Days 8 - 10: Estella to Burgos (via Logroño)

December 24, 2010:
Woke up to more pouring rain in Estella the morning of the 22nd.  It was an easy call to not walk that day...Guillaume from France (the other pilgrim in the Estella albergue) agreed.  He was heading back the other direction anyways, so given that it was probably going to be his last day of walking anyway, he decided to take the bus back to Pamplona and avoid the nonsense that I had to walk through.  For my part, I had a long think about it, and I was keen to avoid the nonsense that he had to walk through, and to get to a good-sized city to spend the holidays in.  Took a bus to Logroño that morning...given the shape my leg, ribs, and morale is in, it´s probably for the best if I took a couple of days off.  Everything´s fine by the way...am still a little sore, and have some ugly bruises down my side, but I could probably do 20+ km or so today if I had to

Stayed in Logroño overnight, and tried my best to book a hotel room in Santo Domingo, but couldn´t swing it.  So, I booked a room in Burgos for the 24th to 26th instead.  The bus ride from Logroño was really interesting...it actually passed through the same towns I remembered from the last camino.  Nájera, Santo Domingo, Grañon, Villafranca.  Each time the bus passed one of these cities, memories flooded back to me.  It was with particular sadness that I passed through Santo Domingo - for reasons I went into in detail in my 2006 blog, that place means a lot to me.  Passing through town without having at least a walkaround or a visit to the cathedral...well, it sucked.  The trip over the Montes de Oca mountain range was very scenic...all the trees had a very light dusting of snow on them, which was quite beautiful.  I´m not entirely sure the bus driver knew how to handle snow on the road, but we made it through with only a couple of scares.

Have arrived in Burgos, and it´s just as I remember it...in fact, I´ve spent the last hour or so wandering around the old part of town.  Oddly, there´s something about the layout of Burgos that stuck with me; I´m having absolutely no trouble finding anything I´m looking for.  It helps that everything seems to be right where I left it four years ago.  I´ve said it once, I´ll say it again...this city rocks.

Noche Buena tonight and Christmas tomorrow, and I´m already a bit homesick.  It´s a shame that the only way I could swing this trip is by combining vacations from 2010/2011 and spanning the holidays.  Still, as much as I´ll miss my family and friends back home, I know I´ll be back there soon enough.  I´ll be attending the midnight mass at the cathedral, which is really not a bad consolation prize.

Will post again once the country re-opens for business.  In the mean time, Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Zorionak to everyone at home!