Building Bridges of Friendship & Learning: A Unique Cultural Exchange with Castile & León
Building Bridges of Friendship & Learning: A Unique Cultural Exchange with Castile & León
by Julie Gianelloni Connor | Houston, TX
The third cultural exchange between American Pilgrims on the Camino and a Spanish Camino association occurred June 3-10, 2025, when 33 American Pilgrims members journeyed in and around Burgos, for a week exploring the autonomous community of Castile and León.
The American Pilgrims cultural committee spent two years planning the trip with a counterpart association, the Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de Burgos. The program included visits to three of Castile and León’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites and to numerous historically and culturally important monasteries, churches, and museums. The tour included stops in villages and towns such as Covarrubias, Santo Domingo de Silos, Mahamud, San Juan de Ortega, Agés, Los Tomillares, Aranda de Duero, Frías, Oña, and Briviesca.
The Burgos association did an outstanding job of organizing the trip’s logistics. An important aspect was that members of the Burgos association joined American Pilgrims members on the trip, and over the course of the week, we got to know the Burgos association representatives quite well.
Although we walked a small section of the Camino Francés, a World Heritage Site, we dedicated more time to two other Castile and León World Heritage Sites: the Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Santa María de Burgos and the archaeological site of Atapuerca. At the Burgos cathedral, we enjoyed an evening sound-and-light show, followed by a guided tour the next day.
A visit to the archaeological site of Atapuerca allowed us to learn about how excavations there have pushed the known timeline of humans in Europe back by more than a million years and greatly increased our understanding of the five different human species who passed through areas now part of Spain. A visit to the Museum of Human Evolution in Burgos further enhanced our knowledge about Spain’s prehistoric inhabitants.
Throughout the group’s visit to the region, we were warmly welcomed by provincial, city, and religious leaders, some of whom hosted receptions for us, including the Burgos City Council. Evening events included two concerts organized for us by the Burgos association: a harpsichord performance and a chamber quintet whose program covered Spanish music from the 12th through the 20th centuries.
The gastronomy of Castile and León was also an important part of the trip. With stops at a number of outstanding restaurants and two wineries, Bodegas Buezo in the Ribera del Arlanza region and Bodegas y Viñedos Pradorey in the Ribero del Duero region, we tasted regional specialties and savored delicious wines.
No American Pilgrims cultural experience trip would be complete without a visit to local pilgrim hostels, this time to the municipal albergues in Briviesca and Burgos. At the Burgos municipal albergue, representatives unveiled a plaque recognizing American Pilgrims on the Camino for its grant that funded albergue repairs.
After seven packed days, we finished our cultural exchange much enriched by our increased knowledge of Castile and León and by the many new friendships forged among members of our Camino associations.
More than a Cultural Exchange – A Profound Spiritual, Religious & Human Exchange
by Thomas Labuzienski | South Bend, IN
The Catholic world celebrates one of its most inspiring holy days on Pentecost Sunday. One of the most powerful Pentecost services on the Camino is held in the Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Santa María de Burgos.
In 2025, the feast of Pentecost fell on Sunday, June 8, conveniently coinciding with the American Pilgrims on the Camino 2025 cultural experience trip to Burgos. Throughout the weeklong trip, American Pilgrims members connected with members of the Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de Burgos. By week’s end, we were one big Camino family.
When our Burgos association friends learned that I am an ordained deacon in the Roman Catholic Church, they strongly encouraged me to participate in Pentecost Sunday services at the Burgos cathedral, and tour leaders connected me with cathedral officials to make it happen.
Friendly priests, deacons, and nuns welcomed me with smiles and hugs. To my surprise and delight, even stern-looking holy bishops were friendly, outgoing, and welcoming. They assisted me in donning the beautiful, appropriate vestments and provided helpful ceremony instructions. I had never worn such heavy and intricately embroidered vestments, making for an extremely warm two-and-a-half-hour Mass under the intense lights of the non-air conditioned sanctuary. Despite the heat, participating in this Pentecost service was like a dream in heaven for me.
The procession into the eight-century-old cathedral led us past the grave of El Cid, accompanied by a full symphony orchestra and a talented all-female choir. Half of the nave was filled with dignitaries, elected officials, and high-ranking military officers, weighed down by all their medals. The sanctuary was filled with at least ten bishops and about 300 priests from all over Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries, and can you believe they gave me the honor of being their eucharistic minister?!
After the Mass, Archbishop Mario Iceta Gavicagogeascoa approached to thank me for participating in the service, and several priests that our group had met on our village tours in the preceding week gave me appreciative hugs and smiles.
I am immensely grateful to the American Pilgrims cultural committee and their counterparts from the Burgos association who made this trip possible, and to those who provided the encouragement and support to make this Pentecost experience so special. This was more than a cultural exchange—it was a profound spiritual, religious, and human exchange. The Camino provides! GOD PROVIDES!
Remembering My Childhood Summers in Frías
by Kristina Perez | Lake Mary, FL
I am in awe that American Pilgrims even organized such a trip. Reading that the medieval town of Frías was one of the stops, my childhood memories came alive. Frías is where I spent all of my childhood summers until my late teen years, when I traded it for London and Florida.
To Americans, Frías may look like a medieval movie set of a place from 1,000 years ago. To me, it is where I learned how to swim in the river below the Roman bridge—no swimming instructors here, just get in the water and swim until you figure it out. In the medieval castle where locals used to play bolos, Spanish-style bowling, my brother complained that he could not play longer.
To those lucky ones who took this trip, did you brace yourselves as you went back 1,000 years?
Cultural experience trips like the one recounted here are open to American Pilgrims members. Read about previous trips to La Rioja (La Concha Summer 2024) and Navarra (La Concha Summer 2023, p. 14-17). Check out our membership page to explore other benefits.
