Friday, June 17, 2016

Day 10 - Is there room in the inn?

In the midst of your temple I will worship you and glorify thy name because you do wonders.

We boarded a bus in Belorado this morning and took the hour long ride to Burgos. It was interesting to see pilgrims on the Camino path along the way. We’ve watched cars go by us at times before, and now we were the ones passing by in a bus.
We bought our bus tickets to Leon for tomorrow at the Burgos bus station and then set out in search of lodging. The first hotel we came to was a four star fancy schmancy thing, but we went in just to find out the rate. Turns out they were booked full. We walked a few blocks and found a plain looking hotel - booked full. Fellow pilgrims on the bus had mentioned that there weren't many rooms available in Burgos today, and we were starting to believe them.

We stopped at a cafe for cafe con leche, a bathroom (aka aseo, servicio, and WC), and wifi (weefee) in order to find a hotel. The wifi never really connected, so we had to decide what to do. As it turns out, there was a “hospital” next door. Hospitals, as we learned later, are albergues who give preference to injured pilgrims. We knew from the sign that there were only 16 beds in the albergue, so we joined the other 5 people waiting. We soon were a group of 14 but had established an order of arrival. We were waiting for the doors to open at 12.

The hospitalera arrived at 12:05, and had her own plan for admitting pilgrims. She first wanted any pilgrim who was injured or sick and had a doctor’s note. One of the group stepped forward. She then said that all pilgrims have some degree of injury (blisters, muscle aches, etc) and that we were all in need of rest and care. Then she asked for any pilgrims who arrived by foot that day in Burgos. Another 8 stepped forward. Finally she asked for the rest of the pilgrims who arrived by bus, and we stepped forward along with the rest of the group.

She then gave us VERY specific instructions about how to ascend the stairs and how and where to take off our boots. She fussed at several pilgrims who did not follow her directions exactly. (It felt like she was a drill sergeant and we were afraid of getting something wrong. One pilgrim saluted her with a “sir-yes-sir.” She laughed which was a good sign. She then checked us in one at a time and assigned us a bed. 6 Euro for the bed, and another 5 Euro for her to cook us dinner.

After we settled in, we went in search of a sweatshirt for MK because the high was 56 today and it is gray and breezy. (I know you Texans reading this are jealous. I will try to remember how cold I felt today when I return to Houston in July.)  We started at a department store called Cortas de Inglais. It turned out to be more of a Neiman Marcus when what we needed was a Walmart. We went further down the street and found a sweatshirt for 20 Euro for MK. She was glad to have the warm layer to cut the cold a bit. We then headed to the cathedral. We were given a machine that explained the various features of the cathedral in English. The cathedral is stunning. It is divided into many small chapels with ornate detail.  My favorite part of the whole thing was the 8 point star carved into the domed ceiling. Absolutely gorgeous!

When we were done touring, we returned to the albergue for a short nap and dinner.
Our hostess made a huge bowl of lentil soup with sausage plus salad and bread. It was the perfect meal for such a cold day.  She led us in prayer at the beginning of the meal and then returned at the end to tell us her story of being called to the Camino and to later be called to serve as hospitalera. She has served in her current location for two years and lives on the floor above the albergue. She has been a hospitalera for six years total.

She then invited us to mass at the chapel on the first floor. Dad and I attended and received a pilgrim’s blessing at the end.  We are now waiting to head to a bar to watch Spain play in the Euro Cup. The game begins at 9pm, and we have to be back by 10pm though as that is when we are expected to be in bed at the albergue. Almost all albergues have a “you must be in by” time in the evening and a “you must be out by” time in the morning. This allows the hosts to clean and change sheets before accepting new guests at either 12 or 1pm.
It’s game time. Ole ole ole ole! Viva EspaƱa!

No comments:

Post a Comment