BURGOS

Hola,
So into Spain and our first time in Burgos. Famous for its magnificent sprawling cathedral and its black pudding!
The campsite was a pleasant 40 min stroll into town - it would have been more pleasant if it had been drier and warmer - but until Sunday pm, spring it was not.
Gnarled trees lined the boulevards

Which bordered the river.

The cathedral was a mix of styles and had lots of interesting features

Pauline looking suitably cold in front of the main door.

The tour took the form of an audio guide and the male voice sounded distinctly like Bill Nighy. No reason why it shouldn't be I suppose given he number of voice overs actors do but still a bit surreal given the surroundings.

A good walk round meant it was time for lunch. It never ceases to amaze me how late the Spanish take lunch in comparison with the French. The latter seem to be getting earlier - in Bordeaux by noon the restaurant was full while in Burgos we went in at 2pm and were the only diners. By the time we left at 4.15 it was full.

We chose the Castillian menu and it was excellent. A pre-starter of a crab croquette followed by a sort of spring roll filled with black pudding. Our soup was a 'deconstructed' Castillian soup (I'm not sure how to construct in the first place) which was a rich tomato and garlic based broth in which was a wafer thin bread case with a poached egg inside and a shard of crispy Serrano ham poking up from the broth. Pretty full already we still had two courses to go. We had often wondered as we travel through northern Spain where all the lambs lining the countryside go. The answer appears to be on our plate. The waiter presented us with a small sheep which he then jointed and represented in much the same way as would a Peking Duck. Appropriately for the time the score was definitely P 1 - C 0! Proteins defeating carbs, of course, and that the lamb was only accompanied by a green salad rather than a few potatoes was certainly an own goal. The feast continued with a pre-pud of a yoghurt concoction and finished with a rather strange milky dessert with honey. A decent local red and coffee to finish left us stuffed but cost only 75 Euros which was very reasonable. 

A walk back along the river and an end to a good day. Next stop will be Salamanca and next post when wi-if reappears.

Until the next time,

J&P 

Ps if anybody is going to be in Spain in the next month or so and wants to meet up please let us know as our plans are quite fluid.