Day 13, Wednesday, September 4, 2019: Villafranca- Montes de Oca to Cardeñuela Riopico

Sep 6

Sep 6 Day 13, Wednesday, September 4, 2019: Villafranca- Montes de Oca to Cardeñuela Riopico

So we started the day being locked inside our hotel! Total surprise and not appreciated! I was mostly concerned that with no one around with the keys, what if there was a fire?!? I eventually found an old door to the street and we were off.

And, as promised, it was straight. Up. Hill. For almost 2 miles! What a chore, but I would rather walk that hill in the cool dark than with the intense Spanish sun beating down on us.

Winded and feeling accomplished in the gathering light of day, we made it to the top and began a long trek through a forested plateau. It was quiet and peaceful and we enjoyed the warming of the day as we headed to San Juan de Ortega for a cup of coffee and a slice of torta. The small church there was beautiful.

Then it was on through Agés and Atapuerca, site of the discovery of the earliest human remains discovered in Europe, dating back over 1.5 million years. The dig is ongoing.

After Atapuerca, there was an insidious uphill through the most awful stone hillside we have encountered to date. And it was definitely NOT the route any moderately intelligent pilgrim would have chosen to make his way to Santiago. This was obviously a route selected by the local government to keep pilgrims from cluttering the valley to Burgos! And it was an ankle-threatening, lung-busting, anger-inducing climb that had me in a mood when I got to the top!

Leading to a “Camino Lesson:” the next hill is never the last hill...get over it.

We cannot choose all of what life throws at us. It often seems to be one hill to climb after another. But climb we must. If one particular hill gets the best of you, take a breath and get over it....because there’s another one ahead. Use what you learned to tackle the next one.

We found the Albergue Santa Fe in Cardeñuela Riopico and enjoyed an amazing burger and fries prepared by our young hospitalero, Juan, whose family runs the Albergue. The pilgrim dinner was hearty with pasta and fish and pork and a nice local red wine.

This was the first pilgrim dinner that we felt like strangers in a strange land. 5 other folks at the table made no effort to include us in conversation and stuck to their own version of Italian, and the 6th person was Spanish and left out as well. I could have made a better effort to insert myself, but when people didn’t even make an attempt to introduce themselves at the start, I just didn’t have the energy to do it. Chalk it up to a long day and look forward to the next time.

We had our dessert and bade everyone a Buen Camino and hit the sack to get ready for the next day when we would be on to the beautiful city of Burgos!