Sun shining in Oviedo!

I left Mieres around 7:15. 

Statue shows you how asturian cider, called sides, must be poured in order to get the right amount of air (I think). 

With only 20 or so to walk, I knew I could take my time, have a coffee/boot break, and still get in plenty early. 

Lovely walk with great views.

After two fairly serious ascents, you can finally see the city but I knew from my last times through that there is yet one more descent/ascent/descent till you actually get there. 

Oviedo is always beautiful but in the sun it is especially so. I walked the familiar route into town past the cathedral and down the Calle Gascona, the typical cider street. 

That street is always hopping but today even more so because there was an artisanal cheese fair. Omg. Asturian cheese is extraordinary so I got my fill of sample after sample. Some goat, some cow, some sheep, some mixed. Great treat for the hungry walker. 

It turns out that I'm in the same hotel where we stayed as a family in 1994. I was able to verify that it's the same place by asking if the parking garage was accessed by putting your car in an elevator. 

So I am planning to stroll and eat and enjoy today. 

One day outside of Oviedo

Oviedo is one of the most beautiful, liveable, friendly cities in Spain, IMHO. So to have a short day in tomorrow and then to be taking a rest day there (less than a week after my last rest day) means that I've got a lovely couple of days coming up. 

Today was a mostly nice day. I usually wake up between 5 and 5:30 but today I slept till 7!  I had a nice breakfast in the albergue and was on the road by 7:45 I think. Misty and beautiful. A tiny bit of rain fell but nothing bad. 

 

 First stop of the day --Santa Cristina de Lena, a 9th C pre-Romanesque church on a hill. I was there around 9:20 and the sign says open at 11.  But the woman with the key, who lives down the hill, has a soft spot for pilgrims and will come open it at any reasonable time if she's around. Amazing place. 

From there it wasn't so beautiful but the last 5-6 km alongside the river are pleasant if paved. 

I stopped for a Fanta de Limón break--now you know my secret vice on the camino. I was wondering why the town was so unattractive with mainly nondescript modern apartment buildings and then I saw s sign in front of city hall, which kind of cryptically explained that the old town hall had been destroyed during the "acontecimientos bélicos de los años 30."  That's the most sideways way I've ever seen of referring to the Spanish Civil War. 

And then into Mieres, a fairly unattractive city, where I'll spend the night in a pensión. Good deal at 25€ with a private bath but I was surprised to find it had no elevator and I'm on the fifth floor!  Spaniards call it the fourth floor but that's only because they call ground floor the zero level.  Quite a risen entice to pop back down and ask for the wifi password!  

Short day to Bendueños.

Woke up this morning to grey skies. Cold. But not raining:-)

I'm walking alone again--my pals from the last two days aren't walking today but I'm pretty sure we'll reconnect at some point in the next few weeks. 

Today had a lot of ups and downs and a lot of mud. But I can say with certainty that it is much nicer walking through the aftermath of days of rain than walking in the rain. 

The views on this stage are incredible, usually looking out across the valley. 

Even in the fog it was beautiful. 

So I took a little detour to go to a new albergue in the little lost hamlet of Bendueños. Run by Sandra on a donativo basis, she grows most of her own food and serves meals. The albergue is across from the church and is quite comfortable. 

In the afternoon I had a surprise visit from Ender (the Spanish Salvador angel) and two carloads of friends of his, all camino nut cases like me. Sandra made us all a delicious meal and we had a totally wonderful time. 

The first rainy day

Well, this was my third walk on this beautiful mountain stretch so it would have been selfish to expect that all days would have perfect weather, right? I had to settle for two out of three.  This was a hard wet muddy slippery day. Probably the hardest 14 kms I've ever walked. 

We left at around seven fifteen or so.  The first bunch of kms up to the cross was dry with occasional bursts of sun. 

But as we turned the corner around a ridge, the rain started. Never pounding but steady, hour after hour. 

The bar I remembered at the pass was closed for renovation so we were stuck. One foot forward, step by step, only one bad tumble in the mud for me, over streams and through marshy land. 

Not even sure when we arrived but it felt good. The heat is on in the albergue so my shoes will soon be dry. I've had a hot shower and almost feel human again. 

The view from where I sit; hard to complain about today if this is the reward:

And there will be a hot meal in the bar at some point. Love to you all. Lauyir

Wednesday. La Robla to Poladura

Today we awoke to the sound of rain. The first three kms were inside our ponchos and along the road to the bar of Buen Succeso, where masterfully made tortillas were waiting for us. 

A few more kms to the town of Buiza and then about 14 mountain kms with so much beauty you just didn't know which way to look. A little rain now and then but really nothing to complain about. It was stunning. 

It's days like today that just make you happy to be alive and oh so grateful. 

And btw, it was a lot of fun to be walking with others--Matt and Joel, a father-son pair from Colorado. If today's walk even had their jaws dropping, you know this was amazing countryside. 

When we got to the tiny town of Poladura de la Tercia, I headed for the nice Casa Rural, La Posada Del Embrujo. There would be six guys in the albergue. Matt and Joel, along with the four Spaniards I met yesterday. I think it is only fitting that the sole elderly woman get a bed in a private room. :-). 

Ender, a Spanish camino angel who has done more for this camino than any other single human being, came to take us to lunch in the packed popular Ezequiel II restaurant on the side of a highway where we ate like royalty. 

An all round five star day. Another day of mountains tomorrow to Pajares. The weather forecast shows scattered storms like today but we have s very short distance and can time things to coincide with the passing of storms. 

First day on the Salvador

Tuesday was the day to leave Leon. The camino splits, the busy Francés to the left and the Salvador to the right. 

I walked alone those 27 kms, knowing there were others out there walking. 

The route went along the Bernesga River, with some stiff ups and downs for training.  Lovely countryside. 

As I was walking I saw people ahead on a couple of occasions but they were always too far ahead for me to catch up.  I got to the albergue to find that four Spaniards had checked into the albergue. With me that made five. But there were also ten backpacks neatly stacked by the door that told me a group was arriving. There would be a bed crunch if everyone showed up. 

And sure enough, the last one to arrive, our Slovenian pal, had to go to a Hostal. 

Rest day in Leon

Well I was feeling kind of careless this morning and decided that since the Camino Del Salvador splits from the Camino Francés in front of the parador, it just made sense to sleep there. :-). 

So after a few errands, I headed over, got a good rate, and checked in. 

Just so you don't think ill of me, you should know that there were about four other people dressed like me checking in. So I'm not the only sybarite on the camino. And every one of us had grey hair. 

I had a nice lunch at a restaurant recommended by a friend. The menú del día was very reasonable, just a couple of euros more than the average city lunch. And very tasty:-). Fancy salad and sea bass with shrimp. Yum. 

Then a long visit in one of the world's most beautiful gothic cathedrals. I think it gives Chartres a run for its money. 

Ok the party is over. I'm going back to pilgrim style tomorrow. Up at 6, out at 7. 

27 km to the albergue in La Robla.