Day 13 - Espinosa -> Cardeñuela Riopico

Eva was feeling better, so the plan was to walk 21.6 km to Atapuerca. The stage between Espinosa and Villafranca Montes de Oca it was quite common, with more fields of barley and wheat. The sky was cloudy, and with occasional light rain.
Villafranca Montes de Oca is a small and charming village. But the best part of the day began after we had passed through the village, when we started to climb Los Montes de Oca. It's a large, dense forest that was much feared in the Middle Ages. At that time, it was common for pilgrims to be attacked by thieves, and sometimes by wild animals.
After about 9 km of forest and amazing nature, we arrived at San Juan de Ortega. The village consists mainly of a large Romanesque church, the old Parroquial Albergue (you can see the pilgrims' backpacks lined up in front of the Albergue in the photos), which usually serves garlic soup for dinner, and two bars. Nothing more. Maybe I can stay there next time.
After San Juan de Ortega we began to descend a pleasant hill, that would take us to Atapuerca, passing through Agés first .
We arrived in Atapuerca around 3 pm, very tired. And to our surprise and disappointment, there was no place to stay. The hospitaleiro of the last albergue we tried told us that we could find a place in the next village, Cardeñuela Riopico. Only 6 km more, he said. Yes, only more 6km, after having walked 21.6 km, crossing a forest, a hill and other roads, I thought to myself. But ok, this is the Camino.
We left Atapuerca for Carduñela Riopico and soon discovered that we would have to climb the Sierra de Atapuerca. The climb isn't that steep, but it's very rocky, so it's hard, even if you're already tired. But we were both resilient and faced this last step of the day in a good mood, talking, listening to music and sometimes pretending to dance.
I also took the opportunity to video call my mom because it was Mother's Day in Brazil.
We finally arrived at the Albergue in Carduñela Riopico around 5 pm, very tired. But we found a place to stay, and later we had a nice dinner with other pilgrims and all the difficulties we had during the day were forgotten. This is the Camino!Read more