31st May

31st May.
Gijon. - Aviles.

Tough day.  Walking out of Gijon wasn't the nasty big deal it was made out to be.  Not pretty agreed but ok.  Then we climbed plenty.  We found a place that had a little sanctuary for the pilgrim beside the road and we were  grateful. Then a bit further along the climb we found a couple of cheap plastic chairs that some thoughtful person had purposefully placed so we could rest...and we did.  Then we came to a forest / national park and we really enjoyed our walk for a while.  Eventually we arrived in a town.  It was an industrial area and brought us back to a world that neither of us lives in.  It felt without hope.  We walked for ages through these ugly industrial suburbs becoming more demoralized by the metre.  After some of the beautiful places we've been and seen on this pilgrimage this brought us back to the real world with a whack.  It was horrible.  As we walked I hoped our  accommodation wasn't anywhere near here.  Oh well it was just on the edge and we are just on the off side of a dirt area where there are about 20 trucks parked.  I was a bit worried about the dodgy bars  right next door to our place of residence tonight but once we got to know the locals it turns out out it's Mothers Day in the Dominican Republic (we're told) not to be deterred we helped the locals celebrate for just  enough time to no longer feel scared and learned a few new things as well. 
I'm so glad I'm not here alone.  This is not Camino I would do by myself.  I was uncomfortable today.  Some of our friends have skipped some stages because of this and I totally understand why.
Tomorrow is another day.

30th May

30th May
Gijon

We arrived in Gijon in time to farewell our German friend Lucas who has to return home suddenly.  It was so nice meeting him and we're sorry to see him go.  We also got to see our friend Chiarra who is going ahead and we're hoping we'll see her again sometime along the way.  You find and lose people along the way and some people stay in your heart forever.  That's how it is on the Camino.

We found an Italian restaurant and had a fantastic gnocchi and probably ate too much but it was so nice.  When we came back into the plaza it was very busy and we could hear music playing and a band of minstrels came along. They stopped in the square and continued playing and people started dancing and enjoying the festivities.  It was so much fun.

Gijon is quite large and the old part of the city is lovely and interesting.  We found the old roman baths that have been here since 1-11 BC.  We had a good look around in there before going to the beautiful church for our first Mass since we've been here.  It has a beautiful pipe organ that was being played and it was lovely.  It made me think of my grandmother who played beautifully.  She would have loved that one.

29th May

29th May
Colunga to Villaviciosa  about 22k

We climbed a lot today, it was overcast and a pleasant temperature for walking once again.  We started out on country lanes that were quite nice.  There were no cafes anywhere along the way today so nowhere to get a nice cafe con leche all day.  We were inland away from the coast and went through a few villages that were very tiny, just a few houses and some ruins.  We found a nice little church that was build in 921 and according to the guide book it still has some original paintwork.  The key is supposedly available from a nearby house but everything looked deserted so we didn't get a look.

The only other people we saw today were a couple of Italians and a couple of Germans and at one stage they were walking back towards us.  They told us that up ahead it was too muddy to pass through so that meant we had to backtrack a bit and take a different route.  That added 4.5 k to our walk today and meant we had to walk for a few k on a fairly busy road with hardly any shoulder.  We were very glad to arrive in town and find our accommodation. 

We got settled and cleaned up and had a look around the town.  It's quite a nice town.  We finally relaxed with a beer and enjoyed being off our feet.

28th May

28th May
Ribadesella to Colunga 20k

It was hard leaving our lovely hotel in beautiful Ribadesella this morning but all good things come to an end I guess and so we headed out after a very nice breakfast.

It was a warm day but not too hot and we had a really beautiful walk once again.  We started with shady country lanes leading to a coastal path over headlands with beautiful sea views and through buttercup filled meadows.  Today's sights were once again a gift.

I had hoped that yesterday's rest would have made a big difference to my niggling knee and hip but I was disappointed.  I had started out with the magic Camino pill aka ibuprofen but it only helped a bit and I was looking for the next dose by the time we had our late lunch.  Fortunately there was only about 3 k to go after lunch as I didn't get the relief I was expecting.  Luckily tomorrow is only about 18 k.

27th May

27th May
Ribadesella

Today we just relaxed and enjoyed our day off while giving our knees and feet a well deserved break and it's so lovely just being by the ocean listening to the waves.  It's going to be difficult to get going again.

We wandered into the old town for a look around and met Bill a Scots pilgrim who has decided to finish the journey by bike.  We just chatted with him for ages.  We didn't have anywhere we needed to be and it was a wonderful feeling not being pulled in any direction or having any time restrictions and just being able to enjoy the moment........ We had all day.

26th May

26th May
Llanes to Ribadesella 30k

What a day!  A bit of everything today.  We were flanked by the mountains for most of our walk today.  The temperature was just right once again.  The terrain was up and down but not too bad.  Bitumen and dirt, country lane and road.  And then.....WOW!  We arrived in Ribadesella.  We had decided to treat ourselves and had booked a room for tonight.  We were not disappointed.  The lovely guy on reception liked us and gave us a sea view room.  It's so lovely we have decided to have another night here and this can be the night off we were going to have for my birthday back in Santander but decided we didn't feel like being in a city.  We don't plan rest days as I think the day you need to rest will present itself.  Well I got that right today.  We were starting to feel tired from the accumulated days of walking and so Ribadesella is the right place to rest.  We should hopefully be rejuvenated after tomorrow.

Fuzz was admiring the view from our window when he saw Chiara sitting on the beach with Lucas who we lost a few days back.  We hurried down to the beach to see them and it turns out that the albergue in the town is closed.  This is a calamity for a lot of pilgrims after a very long stage today as the next town is 5k away.  We asked at our hotel what had happened and they tell us that the Albergue is run by the government and every 4 years they have to find new people to run it.  They've just had elections here so lets hope that fixes the problem soon.  It kept Fuzz and I occupied for a while wondering how we would run an Albergue.  Especially one on the seafront.

25th May

25th May
Unquera to Llanes 26k

This was a very long day.  There wasn't anything very interesting to see for the first part of the day and we eventually decided to take the GR route.  This made our journey longer but much more pleasant.  We came to a place with blow holes that the sea comes up through but the sea was calm and so that didn't happen so we ate our picnic and watched the goats instead.

Eventually after a fairly pleasant walk through the forest and then a little village we had a long climb that finally brought us to fantastic views of Llanes in the distance.  The walk to Llanes seemed to take forever.  Up and down around a mountain until we eventually descended into the outskirts town    Once we arrived we found the group of people who we have seen on and off for a few days and who stayed in the same place as us yesterday.  They called us over to join them and we had a great time talking and laughing.  Their journey on the Camino ends after today.  It's a shame as we would have liked to see them again.  They're very interesting and great fun. We said our goodbyes all too soon and headed into the town square where we bumped into quite a few other people we've met and lost over the last few days.  We found Chiara a lovely German girl and Gill our French friend.  We sat at one of the many bars in the square and drank cider that the bartender theatrically pours from a great height.   Drinking cider in Spain is very entertaining.

We went and had dinner with Gill and a French friend of his in a little restaurant and met a lovely English couple who are here on holiday  We had a nice chat with them then it was time for bed.

Today was about people it would seem.  Another fantastic day on the Camino.

24th May

24th May
Comillas to Unquera 26k

Another scenic feast for most of today.  The scenery changed from the sea to the mountains as the Picos Europa still with some snowy peaks came into view. Another day of walking in a perfect temperature about 15 deg. c.  It was a bit cloudy and when the sun showed itself it warmed us perfectly.

We walked over rolling hills on mostly bitumen sometimes beside a stream.  Occasionally finding and losing other pilgrims and enjoying varied conversations.  Other times we were by ourselves, talking, singing or happily silent.

Along the way we found a picnic bench in a little park by the river and we decided it was a great spot for lunch.  As we were about to sit down a Spanish pilgrim joined us at the table.   He spoke about as much English as we speak Spanish and it was enough for us to sit and share our food and some conversation together .  We had a lovely picnic together and then it was time to walk on.  This was such a typical Camino day.

23rd May

Santillana del Mar to Comillas 23k

We had lovely walking weather today it got to about 15 deg c the sun was out for the most part and it was a very comfortable day on the Camino.

We walked through some really lovely villages over some rolling hills mostly on country lanes with very little traffic.  It was very picturesque for most of the day and we were spoilt for photo choices once again.  We both commented that today was one of the nicest days so far.

As we walked along the country lanes and through the pretty villages  we sometimes broke into song and had a quite a few laughs as the prominent song was 'I Would Walk 500 Miles' by The Pretenders.  Fuzz likes to make up his own words and it can be really funny.

When we got hungry we sat in the shade of a tree on a rock and ate the boccadillo that the lady made us at the place where we had stopped for breakfast earlier.  We were hungry and so we really enjoyed it and also the pears that we had bought the day before.  We can't understand why the fruit here is so much nicer and juicier than at home.

We headed off towards Comillas and during  the final part of today we bumped into our French friend from the Albergue from a few days ago.  He said I reminded him of Doris Day.   So of course there was much more laughter......Another great Camino day.

22nd May

22nd May
Boo to Santillana del Mar 17k

Our lovely Albergue soon filled up yesterday with people from France, Italy and Spain and two large Italians took up residence in what I had hoped would be our own space last night.  It turns out they were the captain and vice captain of the Italian snoring team.  I've never heard anything like it.  They were relentless and the room shook.  People in the other rooms didn't fare much better so there were a lot of tired pilgrims on the way today.  Except for two well slept Italian snoring champions of course.

We sat and had a dinner with a very nice French man and I had to brush off the high school French.  Fortunately his high school English was better and we managed to have a basic conversation.  It never ceases to amaze me how we can communicate on such a level with limited language.  It was a lovely and emotional conversation and we connected.  Of course there were tears...all round.

We arrived in Santillana a beautiful old medieval town made up of stone buildings, little shops and restaurants.  There is a 12th century church and a couple of museums. It's a very interesting and beautiful place. 

We found our pension with only a minor amount of hassle then we found a fabulous restaurant and ate an incredible 'menu del dia' which always consists of 3 courses.  I had the most amazing mushroom risotto I've ever eaten and it's special because the mushrooms are Spanish (so I'm told).  This was followed by steak then for dessert I had Flan which is like a creme caramel. We're full to the brim and we certainly  won't need much else to eat tonight.

We're going to sleep like babies.

21st May

21st May
Santander to Boo 17k

We had a really good sleep and started a little later  than usual and it meant we missed the rain.  The sun was out for the rest of the day with a cool breeze.  Great walking weather. 

We've so far walked about 260k out of 860 to Santiago de Compostela.  Then about 120k on to Finisterre and Muxia.  Still quite a way to go yet and I'm glad because I don't want this journey to end too soon.

Today a postman stopped his van beside us and insisted on giving us a pear each and a couple of cakes.  I'm guessing these were his snacks for the day.  He told us that the Camino de Santiago is very dear to his heart  and asked us to pray for him in the Cathedral when we get there.  Which of course we will.  His gift turned up just as we were feeling peckish and although I was brought up to never take food from strangers it was the juiciest pear and the yummiest cake I've ever eaten.

We finally arrived at our amazing Albergue.  Albergue Peided in Boo and what a fantastic Albergue this is.  It's even cleaner than my house and that's really saying something.  We have 4 beds in our room and at the time of writing there's only us in that room.  They gave us a towel and doona so we don't need to get out our sleeping bags. There's even shampoo and shower gel.  The lovely lady has taken our dirty clothes to wash and it includes breakfast.all for 12 euro.  Bargain!  I'm so glad we stopped here in Boo instead of pressing on.

20th May

20th May
Guemes to Santander 17k

What an amazing place we stayed in yesterday. There is just so much to say about that place and the wonderful work they do.  Looking after pilgrims is a minor part.  They do great works in 3rd world countries amongst other things apparently.  All funded by donations and worked by volunteers.  There is so much more to know as we only barely scratched the surface yesterday .  I heard it mentioned that it's about the 'Camino of life' and that's the second time I've heard that statement recently.

So we started out on my birthday on a very wet day after a communal breakfast.  We were all rugged up and the going was fairly good.  We followed the scenic longer route today and avoided the roads.  Wow....we followed a cliff top path for ages and I coped mostly ok if I stayed well away from the edge.  We eventually got to where the boat would take us across to Santander.  A large city where we had intended to have an extra days rest.  We've had some shorter days recently so we're not needing a rest right now.  We're really feeling part of the Camino now and being in a city really isn't where we want to be at the moment.

17th May (missed)

Post out of date order.

17th May
Castro Urdiales - Liendo 20k

It rained all morning, even the mountains that were in the distance were shrouded in misty cloud..  We were cosy enough in our ponchos and it wasn't windy so it was pretty good. 

We started out wondering what way to go this morning and a nice young man...obviously on his way home from a really good night out... pointed us in the right direction.  He then told us that the Camino goes right past his house in about 14k and if we're there after he's had a sleep he'd cook us an omelet.  It was very nice of him but we decided as we went through his town that he was probably still asleep after obviously a wonderful night so we pushed on.

We are often put on the right track.  If we hesitate at a corner there is always someone there to show us the way.  Even the odd occasion when we were looking for the bread shop or something that wasn't on the way  someone would vehemently redirect us back to the Camino.  We have had to have clandestine trips to find bread and other goods.

The route was generally flat with some sea glimpses through the rain and mostly on the road for a good part of  the day.  Not a particularly nice day at all just a long walk to a very nice Alburge. 

Currently we're sitting, just chilling and sampling  the local delights on what's turned out to be a lovely sunny afternoon.  Heaps of daylight and it's still only 5pm.

It rained all morning, even the mountains that were in the distance were shrouded in misty cloud..  We were cosy enough in our ponchos and it wasn't windy so it was pretty good. 

We started out wondering what way to go this morning and a nice young man...obviously on his way home from a really good night out... pointed us in the right direction.  He then told us that the Camino goes right past his house in about 14k and if we're there after he's had a sleep he'd cook us an omelet.  It was very nice of him but we decided as we went through his town that he was probably still asleep after obviously a wonderful night so we pushed on.

We are often put on the right track.  If we hesitate at a corner there is always someone there to show us the way.  Even the odd occasion when we were looking for the bread shop or something that wasn't on the way  someone would vehemently redirect us back to the Camino.  We have had to have clandestine trips to find bread and other goods.

The route was generally flat with some sea glimpses through the rain and mostly on the road for a good part of  the day.  Not a particularly nice day at all just a long walk to a very nice Alburge. 

Currently we're sitting, just chilling and sampling  the local delights on what's turned out to be a lovely sunny afternoon.  Heaps of daylight and it's still only 5pm.

19th May

19th May
Noja to Guemes -17k

A rainy day today.  The poncho was on and off all day.  It's ok though as it wasn't too windy and we were quite comfortable. 

The walk was mostly flatish and a really pleasant stroll through the countryside.  Some country lanes then a very quiet country road.  The scenery was a patchwork of fields and villages.  Beautiful!

We have ended up at our Alburge in Guemes and this is an amazing place.  It has room for 60 people and it's a maze of buildings.  There's about 20 of us here and a number of volunteers and staff.  A few different nations are represented here today. We were greeted with a glass of water, our credentials stamped and told we were in time for lunch.  We all sat at a communal dining table and had a lentil soup with bead then penne pasta and salad.  There was fruit for dessert and it was all washed down with wine and of course more water.  There is a communal dinner tonight after a communal meeting where we all find out more about this place and how it became about.  We're told that after dinner the story telling starts and there is heaps of fun.  While I'm writing I'm  sitting by a massive log fire and an Aussie guy is playing the guitar and pilgrims are warming themselves, nattering away in a variety of languages.

18th May

18th May
Liendo to Noja 20k

We got a fairly early start this morning and headed back towards the coast on the road uphill and a short downhill for about 6k.  We then followed a gorgeous beach for a good 4k before getting a little boat across the bay.

We then walked through the town which was a bit boring until we had to climb a hill (Fuzz said).  Well we climbed over a very scary headland and it was very hard going for me as I have an almost paralyzing fear of exposed heights.  I had to do some of it on my hands and knees.  Finally the torture was over and we landed on another gorgeous 4k+ beach that would take us straight to where we are staying.  We took off our shoes and walked hand in hand  on the sand and paddled in the freezing water.  Good for the soles and the soul.

16th May

16th May
Pobena to Castro Urdiales 18k

We had a fantastic end to yesterday.  Dinner with our new Italian friends Silvio and Antonio in the bar behind the Albergue.  What great guys.  We laughed plenty last night.  The bar owner had a great time too supplying us with wine and chupitos (Spanish liqueur - not sure of the spelling for that).  It was one of those Camino nights.

Camino nights turn into Camino day's and after breakfast at the bar we headed out on a very cool (12 deg. C) and cloudy day.  After a short climb up 120 steps we turned into some beautiful scenery.  After the last few days of being inland we hit the coast again late yesterday but today we were in for a treat.  We walked for the first part of today high up on a pathway around the headlands.  It was very picturesque.  Then we walked a few km's on the road before we were back walking the headlands with the views.  Eventually arriving at Castro Urdiales.  We've had a very large lunch and decided to work it off sitting in the laundromat doing a wash.  Ah! The simple life.

15th May

15th May Bilbao to Pobena 22k

It just bucketed down today and the wind at times almost knocked us off our feet.  We had all our rain gear and some of our warm stuff on and we were reasonably cosy.  Wearing all our gear made our packs lighter and so our trek today wasn't so bad.  Especially as the last 10k was mostly on a bike track.  Easy underfoot although boring.  We ended up arriving at Pobena at the Municipal Albergue where we checked in and met some Italians who come from the same town as Fuzz's family and recognize our name  A great conversation started and continued in the bar behind the Albergue. Lots of loud talking, laughing and arm waving.   Even the grumpy Spanish bartender joined in.  I'm amazed at how much Italian I still understand and can even comment on the conversation even though very roughly.  A great Camino afternoon was had by all.  We never tire of the coincidences that happen but I do tire of how an alburge room with 22 beds stinks on a rainy day!!