Day 16 Burgos to Hormillos (April 3)

We left the Albergue today and it was raining. A bit more than a drizzle, but not a downpour. The rain cleaned our dirty boots and then the wind blew us dry. Then, the mud got us dirty again. It was not a bad walk . The route out of Burgos was nice. We walked to Tardejos and had a coffee. We walked pretty quick and were probably the 13th or 14 pilgrims to arrive in Hormillos. We had hot showers, washed laundry in cold water outside - it was chilly. Our room had 8 other pilgrims in it it. 6 of them Austrians . The hospitalero here is a young Spanish woman. She spoke very good English. She works in the morning and her mother works the afternoon/evening shift. There was only 1 bar in town and 1 small shop for groceries. The bar was right across the street from the albergue and it offered a menu del dia for 9 euro. I had a sol y sombra in the bar to check the chill out of my bones. Cullen wants me to mention the "auto peregrino". These are folks that drive from place to place. The stop at the albergues and use the kitchen facilities to fix a meal and then they go on their way. The hospitalero did not approve, but they cleaned up after themselves and didn´t seem to be a problem. Perhaps if there were more pilgrims trying to use the same space it might cause a problem. This is the first albergue I´ve seen fill up. The hospitalero had to find alternate arrangements for at least 3 late arrivals. I think she put them up above the bar somewhere. Went to the bar for dinner and shared a table with a nice German couple (Peter and Brigette). We first met in Ages, then saw them again in Burgos. After dinner, back to the albergue for conversation in the common kitchen area.The French couple (Alex and Annie) we met in Grañon were there. She has been having a lot of trouble with her feet. There was a young Spaniard offering massage service for a reasonable price so she signed up for one and when I saw her later she seemed well improved after a massage, herbal treatment and a gauze wrap around her feet. Cullen had a nice conversation with an older Spaniard from Madrid. I´m happy again that he is able to converse. It was a very cold evening in Hormillos. We heard the weather is going to be cloudy and rainy in the morning and clearing up.