Day 15 - Villafranca de Montes de Oca - Artapuerca - 16 September, 2014

Time Departed: 7.30am
Time Arrived: 12.30pm and 1.20pm
Distance: 18.7 kms + 2.5 kms
Cumulative Distance: 270 kms
Percentage Completed: 33%
Weather: Cool, Cloudy then sunny
Accommodation: Hotel Casa Papasol
Feelings: Henk - Fantastic, Neil - Good, Di - Good

We had a good day's walk setting out early in the pre-dawn with many other walkers. It was lovely seeing the sun rise over the countryside. The path for the first forty-five minutes was quite steep in parts and then it became a forest road which was wide and flat through oak woods and pine forests.

It was good to have a change in the scenery and the cooler weather.

We kept company for some time with an elderly Scottish man who was keen to see Scotland gain independence. He was sporting a blue and white wristband with "Yes" stamped on it. We also met two Austrians in their sixties and realised one of them was undertaking the Camino for the fifth time. The dates were on his scallop shell on his backpack. He will write "2014" on his shell when he reaches Santiago de Compostela. 

They are staying at the same small hotel as us tonight. We are constantly amazed at the ages of those undertaking the walk. There are certainly more older than younger walkers with most seeming to be in their fifties and sixties.

After 8.5kms we had our first break at an outdoor cafe at San Juan de Ortega (St John of the Nettle). We had made good time. We joined many other walkers and the small cafe had run out of pastries and bocadillas (snacks). We had our usual Cafe con Leche (milk coffee) and Cafe Americano and dug into our packs for some eating goodies. From San Juan de Ortega the path continued to be flat through woods and then opened up to dry countryside onto the small village of Ages. 

Ages was a real treat with very old buildings and there was an obvious pride. There were many tributes to the Camino with signs and other artefacts. 

We had another break at a cafe and Neil indulged in a Spanish equivalent of an English pasty with potato and chirozo for the filling. He said it was delicious.

From Ages we had to walk 2.5 kms on a local bitumen road however it was cool and the road was flat. There was very little traffic. Just before we reached Atapuerca we came across the archeological site which contains fossils of the earliest human beings in Europe going back one million years. We all agreed that Henk looked more like our ancestor!

We continued walking beyond Atapuerca for another 2.5 kms on the local bitumen road to get to our accommodation at Olmos de Atapuerca. It took us 30 minutes to get there and it was an easy walk. We were following the map given to us by our travel organisers. Unfortunately, the map was the wrong one and our accommodation was back at Atapuerca! We were about to turn around, I have to say quite unperturbed (I think we are getting fitter!), but thankfully, the local cafe owner who seemed used to finding lost Perogrinos very kindly drove us back to our accommodation. He seemed to know our hotel manageress very well. 

At four thirty we ventured out and walked around the small town. We sat and had a drink at a local cafe. The local church,  De St Martin de Tours, is on a hill overlooking the village and quite near to our hotel. It opened at five o'clock and we made our way up the hill from the cafe to have a look inside. The two Austrian walkers recommended the visit. 

It was a very plain church outside but it had a very detailed and beautiful altar. 

From this hilltop church we could see a large storm coming over the fields. 

We beat a hasty retreat to our accommodation for another drink!

Our Pilgrim Credentials are filling up fast with stamps. It's two weeks today since we started the walk. Neil says he feels like we only started yesterday, Henk says it feels like a month and I feel like I've never had another life!