more changes in Spain

Hi everybody,
I am in Burgos today. It is a gorgeous big city and I am staying in a hotel with fabulous sheets. I am alone, or rather by myself. It seems like things changed fast, but then, they always do. I can hardly tell you what happened, it happened so fast. You know that I have had a hard time with Dominique for a while. As I have gotten more confident about being here, he is more critical. He hates having to tell me anything, and I hate not knowing what's happening. He wants to leave earlier and go faster every day and I want to slow down so it doesn't go by too fast. But when Domenico joined us, it was fun. We laughed so much. I was having so much fun and I thought they were too. But in the end, once Dominique arrived in Spain he got more and more driven. He wants to leave early and go fast. Domenico is tired of walking so fast and wants to spend more time working out some problems. He really wants to walk alone. It is in my nature to gather people together and so I was really sad. I imagined us walking into Santiago together and celebrating. Althought Domenico hasonly walked with us for 10 days or so he been so sweet about it all. We had some very sweet and tender talks, in my limited Italian. The night before we parted he sat me down to go over the hard parts of the walk that are coming up. Then he said, Mary no posso andare con te. I can´t go with you. I started to cry a little and he said " perche piange Mary?" Why are you crying? I said I am so sad. He said I know, but why do you cry? I said "oh, it helps get the bad feeling that is inside of me out." He said " I can´t cry Mary." Then he said let´s go eat.
In the morning, Domenico found a woman who could translate for him. He told me how much he enjoyed walking with me and how much I added to his camino and that he would never forget our time together. He held my face in his hands and said again non posso andare con te. And he was crying. Dominique simply shook my hand and said good-bye.
Even though I still am sad when I think about saying good-bye to Domenico , I know it is the best thing for me. People in the albergues often talk about how they started walking with someone and then for some reason went off on their own. I will be fine. I walked about 27k yesterday and then took a taxi about 8 k with a woman to Burgos. We went to a beautiful monastery outside of town and walked another 10k back into Burgos. We found the albergo at about 8pm. It is so cold here now ( it was 40f last night), and we were freezing. I decided that a day off with great sheets in a big town would be really nice. So I am staying tonight. We will have dinner later and then she leaves for holland tonight and tomorrow I will start off again. I think I am about three weeks from finishing. I am going to use them well, spending much time by myself and being thankful for it. I know that if I had stayed with Dominique/Dominico , my camino would have be less about me and more about managing our little group. Not so good.
The most interesting night the three of us had together this week was the night we spent in a garage. There were four beds, and a really nice bathroom. And of course, a garage door. We assumed we would be alone and were so happy. When we came home from dinner, we heard the shower going and saw a backpack. Oh no. A snorer! Instead a really beautiful man walked out of the bathroom. Reddish blonde hair, boxer shorts. Man alive. He was Irish, and has relatives in Eau Claire. He had walked 40k and was going out dancing.
About my clothes etc. I love my two shirts. One day I wear the orange one, the next the blue one. I love my shorts, although they may be retired. I bought long pants today. I have lost a bra and my Swiss army knife. It doesn´t matter. I have bites, and I don´t care. I haven´t worn lipstick more than twice since I arrived. I think I look fine. My boots are holding up ok, they will make it to Santiago with me. My socks are amazing. I have two pairs, wash the pair I wore and alternate them. I love the product Glide. I think it has helped me have fewer blisters. I love eating sardines with bread. And Spanish wine is really delicious.
Well, that´s about all. Thanks for writing. I have trouble trying to write back, the messages get rejected often. I don´t know what to do about the map. I couldn,t open the one alison sent to me.
Thanks for being there. I love your messages. I am really happy. What a great experience.
I love you.
Mom Mary