18 May - Belorado to Burgos

What an eventful day.   This is our last day on the Camino as we complete this leg of the Camino in Burgos later today.   And there is excitement at breakfast this morning as we learned our host, Anna, gave birth to her 3rd child at 2 am this morning, a healthy baby girl named Nora.  We knew Anna was expecting, but not quite so soon.  There was definitely joy in the household at breakfast.

This is our last breakfast on the Camino as we depart for Burgos.   There is definitely joy in the household this morning as all are excited about the arrival of new baby Nora.

Judi and the ladies fashioned a makeshift card to Anna and Baby Joy.   

We say goodbye to Mama as we depart La Aidea Encantada for Burgos. 

Judi and Chris head down the hill.

Jon Lynn and Lisa are in the lead.   We are in a hurry this morning as we take the 10:00 am bus to Burgos, some 35 miles away.

While waiting for the bus, we meet several fellow Pilgrims from Norway, Gerd and Britt.   They were very friendly and chatty.   That's what beer at 10 am will do.  

Here we are waiting for the bus.

Happily waiting for the bus! :-)

The bus terminal is just across the street from the portal leading to the Burgos Cathedral.   Here we are entering the Cathedral Plaza on the way to our Hotel.

To the left is the River trail and the Hotel we stayed in our 2017 visit with Juan Carlos Duperier

The Burgos Cathedral is magnificent, even in this cold and rainy weather.

There is a flower show in the plaza near our hotel.

We look back for a glimpse of the Cathedral as we head to our Hotel

We turn left around the corner and arrive at La Palacio de Blasones, a 4-star hotel right on the Camino.   Judi and Mike stayed in this hotel in 2017.  

Judi waiting to check into the hotel.   There is a large wedding here today.  We watched some very well dressed and beautiful Spanish families as they departed the hotel for the wedding at the Burgos Cathedral.

We walked several short block away to a favorite Tapas Bar from our trip in 2017 with Juan Carlos.

We had excellent Tapas at Chuchillo de Palo and a new favorite Rioja Crianza (aged for >1 year in oak)

Outside the Bar is a statue of a blacksmith working on an anvil.   The graffiti on his strong chest says "Mister Right".   There are many similar statues that decorate Burgos, making it a charming city.

We head back to the cathedral to see a long floral train extended the full length of the steps.

Here is the end of the floral train at the bottom of the steps.  Plumeria's are one of many flowers in the train.

The Burgos Cathedral is a world heritage site and one of the most brilliant cathedrals in Spain.  Here is the dome inside the Cathedral with Gilded Alter

Chris, Mike and Judi stop to take a selfie.

Chris sitting at one of the sculptures that decorate the Camino in this part of the city.  

This photo shows the actual Camino path as it enters Burgos, done in a modern brickwork design

We stop at the Fighting Bull, a statue we recall from a previous visit in 2017

We have that "looking for gelato" look as we wander the streets of the old town.  We find some!

We return to our hotel and encounter pilgrims heading west on the Camino as it passes our hotel. 

The Gaudi exhibit at the Burgos Cathedral.   shows a rendering of Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family), in the final stages of construction in Barcelona.  Many believe Gaudi modeled the ceiling of Sagrada Familia after the Burgos cathedral. Here you see Burgos on the bottom, Sagrada Familia on the top.   There is resemblance. 

Here are the ladies in the hotel lobby, dressed and ready for dinner at 7:30 (a little early for Spain where restaurants seldom serve until 9:00 pm)

The dining room at La Chuchillo de Palo.  Our table, waiting for us.

Here's to a great trip on the Camino.   Judi and Chris opt for Gin and Tonics.   This is a real celebration.  

All in good health, good spirits and no blisters, and proud of walking 150 miles in just under two weeks.

Our server tonight is Maria, the same server we had 2 years earlier in 2017

We finish our Camino in Burgos tonight.  Tomorrow we bus to Bilbao for our final stop in Spain before returning home.

There is a saying on the Camino that when you come to the end your Camino journey, that's when the real Camino of your life begins.  And so we await the next chapter of our Camino.

One more post to follow.   For now, Buen Camino!

15 May - Tour of Vivanca Winery enroute to Najera

Today we took a day of from walking the Camino and decided instead to visit the Vivanco wine museum in the town of Briones, about 25 miles from our hotel in Briones, ES.  Our hotel concierge (JoAnna) arranged a taxi to take us to Briones and then a later cab to transport us to our next Camino town of Najera.   The day worked out perfectly.   We had a 3 hour tour of the museum, followed by lunch and a then cab ride to Najera, some 12 miles away.  We checked in to our hotel at Najera, turned in some laundry, then walked the town in the evening sunset, had a Pilgrim's dinner at the adjacent restaurant (3 course meal for 11 euros), then early to bed for tomorrow's longer hike to Santo Domingo, some 22 km away.

Now, more about the wine Vivanca Wine.   The Museum is owned by the Vivanco family and houses some 40 years of collecting objects of art and wine making by Pedro Vivanco and his family.   The Museum was inaugurated by King Juan Carlos I in 2004 and has been expanded since.   All the pieces are original with a history of their own.  This is a universal Museum.  It takes one through the 8000 year history of the Wine Culture from its first traces until today and its different forms across the world.   The museum is educational and includes interactive audiovisual support.  Not only does the Museum share the passion of the Vivanco family,  it shows why wine has always been a civilizing element with man and and how man cannot easily do without it.  Today this Museum is respected as one of the great icons of the Culture of Wine in the world.  The Vivanco family are proud of this and continue to share their passion with Spain and the World.

We took a lot of pictures again today, especially of the phenomenal art collection in the wine museum.   They have over 22 Picasso's, a Mark Chagall,  Andy Warhol, David Hockman (currently the most expensive living artist), and numerous items in their art collection dating back to the time of Christ and before.  

We depart our hotel Calle Mayor and taxi toward Briones in the heart of the Rioja region

We pass the lonely bull, symbol of Rioja, a few miles before Briones.

We arrive at the Vivanco winery at 10:30.   We have a few minutes to tour the grounds before they open at 11:00 am.

Here is Judi and Chris in the Vivanco vineyards with the hill town of Briones in back.   We were here with Juan Carlos in a previous tour in 2017.   We had a great tour then and celebrated with a feast in one of the best Restaurante's in Briones.

The winery is surrounded by over 100 hectares of grapes.   Here is a view to the north with an old castle in the backdrop.  The winery has over 10 varietals of grapes growing here.   Most of the production is Tempranilla, the primary grape in Rioja wines, but there is also Grenache  and a number of varietals of white wines including Chardonnay.

A view to the east includes another small castle overlooking this portion of Vivanco vineyards.





















In the garden is a sculpture of Bacchus, the Roman God of wine and revelry

It is 11:00 am and time for our tour.   Lisa, Jon Lynn and Judi are getting a little giddy.

Our tour leader, Eduardo, is one of Vivanco's most experienced guides having worked in these Vineyards since 2004.  He and his family live in nearby Briones.   He starts the tour by pouring each of us a lovely White Rioja (named for the region).   What a lovely way to start with a delightful white wine to accompany a discussion on the history of winemaking. Here are Vivanco's top 3 wines, a white (left), Rose', Rioja Red.

There are 7 of us on the tour.  We Five and Loren Schellenberg (Founder of National Jazz Museum in Harlem).   Sister Chris is a big Jazz fan and her Husband Ron was a well known Jazz photographer who Loren knew.   Chris and Loren enjoyed the time together on the tour.

We looked at the tools of winemaking.   Here is 200 year old wine press used in large production grape crushing.

A turn-of the century gas driven tractor to cultivate,  plow, and tow wagons used in transport.

We watched an entire film about barrel making, one of the most important parts of aging and flavoring wine.   French Oak is highly popular but nearly twice the expense of American Oak.

Often the barrels are toasted with flame inside to amplify the oak flavor.   A new barrel of French Oak goes for 1200, American Oak for $800.   These may be used for 5-7 years.

We next went to the wine cellar where barrels of wine are aged.   This was the largest wine cellar we've ever seen.   Here we have another tasting with Eduardo, this time with Vivanco's Rioja Reserve.   

Barrels of wine as far as the eye can see.   The winery has over 4000 sq meters of storage space.   

Here Eduardo introduced us to the concept of "Wine as a Sacred Drink".   Wine has permeated our historical cultures and has enjoys significance in Christendom, for example the parable of the Wine at the Wedding Feast and the use of wine in Communion services for Catholic and Protestant services. 

Here is a collection of wine goblet used before the time of Christ.  Each had a particular function in the drinking of wine.

 Here is a  sheep's head goblet, from the first century AD.  The bust of Baachus is one of many in the museum.   The "magical" power of wine in celebration was typified by Baachus, the ancient Greek god of wine, fertility, ritual madness, theater, and religious ecstasy. He may have been worshiped as early as 1500 BCE. ... He was the son of Zeus., making Dionysus (or Bacchus) a hero of Roman Culture. 

Wine plays an important role in many new testament stories, including the last supper shown here in one of the last supper pieces in the museum.

Here is a museum piece by Andy Warhol next to a Marc Chagall, both illustrating wine as an inspiration.

One of 22 Picasso's in the Vivanco collection.

Another Picasso depicting the 3 themes he includes in most of his works, i.e.  the man with a two-horned instrument, man with 2 cymbals, and a goat.  You will see these themes repeated in many Picasso works.

There are also 4,000 different corkscrews in the collection, by far the most in any single collection.

We come to the end of our tour as Eduardo arranges a final tasting with Mike, Judi, Eduardo, Lisa, John Lynn, Chris, and Loren

Awaiting our taxi ride to Najero, our overnight stop before resuming our Camino Journey tomorrow.

As we are leaving, we run into our tour guide from 2017, Miranda Sanches.   All the guides at Vivanco are exceptional.

Did we have a good time?   Lisa and Judi sure think so.  More tomorrow when we resume our Camino journey from Najera to Santo Domingo De La Calzada.  For now, Buen Camino!