first dawn

well almost - we don't 'do' dawn usually!  But as we were forced to emerge onto the dark platform at Burgos before 5am on the first day of our holidays - it was make the most of the present or sit in a (lovely brand spanking new) station for seven hours.  So it was an easy vote to go and see what Burgos had to offer on a Sunday morning before the other souls rose.

And as a result I am an early riser convert - it was such a glorious experience to share a whole magnificent city with a just few circling storks and a gently evolving pink light.

The whole holiday was so amazing and my pictures so many I was feeling a bit overwhelmed about starting this Spainish blog - but having read a lovely article in yesterday's Guardian - the "in praise of" column I always love as it's so postiive and enthusiastic and whackily British - that I felt inspired to start at the very beginning with our unexpected gem of a morning in Burgos.

The artlcle is here for you to read - 'In praise of . . .  dawn departures'

And Burgos? magnificent city, most incredible cathedral ever (Unesco World Heritage site) and pilgrims galore on their way along the Camino de Santiago

Cases safely stashed in a bus station locker, we wandered around this big sleeping city, over the bridges, around the cathedral and the old town and had it all to ourselves - apart from a handful of night revellers falling into a taxi from some Saturday night 'do', all in satin evening wear and bow ties!  At 8 when a cafe opened and the sun was beating down we had a great breakfast in the shadow of the cathedral (our first serrano ham and freshly squozen orange juice of the trip) and chatted to a group of pilgrims from Poland.  You'll see the light changing on the stone as the sun comes up and see if you can spot the storks!

he who would valient be

yes, we were in El Cid's home town!

desayuno

By now the sun was high and it was very hot under that clear blue sky.  We took sanctuary inside the cathedral which was just breathtaking - huge chapels, wall paintings, incredible ceilings, cloisters and all in the most amazingly smooth white local stone.

But inside the cathedral will be on the next blog post, which you can read here

(This is part of our Spain by train holiday in July - you can read about the itinery here)