Day 16 - Atapuerca..a journey back in time

We awoke to the sight from our window of a beautiful sunrise breaking over the church @ Villa Franca Montes de Oca . ( see pic). We had a 19km walk to Atapuerca which was declared a UNESCO world heritage site on account of their source as the earliest human remains ever discovered. ( see pic) .. but with the first stop some 10km away our priority was breakfast Now!
Once we had our fill we participated in the ritual repeated every morning of pilgrims trying to fill their pockets with pasty & fruit from the breakfast bar under the watchful eye of waiter...an exercise in subversion.
We were excited to see a crystal blue sky as we left our accommodation @ San Anton Abad though a special Camino pilgrim gate (see pic) and straight into 3 kms of climbs and descents through beautiful forest.. these were popular with robbers preying on poor pilgrims of the past and I sure wouldn't want to get caught walking though them in the dark.
As we climbed the sound of birds filled the air ... but as soon as I got lost in this beautifnl scene a cold wind blew across the mountain and along with it , fast rising mist/cloud and so we lost our sun for a fair part of the walk ... but as usual there were many other distractions both physical and mental.
We passed the moving monumento de los Caidss ,honouring the recently discovered remains of those assassinated at the beginning of the Spanish civil war ... bringing back the stark reality that here we are never far away from modern and ancient history ...we literally walk in it.
So we finally made our way to st Juan de Ortega and along with other pilgrims found the  nearest cafe / bar which happened to be in the precinct of a beautiful church. ( see pic)
More forest were to folbw before we broke out into more undulating landscape .. it was a day of different rhythms as we climbed and descended , warmed in the still of the forest and blasted with the cold breezes that blew off the mountain . . I found myself enjoying reflecting on previous Camino memories... could this pilgrimage be going too fast? , I am sure there are a lot more surprises around the corner !
Anyway back to reality ... had a 3 km walk on an asphalt road to our final destination. more acquaintance with pain!this the Camino...and tomorrow into beautiful Burgos and a day off.☺