We make it to Burgos and start walking towards the cathedral. We know that our alburgue (pilgrim dormitory) is near there and that there will be cafes and whatnot around as well. We decide on a bar (which is sort of a generic term for a small restaurant, its not really quite like a "bar" here in the states) and order our first Spanish food. We order a jamon serrano bocadillo, a tortilla espanola bocadillo and two cervezas for lunch. A bocadillo is the sandwich that is available everywhere in Spain. It is a 6-8 inch long piece of baguette split with a filling. The most common ones are jamon serrano (a dried, cured, ham. They cure a whole leg of a pig and at some places you can watch them cut your thin slices right off the leg), queso (cheese), chorizo (a dry cured sausage) or tortilla espanola (also known as tortilla de patatas. basically a potato and onion omelet). They slap some slices of whatever you order on the bread and voila: a bocadillo. No condiments, no heating, just slap it on a plate.
We then toured the Burgos cathedral which required payment to enter. Chris says that it is the most ornate church he has ever seen. For more information here is what wikipedia says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgos_Cathedral 
We also got our first sello here. Sello means "stamp" in Spanish. In order to stay at the alburgues and to get our certificate at the end, we have a "pilgrim passport" that we get stamped at various places that we visit along the way. Churches, bars, alburgues, town halls, random people, etc. have stamps that you can get in your passport to prove you have been traveling along the camino.
We find our alburgue for the night and muddle through some very poor Spanish speaking and listening skills and get beds. It is a very large alburgue, but seems clean and ok. We spread out our sleeping bags to claim our beds, drop off our packs and head back out to look around the city some more. There is a castle on a hill nearby, so we hike up to the top of the hill to see it. It is surrounded by a park and there is a cool looking bar in the park, but we don't stop to hang out.
We walk around the rest of the city in search of dinner and fruit. We find a fruiteria (a fruit store) and buy apples and the most awesomest grapes I have ever eaten in my life. We find a restaurant with a pilgrim dinner and it is pretty good too. We wander the streets some more and marvel at all of the people out and about. Young, old, families, teens, just everyone is out walking, shopping, and hanging out.
We then head back to the alburgue to get clean and get ready to commence our walking in the morning.
We also got our first sello here. Sello means "stamp" in Spanish. In order to stay at the alburgues and to get our certificate at the end, we have a "pilgrim passport" that we get stamped at various places that we visit along the way. Churches, bars, alburgues, town halls, random people, etc. have stamps that you can get in your passport to prove you have been traveling along the camino.
We find our alburgue for the night and muddle through some very poor Spanish speaking and listening skills and get beds. It is a very large alburgue, but seems clean and ok. We spread out our sleeping bags to claim our beds, drop off our packs and head back out to look around the city some more. There is a castle on a hill nearby, so we hike up to the top of the hill to see it. It is surrounded by a park and there is a cool looking bar in the park, but we don't stop to hang out.
We walk around the rest of the city in search of dinner and fruit. We find a fruiteria (a fruit store) and buy apples and the most awesomest grapes I have ever eaten in my life. We find a restaurant with a pilgrim dinner and it is pretty good too. We wander the streets some more and marvel at all of the people out and about. Young, old, families, teens, just everyone is out walking, shopping, and hanging out.
We then head back to the alburgue to get clean and get ready to commence our walking in the morning.