It was a good night's sleep for most of us. It had proved to be a nice hostel with good bathrooms and minimal snoring - what more can a pilgrim ask for! We were up around 6 and at 6.45 ish were breakfasting in the municipal Albergue next door which served up good wholesome Camino breakfast fare including a cracking tortilla!! Fiona decided to leave after breakfast as she was a bit concerned about her knees and wanted to go at her own pace. It was still a bit early to think that one through but when we gathered we realised she didn't have a phone or a map and didn't know where we were staying in Burgos but we all reassured each other that she would wait for us at the first cafe and we were only 15 minutes behind her leaving so it surely couldn't be a problem! ( another Camino lesson - never take things for granted!). It was cold to start with and after a stretch of road we followed *********y paths up and down until eventually we came to Atapuerca dominated by a large cross surrounded by a pile of stones with names of pilgrims and prayers and messages on them. The sky was heavy with grey clouds and we were next to a military zone which was surrounded by old rusty barbed wire. It was desolate indeed! It reminded me both of Alto del Perdon on the Camino last year and also of the First World War battlefields in northern France which we had visited with the Batchelors some years ago. I wonder if Jacqui had the same feeling. Did you Jacqui? I should have asked you. We walked down another pebbly path and reached a very confusing sign about optional routes - the 'official' route and the 'better' route! At this point we started wondering which route Fiona would have chosen. I know my friend has rule bound tendencies but it seemed that all the pilgrims around us were choosing the other route and we thought if she was walking with others and chatting (surely not!) she would have gone with them! So we took the alternative route. The sun started to break through and we soon reached our first cafe where we all hoped we would be reunited with Fiona! But she was not there! We had to console ourselves with huge pastries and we chatted to the Warwick guys and commiserated over the state of our nation and its **** football team. Back on the road we were all a little bit more concerned about being reunited with Fiona. Fleeces came off and we continued to walk along the road. We hadn't gone too far before we saw another cafe and decided to stock up for lunch as we were not too sure what was ahead. On the Camino you very quickly become a sheep and just follow the backpack in front of you! Jenny and I were deep into one of our many philosophical discussions - I can't quite recall if we were discussing how we know that our experience of consciousness is the same as other people's experience of consciousness or if the debate was about Lancôme Hypnose v Estée Lauder Sumptuous Mascara. But whatever it was we suddenly found ourselves on a main road with no other pilgrims apart from Sue, Jacqui and Anne ahead of us. I expressed my concern to Jenny but then we were both relieved to see a Camino arrow in the direction we were heading so panic over. We walked alongside major roads and road works and past Burgos airport - it was not pleasant! then we emerged at a major road junction where ' the way' was not obvious. There was only one thing to do in this situation - find a cafe!! The cafe Buenos Aries, opposite a petrol station fitted the bill. It had AstroTurf which just reminded me of our lost Fiona ........... Tour guide Anne looked at the map and told us we had missed the relatively pretty route into Burgos along the river and were heading along the 2 hour Tarmac route along the roadside! We couldn't work out where we had missed the turning! It was so frustrating. We thought Fiona had probably taken the pretty route as we had seen no other pilgrims take our route which was so frustrating. But then our lovely German man and his friends appeared who had done the same as we had so we felt a bit better. We talked about backtracking and tried to get a taxi back to the beginning of the river route but it was not easy and so we decided just to continue and hope that Fiona was at the intersection of the 2 routes in Burgos. We set off with heavy hearts but in all honesty it wasn't so bad. We had been walking through countryside for days and, for me , at least, cities have their own beauty. But Tarmac underfoot is not great. It was strange, we walked past a lot of industrial estates which seemed a bit closed and deserted. We stopped and and had our sandwiches by a children's playground and lots of families were out. A fiesta maybe? We had coffee and sat and watched for Fiona. We were beginning to get get worried now. Not that we thought anything bad had happened to her but more that we wouldn't be reunited for our last night which would be really sad. We arrived at the intersection of the 2 routes and Fiona was nowhere to be seen. Our hotel wasn't far away so we decided to go and offload our heavy packs and then go out and look for her. OMG it was a proper hotel!!! Not a hostel. While tour leader Anne panicked that she had somehow booked us in to an expensive hotel, Jenny and I decided we were staying there whatever (we are so shallow!) but it turned out that Anne had done it again and we had got a really good deal! 2 luxurious rooms with amazing bathrooms (please note Francis Lacy Scott!!) But we were still minus Fiona! Anne, Jacqui and Sue went off to look for her but came back not long after saying it was an impossible mission. I emailed Charles to tell him where we were if she happened to contact him. We walked into Burgos. It is a pretty city dominated by its huge cathedral. It is especially pretty alongside the river and there was obviously a fiesta happening as there were hundreds of people in traditional costume, brass bands were marching through the streets and the cathedral was flanked with huge flower displays. We found out later it was the beginning of a festival lasting a few days. We toured the cathedral and it was amazing - personally I didn't like it but you could not deny it was quite spectacular. I just find Spanish churches really OTT and hostile (but that is my view) . Saying that, some of the modern sculptures on display as we left the cathedral were stunning. Burgos was buzzing and we sat in the square opposite the cathedral soaking up the atmosphere. The sight of whole families out together, including many elderly and disabled in wheelchairs, children playing freely and many proudly wearing their traditional costume really highlighted something we lack in England. I say England because the Scottish, Welsh and Irish at least make an effort! I started to wonder what we did have back home and it saddened me to think there was little at the moment I felt proud of. We bumped into the Warwick guys and asked if they had seen Fiona - worth a shot! We decided to walk along the riverside and find a bar for a drink. Everywhere was so crowded and we thought the best plan would be to stay for a while but then make our way back to the hotel and eat there as if Fiona contacted Charles and got the hotel address, she would make her way there. We all noticed there were quite a few groups of old ladies dressed up to the nines in their best suits. Lime Green seemed a popular colour among them! It wasn't lost on us that we weren't far off their age group ourselves - amusing but also a tad depressing! Just as we started tucking into our olives and swigging our drinks Charles rang. He had spoken to Fiona who was sitting in a hotel reception in Burgos with a Good Samaritan! I told him to call her and tell her to make her way to the hotel and we would meet her there. We were all relieved that we were soon to be reunited. Now we were six!! Back at our lovely hotel we had an excellent meal together with fast and friendly service unlike the night before and although those who ordered Melon and ham for a starter were a bit confused when it arrived in the form of a soup, the food was the best we had had all week. Fiona told us about her day and who she had met and the 4 hours she had waited for us in a cafe by the intersection ( she was possibly exaggerating a little to make a point - Fiona? Surely not!) We had now walked 291.5 k of the Camino de Santiago (for marketing purposes please use the figure 300k as it sounds more impressive!) - well done us!! Things lost - Fiona Times Jenny mentioned the Moonwalk - only mentioned in a Michael Jackson context