September 8, 2023
Yesterday we went to El Burgo de Osma. One of the residents, Paula, gave us a ride and dropped us off at a waterfall a few kilometers from the town along with her two dogs. We swam in the cold, but exhilarating water and went under the waterfall for a free, very intense shoulder massage. The puppies were hesitant about getting in the water, but after a bit of coaxing, one of them came in long enough to confirm that we were okay before rushing out again.
We climbed part way up some sort of water control system on the side of the waterfall. The water was directed to flow down tiered pools. Moving between the pools was difficult because the water pressure rushing to the next pool was so intense. It was cool to have little personal pools though, and the structure was neat. It was nice to overcome my initial feelings that it was a bad idea and just go for it once Abby decided to try. In a way it felt like old times, when I was a little kid and she wanted to do something that scared me, but then she would do it and help me do it too, making sure I was safe the whole time. Thanks Abby!
After swimming, we snacked on a bit on the things we had brought from Navapalos and chatted in the shade. Then Paula came back and we returned her dogs to her and walked along a bike/walking path into El Burgo de Osma. We sat on a big rock overlooking the river and ate pomegranates. Since every Spanish village has a castle in/near it, we found a good spot to look at the ruins of the Burgo de Osma castle as it overlooked our snacking spot.
From there we walked to the grocery store to buy some yummy nut/fruit bread before heading back to the waterfall to wait for Paula to come pick us up again.
After Paula drove us back to Navapalos, we made and dinner at a scandalously early 6pm. We gave some to Paula as a thank you for going out of her way to drive us. She thanked us and put it aside for later, because the crazy Americans eat way too early. We had a relaxing night of chatting and eating before Paula came back over to invite us to a little going away party. At around 10pm, we had a small party with food and music with the other inhabitants of Navapalos. It was a lovely send off for Abby and I got to practice my Spanish at least a little bit.
All in all, it was a nice last full day in Navapalos for both Abby and I.
The next morning, Abby packed up the house and we got a taxi to the bus station, arriving about an hour before my bus. We had some yummy leftovers from the previous day and I fixed Abby’s shoe by sewing it up with dental floss while we waited.
The bus back to Madrid was much less crowded than the bus out to El Burgo de Osma and the ride went quickly. From the bus station in Madrid I took a quick metro ride into Central Madrid where I met Heather at her hostel. We ventured out into the city; seeing the Plaza Mayor and the Palacio Real de Madrid (from the outside) before getting some tapas for dinner and calling it a night. It was a nice first night of actually spending time in Madrid. We’ll see what we get up to the next few days!