Burgos

So first let me say, Burgos is a lovely city. We had a down day and were disappointed that the Museum of Human Evolution was closed. I told Roz I was going to go to mass at 10 and she got excited and said, "Then I can stay in bed til you get back!"

Off to the Cathedral I went. I got sent to another door as this one was for tours only.

I made my way to this door.

 And into this chapel which is only for worshipping, not tourists. There was supposed to be a special sung mass at 10 on working days. Well we think Monday is not considered  a working day as the museum was closed and there was no mass. So after some quiet prayer time I headed off to do some shopping. I had brought a day pack but found it too uncomfortable to carry all day when we shipped our bags forward. Off I went to find the outdoor sports store and a pharmacy. Gotta love Google maps.

The backside of the Cathedral.

Camino guy.

This a mural completed to commerate 800 years for the Cathedral.

More of the backside of the Cathedral.

Art is everywhere in the city. Statues in the Plazas.

Super cool streets.

Statue of El Cid. The warrior who fought for both Spainish vassels ( before it was Spain) and Muslims. The Muslims named him El Cid. He is a Spainish hero.

Statues on the bridge. They represent important people in El Cid's life including his wife and children.

I walked through a lovely park and guess what? MORE STATUES. Lots of them from all different time periods.

Some fancy shrub trimming.

Oh yeah and did I say it was raining. Nothing like a rain coat and sandals. No wet runners for me.

More statues in the park. There were a lot.

The gate into Plaza Rey where we were staying.

There were so many cool statues.

The white building to right of the Cathedral was our Airbnb. We were on the first floor and my bedroom window looked out onto the street between the Cathedral and the Airbnb. Noisy at night as the Spainish come alive at about 10 pm and don't like to go sleep until the wee hours of the morning.

I grabbed Roz and we went out for lunch. A really good Udon place right around the corner. It was so good we went back for dinner.

We went on a tour of the Cathedral. It was amazing. If you were an art history major man you would be in heaven.

These are carved black walnut doors. The doors all over the church were beautiful. I took so many pictures it was hard to chose what to show.

There are tombs everywhere. I believe there are 12 chapels built around the centre of the Cathedral. All paid for by the people who are buried in them. Different styles and designs. Most are elaborate but some humble. Tombs carved in the walls from stone and some from marble.

Some on the middle of rooms and in the floors.

Some elaborate Chapels. Each of these tell stories from the Bible, depict saints, apostles and other important people.

They have found some fresco type paintings underneath some restorations done centuries ago.

This staircase is so elaborate.

Parked beside the staircase was this cart. No idea what it was for but man there is a lot of silver in it.

The centre nave of the church. El Cid and his wife are buried here right behind where Roz is sitting.

The other end of the central nave contains this beautiful choir area with two working organs half way up the walls. It would be amazing to go to mass here.

Around the outside of the centre nave are these scenes of the passion of Christ. They are so detailed but it was not quite the right type of rock so it is deteriorating. Throughout the Cathedral rock is decaying so there is constant restoration going on.

The ceilings were astonishing. You could stand there for hours and stare at the painted scenes and intricate carvings.

A marble tomb.

El Cid's chest that he supposedly had filled with coins for some exchange but actually filled with sand.

Our tour ended and the sun came out.
I went and bought a pilgrims bracelet as well as one from the Cathedral.