Day 4: Adios Madrid....Hola Burgos!!

We sadly left Madrid, but know we'll be back in a few wks, so we're okay about it, and headed north to Burgos.  This is a new place for me as I've never been, so kind of exciting for me to experience the newness of Spain with the kids.  We had some free time before our tour, so we went off exploring the town, saw the cathedral (above)...

...found my lost Knight in Shining Armor... :)  (it's about time!!)

Oh, and we had tapas again for lunch:  jamon, manchego cheese, tortilla espanola, calamari...and french fries!! :)

 Dottie - this is for you... James checking out the impressive Spanish knockers...  LOL  :)

We did get to go into the cathedral with our local guide (after a visit to the monastery)...wow..the cathedral is so impressive with it's Gothic style and spires dating back to the 13th century... El Cid is buried here...a HS choir from TX was there and sang in the cathedral...goosebumps...

Kids also got to see some peregrinos (pilgrims) on their way to Santiago de Compostela...it was neat to see the shells around showing the route.

Of course, after dinner, we had to go get ice cream...kids are now addicted to Gelato - sorry parents if they will want to go to Italy in the future!! :)  My combo was Cielo y Pina (Sky & pineapple) - delish!!  (oh, the two extra girls are from the CO group - we've warped them too!!)

Love this picture of them...it's semi-posed because I made them walk in a straight line, but has been fun to see the kids experiencing all this things that they've learned in school and recognized stuff from their textbooks...I have to say I'm pretty impressed with their knowledge and enthusiasm to see & do it...and practice their spanish! :)  That makes a teacher proud!!  Parents too, I'm sure!!

It's a bit chillier than expected up here in the north...50-60s...and possible rain tomorrow...  Speaking of tomorrow, we're sadly only in Burgos one night and now heading to Bilbao in the Basque country. As our guide Fran is Basque, he is super excited to show us his country...or as he calls it the center of the universe...

Tune in tomorrow for stories from Bilbao and a trip to the GUGGENHEIM!!!
(and yes, this will be new for me too!!)

Hugs ~ steph :)