El Camino: Stories from the Ancient Path

There are many stories from the ancient path as yet untold. So although Burgos is the "fin de" my pilgrimage, please keep coming back to this blog for the telling of those adventures. Hoping to stay in touch with my Camino friends who continue on ahead of me to Santiago de Compostela, I will keep you updated on their journeys.

Thanks to my friends, family and church family at Trinity Heights United Methodist Church in Flagstaff, AZ for your prayer support. Several times I felt especially uplifted by your prayers. Today is Sunday and I miss worshiping the Lord with you. I attended the 9 am Mass at the glorious Cathedral of Burgos. Today's Mass was in Spanish which was easier to follow than the last Mass I attended -- which was disappointingly officiated in Latin. The priest shook hands with parishioners as he left the front of the church. When he got to my pew, he shook my hand and said "Buon Camino." So even though I put on my best pilgrim clothes for church, I still look like a pelegrina (Spanish for pilgrim, feminine form.)

I looked forward to participating in Taize worship services along the Way of St. James, but the only thing close was an impromptu morning service. It was informally conducted by eight German pilgrims in an ancient monastery outside of Estella. The six Norwegian ladies were in the soaring stone sanctuary, too. We all knew a couple of the Taize songs and sang along with the Deutschers, our voices magnified by the perfect acoustics.

If you're not familiar with Taize, I recommend that you Google the religious practice. Its interesting history starts with Catholic brothers hiding Jews during WWII in Taize, France. An internationally blended form of worship, Taize uses the light of candles and the sweet harmonies of the human voice in different languages along with the guitar. It is very popular with the youth (and youthful) of Europe.

Tomorrow I travel to Madrid. The bus service is cheaper, has more frequent departures and gets me to Madrid faster than the train, so I've decided to take the bus. I haven't found a place to stay in Madrid, but I'm headed to one of the main, if not most touristy plazas, Plaza Sol. I should be able to find something there.

I spend one quick night, and then the next day, I take the Metro to the airport for my 11am flight.

How to travel from northern Spain to Madrid

My flight home from Spain leaves Madrid Barajas International Airport (MAD) on 11:00 am October 7. My plan is to walk east to west from St. Jean Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees to Fromista in northern Spain. Why Fromista? I'm excited to experience Fromista's Iglesia (Church) San Martin. I've heard that it is an extraordinary example of Romanesque architecture, and it's famous for the 315 stone-sculpted figures encircling the church's exterior. But once my pilgrimage ends in Fromista, I need to hurry to Madrid for that flight.

On the map, I can see a railroad line going through Fromista - a small town. Unfortunately http://www.renfe.es/ , the official website for Spain's train system tells me there is no ticket available from Fromista to Madrid. Thanks to one of my favorite guides, Rick Steves, I read about a remarkable German website that gives exacting details of train schedules for all over Europe. This page takes you to Spanish trains: http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en. I can see the schedule for this leg of my trip, but unfortunately the site does not allow me to buy tickets online. Maybe that route is seasonal. None of the on-line bus (coach) companies serve the Fromista region. Pre-planning transportation out of this very remote area is becoming a frustrating knot.

Plan B

Burgos, Spain is a university town with many daily trains to Madrid. It is a three-day walk east of Fromista. That means I will have to end my pilgrimage three days earlier than I anticipated. I'm really disappointed in this outcome until I convert the kilometers into miles that I will walk from St. Jean Pied de Port to Burgos. 194.3 miles - I think that is enough! I don't need to hurry my trip to see the 315 stone-sculpted figures at the church in Fromista. But who's counting? I bet I will have seen more than enough Romanesque exteriors by the time I arrive in Burgos. I'll let you know.