Day 21: Atapuerca - Burgos (4/21/14)

A VERY rocky path out of town - 

which lasted for several miles 

and made paying attention to foot placement a necessity.

I passed a huge herd of sheep 

and, in the fog, I could hear (and smell) them 

long before I saw them.

They were being guarded by three dogs -

who literally barked at everyone who walked by.

Incessant, I'm-ready-to-rip-your-heart-out-if-you-come-any-closer barking.

I spent time walking and wondering why, 

with the thousands of people on the Camino
who pass by this exact spot every year, 

the dogs hadn't gotten any better at distinguishing 

which people were pilgrims who posed no threat at all 

and which ones were sheep rustlers.

I had just labeled them 'dumb dogs' in my mind 

when I realized,

with a start

that, at work, 

I had been them.

Their job was to see everyone as a threat;

their job was to protect the herd and make a lot of noise while doing it 

to grab folks attention in an attempt to ward off any additional danger.

Essentially, that had been MY job too.

Thank God, I'd been given a reprieve.
(OK, so I guess all those folks who called me a dumb bitch might have been closer to the money than I'd hoped!)

Now, for another confession.

I was NOT a Camino purist.

There are those pilgrims who say you can only be considered a 'true' peregrino

if you walk every step of the Way. 

And I don't have a problem at all with folks who DO walk every step of the Way.

But, to be honest, 

I don't think there's anything especially edifying or enlightening 

about walking through urban sprawl and miles of big box stores 

(that are ugly and soul sucking in any country) 

or alongside a major highway with drivers of semis 

going 80 mph and texting on cell phones.

You also can't convince me that, back in the day, if a donkey and cart came along 

and offered a pilgrim a ride for a few miles, 

he didn't jump on and not look back.

Well, a donkey came along.

I took a bus for the last 8K into Burgos - 

I spent the time I saved walking around in the cathedral instead.

The city was beautiful, big and colorful;

it ended up being my favorite big city on the Camino,

but I also couldn't wait to leave.

Even limiting my 'sightseeing' to the Cathedral felt like being a tourist

and I certainly didn't feel like one of those.

Good thing I had this stained glass window in our albergue to remind me why I was there.

 
ps:

I decided to have a separate post on the items in the Cathedral since there was so much to see -
coming right up!