Villafranca Montes de Oca to Atapuerca 10/9/15

Our Camino Photo Tour for 10/9/15

Leaving our Albergue in Villafranca Montes de Oca for our 15th walking day on The Camino

Beautiful crisp 40 degree morning!

Beautiful tree lined path that got steeper and steeper

A heart shaped rock I spotted on our path where someone had left a message to all who passed by

Mariah conferring with pilgrims on the path ...2 in orange from Denmark and the man in blue from Canada. 

The path widens, we go to a higher elevation and into the pine trees

Mariah admiring an artists carved version of the original Pilgrim , St. James

Another great Cathedral at our Cappuccino stop in San Juan de Ortega. This structure and its contents were under artistic construction from the 11th - 15th century. Now under renovation

Our new Australian friend Donna who we walked with today

Mary and Mariah hit the un- fenced  cow fields. The Camino path goes right through the middle of the cow field

She gave us the look... " oh , here comes more of those pilgrims!"

Mariah's expertise tells us that this White Oak Tree is over a 100 years old

Mother and Child

Remnants from the Atapuerca People dating 1,000,000 BC

The oldest human remains found in Europe dating back to 1,000,000 BC were found in and around this town of Atapuerca where we are staying tonight

Highway into Atapuerca

Went to a small but informative museum which took us on a picture tour from the 1,000,000 BC Atapuerca people,to medieval times and into the history of The Camino de Santiago from the 10 th Century forward, and on to their local recent history. A lot has gone on in this little town of 200+ people!!

A very quaint and friendly restaurant , The El Palomar , where we dined with our new friends Carol from North Carolina and her friend Charlotte from Rhode Island. Love the turret on top of the building which was the chimney for the fireplace.

Mariah and I loved this day on the Camino. Beautiful cool clear weather , varied terrain, lots of comradery among pilgrims and locals and we enjoyed a long but less challenging walk... Improved conditioning and having too much fun interacting with others!

Buenos Noches

Mary and Mariah

Grannies on Camino

Our great server who loves Americans and went out of his way to give us a grand dining experience! He proudly gave us a tour of his restaurant and the special American flag he displays.