The night before we had a communal meal with 16 other pilgrims. Each told a little of their story and why they wanted to walk the Camino. The meal itself was terrific especially the creamed vegetable soup made with ingredients from the garden. Afterwards we all stayed and conversations continued as if we all knew each other for years. There were 2 women from Australia, a Frenchman who was traveling together with a young man from Texas who had walked 30 miles that day. Estrella, the proprietor gave them the yoga room floor to sleep on because all the other rooms were booked. Two men we shared a room with, one from Brazil and one from an Asian country that sadly I didn’t recognize. Communication can at times be so frustrating and this was one of those. Also a group of mothers (sisters) and their daughters were walking for 5 days,

The next morning everyone was busy packing up as checkout time is 8am. Usually hikers are out before that but on this day we weren’t because we had scheduled an 11 o’clock tour of the Atapuerca dig site. We were allowed to leave our packs at the hostel but had to walk a mile to the pickup center for transfer to the dig site. The tour would be in Spanish but we had been told we could still get a good view of what took place there. The plan was then to visit the museum of Human Evolution in Burgos that is directly tied to the dig site. There we would get an explanation in English. Our guide did speak some English and answered some of our questions. We learned how they categorized every bone/artifact and could reference exactly where it had been found. This system is used worldwide creating a unique number, so that any researcher can distinguish from all the other various dig sites around the world the exact location it was found.

We left there and taxied to Burgos to tour the museum and visit the cathedral.and finally taxied from downtown Burgos to Tadarjos. We had to skip a few miles hiking to make all this happen but the walk in and out of Burgos is mostly industrial and on concrete or blacktop. We felt is was worth it to experience Atapuerca and as it was we walked 8 miles on our off day.

The initial physical training segment of the trip is over. Our legs and feet have held up, though we expect more challenges ahead. We are feeling stronger for the days ahead in the Meseta. This is a wide open country with no shade. It is known for solitude and time to reflect and look inward at yourself. A time for growth and resolution for difficult emotions or challenges in your life. The Meseta is the place where the past is put to rest and a way forward is possible if you are ready to have that conversation with yourself…. It’s your Camino and yours alone!

.