Saturday May 18, Burgos

Today was a down day in Burgos.  Burgos is a rather  large town of about 180,00 people.  The most interesting part of Burgos is its huge cathedral.  Our hotel room overlooks the Cathederal, and I have included several photos of the place.   I think it is probably the largest and most intricate of the many cathederals that we have toured over the years.

As is often the case with the Catholic Church, the Cathederal is an interesting history of the intersection of religious commitment, money and power.  The architecture of the church is a strange amalgamation of French, German and other design elements.  Over the centuries, there have been many additions and changes and the Cathederal often has the feeling of a house that has been constantly remodeled.  The pieces don't always fit together....

There were many weddings at the church today, and they seemed to schedule them almost back to back.  At one , there was a group of  costumed dancers who greeted the newly married couple as they left the church.

The weather was crisp today, probably around 40 degrees.  Late this afternoon, it began to hail and even snow.  The forecast for tomorrow is more of the same.  Fortunately, we have a relatively short walk of 13 miles, relatively flat.  And, we will have rested legs and feet.

As a business guy, I'm always interested to see how markets react and adjust to situations.  The Camino is a particularly interesting example.  The Camino of course started out as a religious pilgrimage for Catholics.  An infrastructure was built up, primarily sponsored by the church, including very low cost (often free) lodging, restaurants, etc.  Over time, the Camino became increasingly popular, both for religious and non-religious people.  For example, in 1990, less than 5000 people completed the hike to the end.  In 2012, nearly 200,000 people completed the hike.  As a result, the need for additional lodging capacity increased significantly.

Just as importantly, the demographic of hikers evolved.  Increasingly, the Camino is a vacation opportunity for people from all walks of life.  Along the Camino, you can find the church sponsored "Albergues", often with 50 people or more in a single room, sleeping on bunk beds.  The cost per night is around $5 per person.  At the other end, many of the larger cities have 4 star hotels, luxury Paradors, etc., costing upwards of $120 per night.  And of course, you have everything in between.  In many of the smaller towns, the "luxury" end of the market is served by so called "casa Rurals", often charming B &B type accommodations.  Sometimes requiring sharing of bathrooms with other rooms.   To date, we have not stayed in any of the places where you have to share a room, although at one place we did share a bathroom with another room.  I'm hopeful that we can keep this record intact!

 Many people also use a newly developed service that carries their backpacks from town to town.  We have not resorted to this service yet, although there are days when it is very tempting....

So, the market has done its thing and provided the appropriate services for the customer base.  Of course, the great equalizer are the feet.  They don't give a damn if their owner slept in an albergue or a 4 star hotel.  They only know that they hurt!