Day 21-24 – Rest

Day 21 – Sept 26, 2022 – Agés to Casteñeras (17 km / 10.56 miles) in 17 minutes 

We are continuing our path forward today, just not by foot power. Today we took a taxi to our next lodging in order to maximize rest for Rex.  The road (again N120) followed the Camino path the majority of the way. 

We arrived to the hotel early and luckily our room was ready.  We took advantage of a semi-stable WiFi connection and made good use of this down day. Rex made an appointment with a foot doctor who fit him in on short notice. We brought a pack filled with our dirty laundry to find a lavandería and an ATM while we’re in town after the appointment to make use of the services available in the larger city. 

The doctor was very nice and spoke enough broken English to compliment our broken Spanish for us to describe what was going on. After asking questions and examining his foot, she said it was most likely plantar fasciitis or possibly a heel spur. I had done the painful but effective remedy for plantar fasciitis on him the other night and he didn’t cry, so I think it may be a heel spur. The doctor suggested new shoe inserts and started measuring his feet so she could make him custom inserts. She told us to come back tomorrow at 5pm to pick them up. What?  She’s doing this overnight?  Indeed she is. On top of that, she is only charging us 90€ for the consultation and the inserts.  

We have a couple of rest days planned in Burgos and this will give him time to recover and test out his new inserts exploring the town before we have to load our packs up again. Hopefully this takes care of the heel pain and this will all be behind us. 

Day 22 – Sept 27, 2022 – Casteñeras to Burgos (7 km) REST 

Happy Birthday to me!  Today we walked with fully loaded packs for 7 km into Burgos. It was an easy day walking a flat trail along the river to our AC Marriott hotel where we will rest for the next two nights. 

We have been roaming around finding drinks and pintxos today for lunch. We need to find a department store (Walmart doesn’t exist here). We need some base layers for the cold. Mornings have started out in the mid-30’s here already. I do hope it’s a fluke, but we need to be prepared. 

Of course we plan to find pizza for my birthday dinner.  We are also on the hunt for Tarta De Santiago as my birthday cake. I first heard of this when I was first researching the Camino.  I have been excited to try one and have been holding out until my birthday to make it extra special, but for some reason we couldn’t find it in Burgos anywhere!  We were told it would be more prevalent as we get to Galicia or closer to Santiago, so it looks like I may have to wait until then. I urge you to make the yummy dessert yourself and enjoy it for me.  Here’s the recipe.

While having our pizza dinner in this large city, our new friend Blanca entered the restaurant with her new friend Zaina from Brazil. Small world!  We ate together then set out to the only restaurant in the city I learned had Tarta de Santiago on their menu. When we got there, the restaurant was closed!  So we gave up our search and settled on going to a chocolateria Zaina wanted to go to. To my surprise, there in the case was one solitary slice of the cake I had been searching for all day! I made my excited selection and upon hearing my story, the young man behind the counter plated the slice and said no charge since it was my birthday.  More Camino magic!

Day 23 – Sept 28, 2022 – Burgos (Rest)

We rested today then attended pilgrim mass at the Cathedral. It was a beautiful mass recited in Spanish with a blessing to the pilgrims at the end. 

Day 24 – Sept 29, 2022 – Burgos (Rest)

It was a beautiful rainy day. Perfect weather to hunker down and rest. We had to move from our hotel to a private room in a hostal down the street, but that wasn’t a big deal. Then we had to pick up the second revision of Rex’s inserts. The arches were too high in the original set. Hopefully this revision will take care of it and his pain will be relieved. We will hit to trail again tomorrow.