Villafrance Montes de Oca to Atapuerca

Friday May 17
Up and at it early today after listening to nonstop trucks roar by all night. Apparently there are a lots of things transported between cities here in Spain and Villafranca seems to right on the major route! Still, we both had a fair sleep. Our breakfast had been promised at 7:00 but didn't show up so we left with tea and a banana, knowing there was nothing for at least 12 kilometers.

We headed straight uphill today gaining an elevation of 200-250 meters in the first three kilometers. We left in the rain and walked into snow, not sticking on the path, then sleet and hail and even some sun or awhile while we were up on the top. After a couple more serious ups and downs, mostly on a groomed path but with a few kilometers through the mud, we descended into San Juan de Ortega where we were looking forward to some kind of breakfast after those 12 kilometers. It was not to be however- the bar served coffee, magdalenas (a cross between a muffin and a cupcake in a package), and some kind of prepackaged russian salad in a plastic package - the latter of which needless to say we declined!

But the next community, Ages, was only 2 or 3 kilometers away so we hurried on and found freshly squeezed orange juice, ensalada mixta and the ever present tortilla (baked eggs and potatoes) so we were pretty happy with that. Ensalada mixta consists of lettuce, tomatoes, boiled eggs, onions, olives, tuna, limp white, soggy asparagus (they like that here!) and bean sprouts - and always with bread of course. While we were eating it hailed again but then, although the clouds looked threatening, the sun shone while we walked our last few kilometers into Atapuerca. We were no sooner ensconced in our room however when it began to hail again.

Atapuerca is a very small community but its claim to fame is that it is a UNESCO site because the remains of a human were found here and have been identified as being over 800,000 years old- some of the oldest ever found.

And speaking of human remains, one of the spots we passed today on top of a mountain was a spot where in 2011 they found the remains of over 30 people who they believe are some of the 'disappeared' from 1936. They believe there are at least as many more there as well.

Tomorrow we will walk into Burgos, one of the largest and most beautiful of the cities on the camino. It's just about 21 kilometers from where we are today.