James the apostle worked the Spanish venue. Legend holds that his bones were brought to Galacia upon his death in the early first century where they were “discovered” anew in about 837 CE. A cathedral built in Santiago to hold these relics soon became the site of regular pilgrimages. During Middle Ages roughly a half million people annually traveled from what is now the border between Spain and France.
Though pilgrimage slowed to a trickle in the 1960s, more than 100,000 people travel the ancient routes each summer. Some come on foot. Others on horseback. Moderns travel by motorcycle, car, or bus. Many make the journey as a whole; others take it in stages--a little each year.
Most folks travel along the “French route,” a path that begins at Roncevalles and passes through Pamplona, Burgos, Leon. The road includes cities with origins that date back to Roman times. Along the way, on the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) encounters churches, monasteries, castles, and communities, the origins of which cover a gamut of time, style, and significance.
We traveled this path in reverse, heading from Santiago to Pamplona across the last few days of our trip. 
We enjoyed our stops in Leon and Burgos; indeed, we were especially enchanted by Burgos with its expansive riverfront parkway. Burgos has Spain’s third largest cathedral, an imposing religious edifice founded in 1221 and completed almost three centuries later. Our cursory visit was not long enough to appreciate Burgos or its cathedral fully.
Our journey ends in Pamplona, a city given imaginative treatment by Ernest Hemingway in his novel, The Sun Also Rises. Elevated temperatures kept us from exploring this town as much as we would have liked. We made it as far as the fortified walls of the city’s citadel, a contemporary reminder (1571 CE !) that this community’s strategic importance dates back to its founding by Roman general Pompey in 75 BC.
Day Eleven will return us to Bilboa where, after a dreadfully short night, we’ll pick up our air transport home. Eleven days was not enough time in this wonderful country. We sampled just enough of the terrain to know that there’s more worth visiting. Indeed, the entire Camino experience awaits....
Day 9 and 10 photos can be found at:
www.flickr.com/photos/42254846@N00/sets/72157601145028101/
