Day 11 Belorado to San Juan de Ortega

The countryside changed after Belorado and most of the 24km today was walking through woodland which reminded me of the Celtic rain forest on the west coast.
Villafrancha was the half way mark where i stopped to have a very early (11am) lunch at the converted monastery. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get a meal tonight since the village I’m in is so small - 20 inhabitants. I can and have a communal pilgrims meal booked for later.
I barely noticed the climbs in the cool of the trees, San Juan is 950m and there is a pleasant breeze which is nicely drying our clothes on the washing line. There are a lot of socks, it would be easy to take the wrong ones.
The extra is the Monumento de los Caídos, a tragic symbol of the unhealed memories of the civil war. It marks the shallow graves of the 300 young men and boys who were summarily executed.
There is a peaceful monastic atmosphere in St Juan and my small hotel/hostel is delightful. The church here is apparently constructed in such a way that at each equinox the rays of the setting sun strike the Virgin Mary in the scene of the annunciation, only discovered in 1974. The same year, by coincidence the aforementioned graves were found.
Ortega is Spanish for nettles, there are plenty of those about.