What a beautiful city. Home base of El Cid. Who is El Cid you may ask? Well,he was the Spanish hero and medieval warrior who kicked moorish butt out of Spain and restored catholicism and Spanish hegemony to the Iberian peninsula. Love it. Just like Charles “THE HAMMER” Martel in France, he halted the muslim ingress into Europe and the establishment of Islam. They sound like WWF characters to me. Impressive dudes. Life would be a lot different here today but for the bravery and leadership of these individuals.
When I checked in I asked the young woman where the statue to Charlton Heston was. She laughed as she kew right away what I was talking about. You see they made a movie back in the 1960s called El Cid starring…ta da…Charleton Heston. Burgos is the birthplace of….El Cid…and not Charlton Heston, as that ignorant woman from South Carolina would surmise. Elderly she was but had no clue where Vancouver was. I said to her that my wife was leaving for Savanna in a few days. Did she know where that city was? Cruel, I know, but ignorant people who should know better really irritate me. The Spanish know and she should too.
Of course Burgos has a cathedral and what a cathedral it is too.
Expand the photo and you will see Christ depicted at the centre top with Mary on one side of him and an archangel on the other. The middle relief illustrates those who are saved (left) to those who are damned for eternity (right). The bottom illustration has the 12 Apostles front and centre. We could not get inside to have a peak. Imagine that all of this was done by one man chipping away for years.
All of a sudden I felt really holy. My socks were holy and my undershorts were beginning to feel holy…and airy too. Have to find a Spanish discount store. Alas Burgos has no Walmart, thank goodness. Only very high end and chic clothing stores.
Seriously though, walking amongst these architectural treasures and down the winding streets and pathways a feeling of peace and happiness overcomes the soul. You feel blessed with having been alive with a strong sense of being with oneself as well as a belonging to something existential that is unexplainable yet somehow recognizable. You are part of something much bigger. Hard to explain.
Burgos is also very modern:
Boy oh boy….how I love this country.
Read ya later.
Very impressive Cathedral.
Hope you are well and continue a safe and healthy journey.
Cheers,
Darryl and Karen
It sure is.
John, you are amazing! What an incredible journey…it is truly inspiring. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thxs guys. Best. John