I tucked in early because I could feel my illness getting worse. Man, I'd love to have a day on this trip with a healthy immune system! I feel like I'm giving y'all the impression that I'm either a hypochondriac or that I'm sick all the time--neither are true. I'm just getting hit with both barrels this week. 

5/22 Burgos to Boadilla (some miles by bus; 12 miles on foot)

As has been established many times already (sorry!), I am not feeling well and woke up feeling...not great. The group had breakfast at the hotel and we boarded a bus that was going to drop us about 12 miles from our final destination of Boadilla del Camino, Palencia. We made a quick photo and snack stop at El Hospital de San Antón, a historic hospital for pilgrims of the Camino founded in 1380. Whoa!!

Ruins of el Hospital de San Antón

Charlotte, Clara, and Faith

Back on the bus. Drove a few more miles. Stopped 12 miles out of our final destination for what might have been the most beautiful walk of the trip so far. 12 miles of STUNNING wildflowers. The whole route. The route itself was mostly a well-groomed gravel path today, so in addition to having wildflowers and vibrant wheat fields to our right and left, it was also relatively easy travel. A few big climbs with great vistas as a payoff.

Jeff, Zennon, Alivia, Ellie, Hunter, Kimmy, Paris

Kelfie with wildflowers

12 miles of wildflowers!

I think (?) this was the view from the top of a 500ft climb

View from the mesa

  Berkeley and Lily

12 miles of wildflowers

Nicole and Tia

Two professors just out for a stroll

Miles of beautiful wheat fields

Simpsons Clouds!

We stopped for lunch in Itero de la Vega and cruised the last 5 miles into Boadilla del Camino, Palencia, from where I am writing this post. I was definitely running a fever by the time I finished the hike, so I immediately locked myself in my room and I've been there ever since. This town is itty-bitty tiny, so if I have to quarantine for a day, I don't feel like I'm missing too much--the town is cute, but I'm pretty sure the whole thing is like 3 albergues, a hotel (that has the restaurant and bar inside), and a very old-looking church.

Okay, I'll update this post with student additions when I get them. If you go back a post, I uploaded a video of Chris and Jeff demonstrating what Chris believes to be the superior approach to bullfighting. Fingers crossed I'm feeling better tomorrow!