Here is a truth about cities. No matter how beautiful, interesting, historic, and charming they are, they also have their functional, industrial parts — usually on the outskirts — but there, nonetheless.

This is Burgos…

this is Burgos…

this is Burgos, and…

THIS is also Burgos!

Today we walked 16 miles. We started in a lovely little town & had a slow climb through fields and woods. At about mile five after a slightly late start, we crested a hill around noon, and the Pico river valley opened before us. We could see Burgos in the distance.

We passed a noisy quarry, walked along the edge of a small highway, then along the edge of a MAJOR highway, skirted an airport, and then did another two hours through an industrial corridor with thundering traffic, still following the Camino. (The picture shows a relatively calm stretch when Lori finally had the nerve to stop and snap a photo.)

Eventually, we got to the beautiful bits of Burgos, grateful for a nice quiet room (arrived at the hotel around 6) and a rest day tomorrow to look forward to.