Category: Burgos, Spain

Total Eclipse of the Heart Day #5.  “A Day For the Child”

by reissmd, posted in Burgos, Spain, Madrid

The main reason for this trip was to see our daughter Erica and the eclipse (definitely in that order).  The eclipse was spectacular as was the visit with Erica.  Having David and Julian along has also been a joy.  Julian is just 9 years old and has been an amazing trooper. He has had to put up with horrible heat, a foreign environment, a doting grandmother, and me (no explanation needed on that one).

Since Julian has been so great we decided to devote our day to the child.  Prior to returning to Madrid we went to the Museo de la Evolucion Humana (MEH for short, young people will get a laugh out of that. The joke had to be explained to me). We then had a 2+ hour drive from Burgos to Madrid which had me drained and ready for a nap. 

Julian demonstrating how to enjoy a 2+ hour drive.

Just as I was about to get ready for my nap, Erica came into the room and said “We’re going to Madrid Rio Park to play in the Chorros”.  I didn’t want Erica to think her dad is an idiot so I said great let’s go.  After she left the room I pulled out my Spanish dictionary and saw that chorros means diarrhea.  I quickly learned that chorros can also mean fountain.  

The park was a short drive from Erica’s apartment and as soon as we arrived at the fountains the children immediately got in and got wet. 

Do you recognize the two chidren playing in the water?
Soaking wet we posed for a picture. The water felt amazing, I didn’t want to leave. I said the day would be devoted to the child but I didn’t say which one.

In spite of being soaked, just a few minutes later I was totally dry.  Isn’t it interesting what 102° temperature can do? No wonder people don’t own clothes dryers in Madrid.

From there we headed to dinner at El Pimiento Verde [Calle de Castelló, 18, Salamanca, 28001 Madrid].  We’ve eaten there on previous trips. Erica reminded me that last time I said the Rape (Monkfish) was the best fish I’d ever eaten.  I don’t remember that, but how could I not order something that I gave such a glowing review?  The fish was for 2 so Patrice volunteered to join me.  Neither one of us was disappointed. 

Rape (Monkfish) with potatoes. This was the portion for 2 but if you promise not to tell anyone I think I could have eaten the whole thing myself.

Now I need a nap. Until tomorrow.

Ciao

Total eclipse of the heart day #4.  “A Day to Remember”

by reissmd, posted in Burgos, Spain

Yes, this is it.  August 12. 2026 a total eclipse of the sun was to occur across northern Spain (Greenland and Iceland) and Patrice, David, Erica, Julian and I are here in Burgos, Spain ready to enjoy it.  We started the day with a very forgettable breakfast at the hotel.  

Only thing worse than the look of these eggs was the taste. 

We then headed into town to see the Catedral de Burgos (the Burgos Cathedral).  I remember being here about 10 years ago and being very impressed by the Cathedral.  I am not sure why I was so impressed but it was lost on me this time.  It was your typical cathedral with lots of pictures and statues of dead popes, priests, and other dignitaries.  El Cid was there.  Many know of El Cid as the legendary Spanish hero of the 11th century.  Others, like me, remember him as the guy Charlton Heston played in the movie of the same name in 1961 (very cool year since it looks the same written upside down).  We found lots of tourists wearing t-shirts from the current and previous eclipses.  So it seems we are not the only eclipse nerds.  We spoke to people from the countries of Canada, Czech Republic, Germany (3 couples), Greece, and the United States of America.  The heat in downtown Burgos was brutal so we trekked back to the car and returned to the hotel 

After cooling off in the room we started getting prepared for the eclipse.  Our team was ready for the big moment.  For those not familiar with the eclipse team here they are:

David, our team captain keeping us alerted of all the phases of the eclipse so we don’t miss any of the subtle findings that only the experts appreciate and people like me forget immediately after seeing them.
Support staff.  As you can see, hard at work preparing for the big moment.
The matriarch of the team doing what she does best.
Famous blogger Robert, doing what he does best.  

At about 5:30 PM we headed to the hotel terrace because 2 people had already beat us to the deck and we were expecting a lot more. As it turned out only 2 other people and a few hotel employees joined us for an incredible experience.  The view of the eclipse was spectacular and hearing David’s play by play added so much more to the event.  We took very few pictures and the ones we did take do not come close to telling the story. 

Erica and Julian with the total eclipse in the back.

Meet us next year in Egypt and experience it for yourself. 

Ciao

Total Eclipse of the Heart Day #3 “A Day of Exploration”

by reissmd, posted in Burgos, Spain

Today we left Madrid and headed to the city of Burgos in order to see the solar eclipse.  The big event will occur on August 12, 2026 at 8:29 PM local time. This will be our 3rd eclipse experience.  In 2017 we went to Nashville, Tennessee and saw a spectacular view with the moon blocking about 98% of the sun, then suddenly clouds rotated in front, eliminating our view of totality. I was very disappointed especially after hearing from friends who saw the total eclipse just a few miles from where we were located.  

In 2020, a trip to Chile was canceled because of Covid.

In 2024 we had a much better experience in Dallas, Texas.  We saw totality but the real show was my son, David, and his wife, Robyn.  With Robyn driving and David navigating we drove from location to location to find the perfect vantage point.  You have to understand that I am talking about Stanford and Harvard graduates (David from Stanford and Robyn from both).  Needless to say listening to them discuss the pros and cons of each viewing site was like hearing two people speak in a foreign language.  The only thing I understood was “Get in the car!  We’re going to a different spot.”  We finally settled in the parking lot of a strip mall where we had a magical experience.  I especially enjoyed hearing David describing some subtleties of the eclipse (sorry corona, crescent shadows, prominences, and shadow bands are not parts of my regular vocabulary). 

Today was a day of exploration.  We needed to find the perfect spot from which to see the eclipse.  David researched on the internet some recommended viewing areas. The first one was San Isidro park. On paper it looked like a great location but access would be difficult.  We read that the city was limiting the area to 8,000 people and entrance would be by city bus or a 45 minute walk.  That was not a very attractive description.  The next spot was Castillo de Burgos.  Again the visitors will be limited (2,000 at this location).  This was a lovely area with lots of beautiful trees dominating the vista.  Trees blocking the skyline were not exactly what we were looking for.  We then headed outside the city away from buildings and other visual obstructions.  Luckily we came upon a beautiful area on a hill with an unobstructed view adjacent to a tile company.  We happened to meet the tile company owner, Rodrigo, who welcomed us to his workspace. He asked a few questions and gave us some guidelines (He wanted us to be sure not to drive on certain parts of the property).  We were very excited. We found the perfect viewing location but realized we would need supplies. We headed off to Decathlon, a local sports supply store.  We bought an umbrella for shade, a plastic hand drill to make a hole for the umbrella, chairs, and an ice chest.  We then went to pay for our purchases.  It was a self-check out counter so I reached for the scanner gun but the clerk stopped me.  Instead she instructed me to put all the items into a bin in front of the register. See below. 

The register calculated the price of every item including some that I can’t even see in the picture. Very impressive.

I then messaged Patrice that we finally were on our way back to the hotel.  She replied “Look what I just saw” and sent us this picture. See below.

This is from a terrace near our room and it has a perfect view of the sun at 8:29 PM (the time of tomorrow’s eclipse), We have a similar but not as panoramic view from our room.

So David, Erica, and I spent about 3 hours looking for the best spot to see the eclipse when we already had the perfect place to see the eclipse and it was at our hotel.   The only remaining question is will we have to fend off hordes of other hotel guests to see the eclipse.  I will let you know tomorrow. 

Ciao