Day 16 From past Villafranca to? Burgos

This is will be a very peculiar day - am wondering how it will develop.
I slept very badly although the bed was excellent. Yesterday the driver of the taxi which had brought me back "home" from Villafranca had suggested taking me to the top of the mountain instead of dropping me where he had picked me up. I refused straight away, but during the night my head didn't stop thinking about this horribly steep mountain up which I would have to haul my pack on my poor back.

In the end I did go up by taxi and as a result after 6.5 km during only one hour walking fast I have arrived in San Julian de Ortega (see photos of the monastery). Having a second breakfast trying to think what now? I had expected to arrive here some time in the late afternoon and take a taxi to Burgos.
So now 10:30h what????

Decided to continue walking to Atapuerca. Another 6 or so km. Easy walk. Flat and a lot through forests. Came across horses grazing in the forest!

As I was approaching Atapuerca there was a number of menhirs or standing stones set up as a group all dedicated to someone who had given special support to paleontological research in the area:
"The Archaeological Site of Atapuerca is a world-renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site located near Burgos in northern Spain, containing the oldest and most extensive fossil evidence of human evolution in Europe dating back over a million years."(Google)

Had a salad while waiting for my taxi. After installing myself in my hostal I am now on a walkabout, actually sitting on a bench in front of the magnificent cathedral.

As to the photo of the green sunflowers, I saw one other such field. In all the others the flowers were very small and looked completely dry. And I would like to know why these survived reasonably well.Read more