ON A WING AND A PRAYER

Hello from Burgos Spain

Never having been in Europe, I am still boggled by the cathedrals here.  In Burgos, there is the mother of all cathedrals, which I will attach a pic of.  Cathedral of Santa Maria I think.(not gonna check cause I'm doing this on my phone and I'd screw it up).  Anyway, totally mind blowing.  Always makes you wonder what kind of culture could produce stuff like that.  The last cathedral i was in cost five euros, this one was ten.  Gotta be top of the line.

As usual, the walking in the last week has been terrific, the scenery spectacular, the people interesting.  But, as always, the logistics have been nightmarish, at least for me.  There are at least three elements involved: 1) There are kazillions of people doing this, aka overtourism.  2)  I did not book ahead; in fact, I did not book at all, and 3) I am very, very not very good at operating a cell phone.  Net result:  a rocky road in terms of lodging.  Uncertainty, inefficiencies, gaps in the program, etc. ( How do you like the word efficiency?  Does it make you think of Don and Elon?)

As for overtourism, I'm part of the problem there, so not much to say.  As for not booking ahead, the idea of doing it didn't occur to me until a couple of months before I did it, and, alas, I was born a right brainer and will so remain, it appears.  Random abstract I am, linear sequential I am not.  

As for being a techno goof, I've had time to wonder how that came to be.  Did I resent tech proliferation because it advantaged left brainers over right brainer?  The young over the old?  Did I resist it because of its dehumanizing power?  Did I avoid it because my fingers are too fat for a keyboard?

Don't know.  But I do know that, regardless of the reasons, technophobia is like a disability.  Like it or not, you just can't navigate the world without it.  That kind of goes without saying, and not like I didn't already know that, but a few weeks bumping along the Camino has burned that into my brain in a special way.  Don't drive a car if you can't see.  Don't do the Camino if you're tech impaired.

The bottom line:  I've been in Burgos for a couple of days. (didn't mind because it rained most of the time).  I heard about a couple of companies who do logistics for you, so we've contacted two of them.  One came back with an outlandish fee, the other hasn't given a quote yet. If they can make the numbers fit, I'm gonna go with that.  If not, it will be time for plan B.  One thing's for sure:  think I'm too old for dorms, floors, no cans, no plans, etc.

Flying on a wing and a prayer is for fifty and under.  Or maybe forty and under.  Not 74.

Notwithstanding, it has been a terrific experience thus far.  Never thought I'd be wandering around Spain by myself.  Weird.  I'm grateful for it.  Hope that things work out and I get to pilgrim some more.

In the meanwhile, some notes:

Found a good tapa bar.  Learned how to function in it.  Great atmosphere.  There was a Spanish birthday party there last night for locals.  They gave a rousing Spanish rendition of Happy Birthday.  Whereat a Chinese (Korean?) lady, a pilgrim, sitting on the other side of the room, clapped and beamed with delight.  

Spanish people are later on the clock than us.  The streets are pretty empty at 8 am, pretty full at 8pm.

There is an excellent farmer's market close to my hotel.  Extensive displays of fish, beef, pork, fruit, vegetables, etc.  Big operation.

Burgos is a beautiful city.  Never heard of it before.  Probably thousands like it all over the world.

And finally, in the things learned department, I've learned one Spanish word really well.  COMPLETO.  It means FULL.  I won't ever forget it.

I'll try to get a pic or two on here, but, as usual, they're just cell phone pics.  Sorry about that.

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