Day 1 - Oviedo to Grado

After a couple of days of travel hiccups for Bonnie she arrived in Oviedo on a bus after midnight on the day we planned to start walking the Camino Primitivo. This was far different from what had been planned - her arriving in Oviedo via a fast train from Madrid a day before I arrived so she could get over any jetlag and be ready for our adventure. Though inconvenienced by the lost time and the lost luggage we got up this morning excited to start up and over the mountains.

We walked first to the Oviedo Cathedral to find the first golden shell embedded in the pavement that would lead us out of the city. While looking for our bearings a gentleman approached us and asked us if we were starting our Camino. We told him we were. He inquired if we had collected a stamp from the church on the other side of the cathedral, which we hadn't. He asked if he could take us there as he was on his way to mass. He shared how he enjoyed this church, the priest, and the 8am Latin service. The church was beautiful and the stamp was meaningful, but what Bonnie and I really appreciated was this man's generous spirit.

Oviedo is a big city and it took us a while to navigate to the outskirts, but once there we caught a glimpse of why this is known as the most beautiful of the Caminos. The views are already spectacular!

Though there were tastes of the inclines that make this the most difficult of Caminos, today went very smoothly, most of it being taken up in conversation between the two of us. We also did a lot of talking to the animals we met along the way. 

Surprisingly enough we didn't meet very many Pilgrims. We did have a late start out of Oviedo so they could have been in front of us. We met a man from Denmark at our second open cafe. It was his first Camino and he was taking in the scenery like he had a new set of glasses. We also met a couple from Miami as we were going up an incline. They told us, with heavy breathing, that they didn't have mountains back home to practice on.

We found a cute little place for lunch. We walked a few meters off the path to Villa Palatina. There is an albergue, a bar and a restaurant at this little oasis. A young man greeted us at the gate and we asked him if we could get some lunch. He said he could check and went into the residence. Shortly after, the owner came out to talk to us.

"Are we too late to get something to eat?" I inquired.

"No," he laughed. "You are too early! Did you want the Menu del Dia?” (fixed menu of the day for the pilgrims.)

"No," I responded. "We aren't that hungry, but we were hoping to get a bocadillo.” (sandwich.)

"Ah, we have the best meat for a bocadillo. Do you know we have 68 and a half cows here?"

"Is the other half of the cow in your kitchen?"

"Yes!" he laughed while giving me a high five, "and I will put some on your bocadillos!"

He interacted with us throughout our meal and treated us like kings. He even gave Bonnie his card as we were leaving and said if we needed anything between his home and Santiago to let him know. "Except for money... I don't have any of that!"

We are in our room for the night. We showered, washed our clothes and found a cafe that would serve us an early dinner. We even got to watch the first half of the football match between Croatia and the Spanish national team. The plaza was buzzing with the locals cheering on their heroes. 

We are heading to bed early tonight as tomorrow will be another epic day!

Ultreia et Suseia!Read more