We gazed out at the grey cloudy skies as we ate our full English breakfast aboard the Pont Aven. We were close to the coast of northern Spain and the weather looked disappointing. Suddenly I had an epiphany, or was it just a very clever thought? Why hang around in the north, why not get down to Madrid and head for the south and then work our way north as the weather warms up? We looked at the map and we made a cunning new plan that really seemed to make a lot more sense than the previous one. As we drove off the ferry we looked for signs for Burgos in Castilla Y Leon and followed the road south. As we increased altitude across the Cordillera Cantabrica, we saw snow on the high peaks and found ourselves in a bit of a foggy spot; but then the sky cleared, the sun came out and we felt we had made the right decision.
We turned off the freeway at Aguilar de Campoo (great name) and headed down the N627 to Burgos. We passed some interesting scenery on the way, but there was no time for deviations, we were on a mission. At Burgos we found the Fuentes Blancas campsite and decided that it looked like a good place to stop for a few days. Having spoken Italian to the first Spaniard I met in Santander, I tried to practice what we needed to say in Spanish, it would probably work better for us while visiting Spain……! We spent the evening setting ourselves up and adjusting clocks, cooking a quick dinner, researching our new route and listening to our first cuckoo on this trip. We’ll now aim for Segovia, Madrid, Aranjuez, Toledo, Cordoba and Seville, plus any other interesting spots along the way. Then we’ll drop in to Portugal at the bottom and work our way north. Hopefully by the time we get back up to the north coast of Spain the weather will be far more agreeable.
Tuesday was one of those days that are annoying, but on reflection we achieved a fair bit. We needed to get a Spanish sim card to add to our already collected English, German, French, Italian and Australian ones, plus a Spanish plug. The cycle ride along the banks of the Rio Arlanzón was a lovely way to arrive in the city centre and then we found our way to the information centre. Armed with maps, we searched out the nearest Vodafone office and ended up in an Orange office where we purchased a sim card for our mi-fi.
After spending an hour in their office, we still weren’t confident that it was working. So at a different information office, we spent another hour trying to set up access to free wi-fi within the city and then trying to get our mi-fi working. With one very confused computer and our two very jumbled brains, we opted to take a break and have a nice lunch sitting outside a restaurant in the Plaza del Rey San Fernando. There looked like a lot to see in the city, but until we could get our internet access sorted, we probably wouldn’t relax, so we cycled back to the campsite to check our instructions for set-up. I got a second lot of washing done, while Rodney cycled the 3.5 kms back to the Orange shop. He spent nearly two hours queuing and trying to get through to the staff that we needed an APN for Orange. In total frustration and unable to extract the number from them, he ended up buying another mi-fi to put the sim card in, so that we can at least use the 2gbs that we bought earlier. Curling up on our sofa and watching an episode of Downton Abbey had us back in happy mode before bedtime.
Tourism went back to the top of the list for Wednesday. We cycled the promenade back in to Burgos and enjoyed our first taste of churros con chocolate. The pile of churros was huge, and the hot chocolate was really thick and dark and absolutely delicious, ok I’m now in the mood for Spain. We found our way up the hill to the Castillo de Burgos, passing numerous roofs with resident storks nesting on them. They are such big birds and their nests are huge, it really is quite a sight to see. The view from the castle was also quite a sight. We looked down on the Gothic cathedral, the third largest cathedral in Spain and over the city to the fields and hills beyond.
Before the shops all shut at 1:30pm we nipped in to a supermarket for supplies and then wandered over to the massive cathedral. It’s a fascinating muddle of styles inside; some awfully gaudy, over the top baroque and some absolutely stunning ceilings and paintings. After an hour we were frozen stiff and burst back out in to the plaza to find a café for a warm drink, before cycling back to Eileen for dinner and a movie before bedtime.
