Piñares

I just had the best nights sleep, this bed is the comfiest so far on Camino, I didn't wake up at all last night, I slept sound until my alarm went off at 7:00 am, I turn it off, roll over and go straight back to sleep until 8:00 am. I still feel quite off today, so we have decided to catch the bus again. It's overcast with steady light rain. We head down for breakfast, normally there isn't a lot of people up and about at 9:00 am, but this morning a lot of the people staying here are already up, including the lovely family with the beautiful black lab - he lies under the table, so well behaved. Food is in abundance at the breakfast buffet, it's hard to choose, it all looks so good, but I end up with some fresh oj, cheese, walnuts, a mini cinnamon custard pie, a slice of some sort of teacake bread and a cafe con leche. Chatting to one of our hosts Danny, his face lights up when he finds out I am from Australia, he recalls his time spent here, he had 3 months in Melbourne Victoria a few years ago, he loved it and met some really special people who took him in and treated him like family, I really appreciate and enjoy hearing stories like this about Australia. We finish up breakfast, check out, order a taxi and leave this beautiful, rural slice of paradise, with full bellies and great memories. We get dropped off in Villaviciosa, I'm in need of either a different pair of trail runners or some inner soles with arch support and some different types of socks, my current ones are way to tight around my ankles. I end up finding one pair of socks, but have no joy with the shoes or inner soles. We have an hour before our bus arrives to take us to Deva, so we decide to have a drink at this very cute panaderia, it's still raining, so the outside tables are out of the question, we have no trouble finding one inside and spend the next 40 minutes sipping our drinks surrounded by the delicious smells of freshly baked pastries, cakes, sweets and breads. It's now time to go, our bus will arrive shortly and we don't want to miss it as the next one doesn't leave until 3:30 pm. We get on the right bus, this is always a bonus, we are getting better at public transport as this is our second day in a row of catching a bus, we even downloaded the app and purchased our tickets online, then used the electronic ticket which was so much quicker then yesterday's process. We get off at our stop which is out of town on the side of the road, thankfully Lisa was on the ball and heard the driver tell some other pilgrims that this is the Deva stop. We hop off in the rain, get the map up on my phone and start walking on the side of the road to Deva, we stop at the Campgrounds which has a restaurant, so we decide to have some lunch, we then catch a taxi to our next hotel which is 2 km away, again out in the country. Our hotel setting is on a golf course and it has a hydrotherapy pool, this is the second one this trip. We get to our room, shower then go and book in at the pool, each session has a 2 hour time slot, we collect our robe, swim cap and the coolest makeshift thongs I have ever seen and then head to the bar for a drink while we wait for our session time to begin. We get into the pool and it is 35 degrees, the view out of the ceiling-to-floor windows is of the golf course and they have lilo’s scattered around the floor space facing out to the golf course, it's a perfect area to relax with a drink, wrapped up in your swimmers and robe on an overcast rainy day as you spend the afternoon hoping in and out of the pool. We eventually head back to our room for a shower before dinner. We are both tired but are feeling so much better since our session at the pool, it's amazing just how good it makes those sore muscles and joints feel. We go to bed feeling rested, relaxed and ready to tackle another day on the Camino del Norte.Read more