Day 14: Atapuerca - Burgos (20 kms)

It is a short walking day today.  It starts raining when we leave Atapuerca at 9 am after breakfast at a cafe, and the rain continues on until our arrival in Burgos at 4 pm.

Today, we walk with Tina and Tina, two German girls from Dusseldorf.  The skies are grey and cloudy, the terrain is mostly flat and rocky, and the rain just keeps going on and on and on.

We pass the alternate route through Villaval, Cardañuela Rio Pico and Orbaneja Rio Pico.  At this point, you can choose to go through an industrial zone and highways. What we follow is the recommended route which turns left right after crossing the highway from Orbaneja Rio Pico and before reaching a bunch of white apartment houses.  This route passes by an airport fence then goes to the town of Castañeres.

We arrive in Castañares at 12:30 noon.  Here we stop to have the menu del dia -- arroz a la cubana and bistec ternera and again polish off a bottle of wine. It is 2:30 pm when we start walking again.  It is the final 7 kms to Burgos. We pass through a park, follow a trail beside the river, while the rain continues on.

We finally spot the Burgos Cathedral spires, cross the bridge and we are there.  We stay at the Casa de los Cubos, a huge municipal albergue.  It is cold outside.  We go to 7:30 pm mass then have a pilgrim dinner at a restaurant in town with the two Tinas. Later, the  two Tinas leave with us their balms, foot gels and pain reliever ointments as their Camino ends here in Burgos.  We are so thankful as one really needs to care for their feet.  They plan to be back in the summer to continue their journey.

  

Breakfast at Atapuerca with Tina and Tina

Sheltering sheep

  

Desde que el peregrino domino en Burguete los montes de navarra y vio los campos dilatados de espana. No ha gozado de vista mas hermosa como esta. -- Since the pilgrims in Burguete climbed the mountains of Navarra and saw the fields of Spain, they had not seen a more beautiful view than this. (Hope I translated that right.)

Walking the last stretch to Burgos

Burgos tiles

The portal to Burgos

Burgos Cathedral and town square

  

Day 13: Tosantos - Atapuerca ( 27.5 kms)

We have a communal breakfast at 7:30 am and say our farewells.  We leave at 8:30 am with the goal of possibly making it to Burgos (40 kms) or Atapuerca.

We make a stop first at Villamayor de Montes Oca at 10:30 am for some coffee and breakfast. There is wifi here so we take the opportunity to check in our location for family, check email and call. My husband calls to say hello. We stay until 11:30 am as my sister needs to answer some important email.

Finally, we start our walk again at 11:45 am and get to San Juan de Ortega at 2:30 pm. Along the way, I find a single black glove and ask everyone I meet along the way if it is theirs.  At San Juan de Ortega, I am ready to leave the glove at the albergue there, then I ask one other person I see, and guess what, it belongs to his wife.

We continue on to Atapuerca and arrive at 4:30 pm. We check in at the Albergue El Peregrino. Nice and clean. As we sit in the kitchen table, we chat with some pilgrims, and Josef, a policeman from Germany offers us a meal of pasta and salad which we gladly accept.  We are so hungry we actually wolf down the meal.

Later at 8 pm  we go to El Palomar restaurant for a pilgrim meal. The restaurant owner says that tomorrow there will be rain and that it will then snow in the afternoon. I hope not.

 

Muddy track
  

San Juan de Ortega

Pine forests along the Way

Ages, 518 kms to Santiago

Quaint-looking house in Ages

Stone mandala before Atapuerca

Atapuerca