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Burgos
[Editor's notes: Burgos, a city of about 50,000, is in a shallow
river valley in the center of a high, windswept plateau. The Rio Arlanzón
flows through the city and has beautiful avenues and gardens lining
its banks. Dudley stayed in a Burgos hotel for two days to write and
transmit his journal text and photos. He calculates that he's traveled
about one third of the way or about 150 miles. It was a good time to
stop and take time to let a couple of sore spots heal.]
The lobby of the hotel was quite large, a part of which served as an
appealing sitting room. It had several well-upholstered armchairs and
sofas, a TV, and an antique writing desk. The pleasant ambiance created
by the furnishings gave one the feeling of being in an early 20th century
hotel (except for the TV). I sat at the desk with my computer and digital
camera and started to work.
I was deep in creative thought when I suddenly realized that the question
"How are you?" was directed to me. It was the German woman
who had been sick back in Santo Domingo de Calzada. When I inquired
as to her health, she said that it was better but that the rain was
aggravating it. So, she wanted to stay over for a day in Burgos in hopes
that the weather would finally clear up. Unfortunately for her, the
hotel was completo (full). We wished each other good luck and
she left.
For over two hours I tried to transmit my journal but couldn't get through
to the Internet. I began to doubt that I'd ever get through. It was
then that I decided that I would have to stay an extra day. I went to
the front desk and told them that I would need the habitación
(room) for an extra day. Fortunately for me that could be arranged.
The extra rest time would give my shoulder, which was still bothering
me, a chance to recover.
When I got back from dinner at 10:00, I hooked up the computer again
and started the dial-up connection. Every time I tried, it would disconnect.
I waited for a bit and started all over again. Finally, I got through
to the Internet at 11:00 p.m. The text for the journal transmits very
quickly, but each photo takes at least 5 minutes, that is, if the server
doesn't disconnect. To transmit the photos and text took 2-1/2 hours.
I was exhausted, so about 1:30 I went to bed.
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