Yesterday was the approximately 13 mile walk from Atapuerca to Burgos, and it was much the same as the preceding several days: hot and hilly.

I am nearly three weeks into the journey and just over 1/3 done. They say that the first third is where your body adjusts to the mileage and the terrain. I think that’s very true. Although walking alone has given me a lot of time to think and to meditate, the focus really has been on the physical sensations and monitoring how my legs and feet are doing.

Tomorrow starts the middle section of the journey, known as the Meseta. The Meseta is the high plains, with very little shade and very few hills. Conventional wisdom holds that this is the section of the Camino where people experience mental and emotional rather than physical challenges, due to boredom and endless miles of sameness in the landscape.

Burgos is absolutely one of my very favorite places on the Camino, so I decided to take my rest day early and do it here rather than in a small town a little bit down the road.  I got to visit the Museum of Human Evolution today,  as well as take a tour of the magnificent Cathedral.  I had dinner at a delicious little farm to table restaurant, and I am back at my hotel room now, listening to people in the plaza celebrate the fact that Spain is currently beating Belgium in the World Cup quarterfinals!