Rainy and Cold, but Sun Has Come Out

Thursday, May 18, 2018--Bilbao to Burgos

We were fortunate this morning.  As we got ready to leave for the train station, the rain had mostly stopped even though there was still a 100% chance of rain through the mid-afternoon.  We left the apartment at 8:30, and had only sprinkles on us as we walked to the station.  At 9:00, just 10 minutes after being at the station, it started to pour.  It was so nice to already be under protection at the station waiting for our train to depart.

Our assigned seats on the train were horrible--two seats beside the luggage rack, facing backwards in terms of the train's direction, and with only a very small window.  But the car had only a few passengers, so we were able to switch to seats facing forward for the entire trip.

When we arrived in Burgos at 12:00, it was cold and windy with sprinkles.  The train station is 5 km outside of town--a beautiful, new station that is located there because of the fast trains that Spain has.  We were lucky that a city bus was waiting outside headed to where we needed to go--a major plaza just a 5 minute walk from our hotel.  However, when we got to our hotel, Hotel Boutique Museo, they didn't have our room ready.  They saved our luggage, but we had to go back out into the weather to wander for 1 hr. 15 min. before we could return.

We went through the old town following the route of the pilgrims.  This is another major stop on The Way of St. James.  And it was interesting to notice the discounts that are offered to official pilgrims.  I mentioned a few days ago about the hostal in Pamplona or Logrono that had a special bed rate for them.  Well, here there are specials rates for meals, for admissions to churches, etc.

We saw part of the Cathedral, but we will have to return tomorrow to see more of it.  We saw the Arco Santa Maria, and we were able to see the exhibits inside it--an art exhbit, an exhibit of historical items, and an exhibit of old pharmacy equipment and jars.  We returned to the hotel about 14:15 and came to our room.

We are going back out at 16:30 to see the Museo de la Evolucion Humana--a huge museum across the street from our hotel that is one of the two major tourist sites here within the city.  (The other is the Cathedral.)
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The Museo de la Evolucion Humana was really a good museum.  It thoroughly documented all the research that has been done by archaeologists in both Spanish and English.  It takes at least 2 1/2 hours to go through the museum.  Wes and I both learned some things we didn't know.  And a number of exhibits made things we did know simpler than the textbooks had made them when we took biology.  If this museum were in the U.S., however, visitors would have to run a gauntlet of Republicans and born-again Christians, much like trying to enter an abortion clinic, to see its exhibits.