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camino 2017

May - July 2017
A 49-day adventure by Laurie Read more
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  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017
    Day 17

    ... in Boo de Piélagos

    June 2, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Well it was supposed to be a 30 km day. It turned out to be 36.5. But what a route! A guy who writes a guide to this Camino suggested an alternative to what would have been 12 awful kms on asphalt. So I guess I walked 24 extra kms to go off road. That may sound silly but it was probably the most beautiful coastal route I've ever walked.

    First go around Santander's harbor, past lovely houses on cliffs, then past three large city beaches, the Casino and even a golf course. Up and up to the lighthouse where things start getting amazing. And for all but the last 6 km (4 on pine needles, 2 on the road), you are never far from the ocean.

    It was cloudy and foggy, but even so it was incredibly beautiful. Mass tourism development was limited to two or three little spots and the rest was pretty pristine. I would love to repeat this in sunny weather!

    So taking this route meant that I entered the town of Boo from a different direction than the Camino. As I came into the albergue, two guys were sitting outside. A little later one of them came up and asked why I had come in from a different direction. When I told him I had walked the coast, he very disapprovingly told me that HE was walking the Camino. Ah yes, love those judgmental jerks. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat!!    Read more

  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017
    Day 18

    In Caborredondo

    June 3, 2017 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    Today the GPS tells me I walked 32km. But I outsmarted the GPS by hopping on a train right outside the Albergue door. This is the spot at which pilgrims have three choices. Walk 9 extra km to cross the river legally; scamper across the train tracks and hope you don't get plastered by a train (this is what Dana, the German girls, and I did ten years ago) or be law-abiding and take the little train for a total of 2 minutes to cross the bridge. Since the train stop was literally outside the albergue door, and since there was one at 7:30, it seemed the prudent thing to do. By 7:35 we were walking by the little bar where one of our German friends got locked in the bathroom.

    This is not one of the Camino's shining stages. Almost all asphalt, winging your way around a huge bleach factory, following alongside two huge pipes that also deposit something inside the bleach factory. But then you arrive in Santillana Del Mar, and if you can see past the hoards of tourists and the trinkets shops, there is some lovely architecture and an amazing Romanesque cloister.

    I had decided to go 6 km beyond Santillana, to an albergue opened a few years ago by Alex(of Bodenaya fame to Primitivo veterans). One km outside of town, it started to rain, and I arrived soaking wet at the albergue. Now after a hot shower and wearing dry clothes, life is good in the restaurant next door where the menu del día offers lots of warming options. The rain might hang around for a few more days, but it's all in a day's walk. I will be going to San Vicente tomorrow, but you can be SURE I will not go to the Albergue where the hospitalero attacked us verbally and told us how we should be ashamed of our imperialist hegemony. Imagine what he would say now. Luckily the town is a tourist destination so I assume I will find something.    Read more

  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017
    Day 19

    Serdio

    June 4, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    It was pretty obvious some rain was going to fall today, the only questions were when and how much. I left the albergue at around 7:15 and immediately saw the highway that took a straight shot 11 km to the town of Comillas, which is a touristy town with a Gaudí building , some nice old half timbered houses with tons of flower pots, a nice beach, etc. The camino would be a few km longer, but it has the advantage of going through little villages and not on busy roads. I did the first 9 winding around on the camino, even went down to a beach and up to the headlands again. But when the rain started and I crossed the highway where a sign said 4 km to Comillas, as opposed to 6 on another little winding back road, I took the main road.

    In Comillas I went to the bar I remembered where we had tortilla española, the Bar Filipinas. They weren't exactly ecstatic to see me come in dripping from head to toe but when I told them I had eaten great tortilla here 10 years ago, they softened. After a long rest trying to dry off a bit and wait out the rain, I started out in a little drizzle. The 10 km to San Vicente alternated with different degrees of raininess and I was thoroughly sopped as I got close to town. But the walk was frequently alongside the coast and I was glad to see that there were many people enjoying the weather way more than I. There were surfers everywhere, and I could hear shrieks of joy as the waves came crashing in. Finally, around 1pm, I dragged myself into San Vicente, and the rain stopped as I came across the long long bridge into town.

    I had already decided that I wasn't going to go to the town's albergue, where we had been so poorly treated. I knew there were a few pensiones and hoteles up the hill on the way out of town, and as I walked through what was increasingly better weather, I decided to keep on to the next town 7 km away, where there was both an albergue and a casa rural. Guess which I picked?! 28 €, bed, dinner, and breakfast. My boots were soaked, and the lure of a bed with sheets just proved too strong. I have walked out to see the Albergue, which is in the old schools and currently being painted, but truth be told I am glad to be where I am.

    This 32 km day was not the easiest I've ever walked but I am fine and hoping the weather will soon change.    Read more

  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017
    1
    Day 20

    Llanes

    June 5, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today I had expected to walk about 30-32 km. What I didn't factor in was the additional kms from taking the coastal options. And the time it would take me to do some careful stepping in some kind of precarious situations. At one point I walked over a natural rock bridge from headland to headland with the ocean below. That was a bit dicey. By the time I rolled into Llanes it was 4 pm. With a 7:15 am departure and just a couple of boots-off rests on the coast my GPS clocked 36.5 km. But I am so very glad to have taken the coastal option. I wouldn't have wanted to do it without a GPS though.

    Llanes is a pretty town on the coast. I had been planning to go to the albergue but as I wound my way through the old town, I came across the Posada del Rey. And wouldn't you know it, they had good pilgrim prices!! After showering and washing clothes, I took an hour or so walking around the historic core, buying food (I arrived as the lunch hour was nearly over, kitchens were closing, and nothing will open back up till 8:30 or 9, so it's dinner in the room).

    I was so happy to finally find real candles in the church (not electric ones) and lit five --my mom, Meara, Jamie, my family and all my camino friends who have shared parts of this with me. The church was quiet and peaceful and though I am not usually the contemplative type, I left feeling at peace.

    I have to be in Gijón on Friday, four more days walking. Looks very doable but you never know.    Read more

  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017
    Day 21

    Ribadesella

    June 6, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Another 35 km day. It's a little too long for my liking, those last few kilometers into town are really a slog. But the walk was really good, spectacular in many places. I took a little detour to get back to the coast, and that added another 4 km or so to my total. And of course it's a lot slower walking carefully over and around rocks than on a forest path or along the road. Not to mention all the time it takes to stop and gaze at the crashing waves or rocky coast and take yet another picture.

    Though these coastal paths are usually fairly obvious, they are not well marked, so I was very glad to have the GPS. A Spanish friend sent me all the tracks for the coastal detours on this Camino and I couldn't have done it without them.

    So by the time I washed clothes and showered it was after 4pm, so once again too late to eat lunch in a restaurant. That's a real negative aspect of arriving so late. You can't eat lunch, and you certainly don't want to wait up until they start serving dinner. So I'm having another store-bought dinner -- gazpacho in a box, two spinach and cheese empanadas from the pastry shop, a red pepper, and an orange. Not terribly exciting or gourmet, but it'll fill the belly! Oh yes and a local specialty sweet of some type.

    The red building is my hotel for the night. 30€ special for peregrinos! That's not bad but about 10€ more than going rates in other less touristy parts of Spain!    Read more

  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017
    Day 22

    Villaviciosa

    June 7, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Ok this was another very long day, almost 40. But it was beautiful and included a surprise visit inside another pre-Romanesque church.

    I left Ribadesella around 7 and a few hours later passed the donativo albergue in Vega. What a great spot, with a pretty beach down the road. It looked like a great place to stay, but I had only been walking for a couple of hours. Bad timing on my part. But I did have the good luck of meeting Sam and Barbara, a mother son pair from Austin, and we wound up walking together all day.

    No off-camino coastal alternatives today, but the camino took you along the coast a fair amount. More gorgeous sea views. In the town of Isla we turned inland, and after Colunga there were st least 10-12 up and down kms through the countryside. At some points there were mountains on your left and ocean on your right.

    After taking a boots off rest after Colunga and despairing of ever finding a bar to get something cold to drink, we walked into Priesca. In this tiny little hamlet, there was a stunning new albergue La Rectoral right across the way from the 10C pre-Romanesque church. The albergue had a soda machine and the church windows were making us wish we could get inside. But the Spanish woman nearby told us to go ask somewhere else for the keys. I think she heard Sam and me talking about the beautiful windows and how much we wished we could see the interior, and suddenly she found that she had a set of keys. Wow is all I can say. It was great.

    From there the 10 or so km to Villaviciosa were pretty much a slog, but we have made it, have walked around town and had dinner, and are headed to bed. I am sorry to say that Sam and Barbara will be heading in a different direction tomorrow because we had a lot of fun today!    Read more

  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017
    Day 23

    In Vega de Sariego

    June 8, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Ok I am a wimp. I only walked 17 or 18 km today. I was whooped from the earlier days. Danagrina, you and I walked ten more kms and wound up in that hotel where the tv was showing a program about Michael Jackson and bees.

    I left the albergue around 7 am, knowing that the church at Valdedios only opened at 11. So I took my time and was glad to see that the route had been brought off the main road. I got to the church complex-- this is a 9C church with a 13C -17C monastery --at about 10 am. So I had an hour wait before I could visit the church. As I was sitting there, boots off, three nuns walked towards me with big bags for the garbage. I was surprised, because last time I had been here there were monks. Turns out the monks have left and the nuns have replaced them. The albergue is now spotless, clean sheets, etc. Just a coincidence maybe but I suspect it has to do with the change from monks to nuns.

    After the hour tour, which was great, I left at around noon. The steep 300 m ascent just about took it out of me, and when I arrived at the albergue inVega de Sariego, I decided to stay. Tomorrow will be 26 flat asphalt kms to Oviedo but I really appreciated the early stop today. And there is a bar with a great 10€ menu. I'm sharing a room in the albergue with a few other women, so let's hope there are no more men arriving.    Read more

  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017
    Day 24

    ... in Oviedo

    June 9, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    This was a much-better-than-expected walk into a big city. Knowing that it was 26 or 27 km, and wanting to spend the afternoon in Oviedo and with my dear pal Helena, I got going at 7.

    With one coffee break and going at a pretty steady pace and off and on with two French walkers, I was in the hotel before 1.

    The route has changed since I last walked it, and it is much improved. Only the last couple kms are through commercial outskirts and there is s lot of off-road walking. That's unusual for stages going into cities. All pleasant enough, though of course it doesn't hold a candle to any of that amazing sea walking I was doing just a few days ago.

    Got here to see that the top of one of my shoes is ripping open. I took it to a zapatero who told me he was pretty sure he could fix it enough to get me into Santiago. Lucky I got here today because he is closed tomorrow.

    Now I have a five day break from walking. I am going to leave a lot of my stuff here in Oviedo and will stay in the same place when I return. My pal Paco from Madrid is flying up to walk for two days with me so that will be the 15 and 16. Lots to look forward to!    Read more

  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017
    Day 25

    Getting ready to leave Oviedo

    June 10, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    How I love this beautiful city. But visiting here and living here are two different things. My camino friend Helena, who is from Lisboa, has married an Asturiano and has found it next to impossible to "break in" and be accepted. And if she can't do it, no one can! But as a city for tourism, it can't be beat. Obsessively clean public places, beautiful old core and a museum or two. The statuary in the streets is like no other city I've seen. A Botero, a Woody Allen look alike(he fell in love with Oviedo while filming Vicki Cristina Barcelona), and many others. The cathedral is going the way of many in Spain, now charging 6€ (4 for peregrinos) for entrance.

    Yesterday I noticed that the mesh on the top of my shoes was starting to rip open. But since this is Spain, where many people still repair things, no problem. The friendly zapatero down the street from my hotel came up with an ingenious solution. 3 hours and 9€ later, my boots were good to go.

    Heading to the bus station after a good cafe con leche and then onto the first flight of the day.    Read more

  • Laurie Reynoldscamino 2017
    Day 25

    Oviedo memories

    June 10, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Walking to the bus station I went past the Woody Allen statue and remembered being here with Joe and my parents. This picture is for you dad. 😍

    And now I'm at the bus station waiting for the bus to the airport and remembered when David got off the bus from Cangas here, and we had a grand time together. Love you guys.Read more

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