Burgos Day 1

Burgos was very different from San Sebastian.  Burgos is most famous for a story known as the Cantar de Mío Cid, which is a story originally sung and later written down based on the historical person Rodrigo turned legend.  Rodrigo (or El Cid) is forced to leave the kingdom of Castilla never to return due to a question of the king's honor...more on that later.

We were so sad to see that the weather in San Sebastian was PERFECT on the day we had to leave.  But at least we finally got a good photo!

Upon arriving at our hotel in Burgos, we were a little...asustados.  It was QUITE the opposite of our luxurious get-away in San Sebastian.  Between the cracked mirror...

...and the crazy candles...

...we felt as though we were the haunted mansion or the Hollywood tower hotel.

The town was much cuter, and of course, in the center was a lovely cathedral :)

We had just enough time to eat lunch and eat some ice cream before heading to a guided tour of the cathedral.

Katie looking like a European babe.

The creepy ice cream cone was almost as bad as the overall experience, haha

The Cathedral was impressive

and this weekend was the festival of flowers, which only happens for 3 days twice a year

The main stained glass roseton is one of the only original stained glass in the cathedral, as the reverberations from a bomb that went off nearby shattered all the other ones.  The blue, however, is one of the great secrets of the middle ages.  As of yet, it has been impossible to create that exact shade, though there is a shop (in France I believe) dedicated to stained glass and finding out the materials to make this exact shade of blue.

The organ is also special in that it has horizontal pipes, something that is common in Spain but not many other parts of the world.  Our guide said it creates a whole other sound, but unfortunately, we were not privileged enough to hear it.

They also have a famous clock which kinda freaks me out.

In the dressing room, they have an incredible rococo style ceiling that I loved.

As part of the cathedral, they have a small museum filled with artwork and famous pieces used during mass.  I really loved this of Mary and Christ

We also walked around the main plaza which is extremely colorful

Here is a statue of Mío Cid!

Random skull statue.

After our tour, we drove to a monastery in Yerca to listen to some monks sing Gregorian Chants.  Unfortunately, photos were not allowed, so I don't have any of the monastery, but the experience was incredible.  I loved it so much.  I have learned a bit about Gregorian chants, but it was incredible to actually hear them sung live and see what my teachers have been talking about with back and forth, call and answer singing.

While walking around, I felt I was in a little town, a tiny village.

Everyday is probably like the one before.

There was also this giant tree that was beautiful

On the way back to Burgos, our professors announced we would be taking a slight detour.  That included getting off the bus on the side of the highway in the middle of the mountains only to discover a concrete trail between two cliffs separated by a stream!  It was beautiful and SO refreshing.

Everything is just so beautiful here, even when we are rushing past it in the bus.

Fountains are beautiful too :)