We have Moved on to Burgos!

 

Hola!

It does happen in each blogger’s life that you don’t think you have the wherewithal to get a blog written, photos chosen and in place, etc.  That’s how I am feeling right about now, so please, if my grammar or content is a bit off, that’s the reason!  I want to go to bed!  However … 

Lovely driving over the mountains

Lovely room!

View from our room!

El Cid was from Burgos!

Stunning pottery!

On the bridge over the river

So lovely!

And so clean!

Burgos Cathedral

There was a lot of gold leaf...

I've never seen such altars!

Staircase

Altar

Looking straight up from center of Cathedral

One of the incredible ceilings

And yet another!

Decorated doorway

Just a little bit of chocolate...

R's shrimp

R's entrecote, fries and peppers!

And a bit of ice cream...

Up this morning about 8 (late for me!) but it felt so good to sleep in!  Then down to breakfast about 9 for the standard NH-Hotel breakfast.  (I’m looking forward to getting back to grapefruit and a breakfast bar, actually!)  Finally on the road about 10:30 am, as we didn’t have that far to go.  It’s about an hour and a half from Bilbao to Burgos. We really enjoyed Bilbao, and there seems to be a lot to explore there. We’ll see!  

Lovely ride to Burgos; up into the mountains and on to the plain. Not too much traffic, and it was very easy getting out of Bilbao and into Burgos.  Emmy (our GPS) was able to get us to our new hotel, the NH Palacio de Burgos, where we will be for the next two nights.  We had to wait about half-an-hour for our room to be ready, but it’s really lovely! We’re in room 106, and it’s a large room with a view to the river and the Cathedral, with lots of places to put things and to even places to sit!  What a concept?!  We got settled (meaning:  Robert set up the computer and I got our cases unpacked and sundries into the bathroom, etc.) and then decided it was time for our first stop on the day’s agenda: The Museum of Human Evolution!

I mentioned briefly yesterday in the blog that we were looking forward to going to the Atapuerca archaeological site on Sunday.  I was able to make a reservation on-line, and today – in addition to picking up our tickets for tomorrow – I wanted to reconfirm exactly where we needed to be for the bus tour.  

The Museum is about a 10 minute walk down the river from our hotel; super convenient!  And, as it turns out, as Robert and I are both over 65, admission to the museum was free!  Yeah!! What a deal!

The Museumis truly amazing.  Beautifully researched and meticulously put together, in both Spanish and English.  It turns out that while Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens both used the Atapuerca area, it is two earlier occupations that currently are of the most interest.  Cosmogenic nuclide dating has put the oldest remains here at 1.3 million years old. They are sufficiently different to have been named as a new species, Homo Antecessor.  That is quite a stunning discovery, and the actual bones being studied are on view in the various displays.  It is very moving to look at an 800,000 year old skull and focus on the fact that here once was a living being.  (Alas, photographs of the fossils were not allowed.)  Robert and I have both agreed that this museum is truly unique; and they have so much more to investigate.  They’ll be digging for years!

From the museum, we walked back to the hotel, as I needed to pick up my jacket.  We’re sitting on a high plateau here, and it does have a tendency to get cold at night!  Just a couple of nights ago, it was in the low 30’s here! Brrrrrr….

With jackets in hand – or in my case, covering me up – we headed across the river at the Arco Santa Maria to the Cathedral.  I am so surprised that the cathedral, as well as the entrance into the square, are so incredibly white and clean!  They really look brand new, but the Cathedral, I know, is from the 13^thCentury, so it definitely has been here for a while.

The Cathedral has a very good audioguide with truly, more information than anyone could ever want to know!  We must have toured for at least an hour – and truly, the place was absolutely ARCTIC – that I just wanted to get back outside and into the sunshine!  The Cathedral, the second church constructed on the site, was started in 1221 (replacing the previous version from the 11^thcentury), and is truly a Gothic work of art.  I don’t think, other than the Paris Opera Garnier, I’ve ever seen such ornate decoration.  In a way, it was sort of like, which of the “guys” could have the most elaborate chapel built – it seemed like a contest between wealthy families and church officials.  In several instances, two or three smaller chapels were knocked together into one, with, in one case, three huge gold altars installed.  It really felt like each successive chapel was more ornate than the one before.  To say that there was a fortune in art, church artifacts, vestments, etc. is an understatement.  It really needs to be seen to be believed.  However, I can tell you for a fact that they spend absolutely nothing at all in heating, as I was FREEZING!

The Cathedral invokes a range of reactions.  From an engineering point of view, it is amazing that such structures could be built and survive for centuries.  How did they do it?  Economically, how much treasure and artistic effort was poured into these projects? How was it justified?  

Finally finished a bit after 6 pm and we found a small local place across the plaza for drinks.  Hot chocolate for me, and red wine for Robert. From there, right down the street we were able to find a restaurant, Don Nuño, that was actually open for dinner! Robert started with shrimp, and moved on to entrecote with French fries and fabulous roasted red peppers.  I had spaghetti bolognaise, which, while not the best I have had this trip, was certainly respectable.  We are now back at the hotel and watching Spain play Norway in European Cup qualifying. Spain is up 2-1!

Will get this posted, and then off to bed! 

More tomorrow, when we get to the actual excavations at Atapuerca!

Lots of love,

m

xxx