Being old-school we usually call for reservations but this time we used Booking.com some because it is so much faster than calling a lot of places. Reading the Camino blogs it seems that Booking.com is widely used on the Camino. We worry about the fees the hotels have to pay. Kind of like using credit cards, we usually pay cash in small places.
Day: April 11, 2019
Forget it Jake, it’s Asturias
Several times we have been talking with a local about “maybe it will rain” and they have said “It’s Asturias”. This seems to be an explanation for any weather. We have been in Asturias for nine days and it has rained on almost every one. But never all day, usually only a few times a day, and often in light spurts of 10-20 minutes.
We have not been bothered by the rain much at all. The biggest bother is taking our rain gear on and off so often. In general, on all our Caminos we have been pretty lucky with the rain, maybe 3 or 4 days total where it rained hard all day.
Pre-spilled coffee
We have seen this several times now, this was the first. The saucer has the “spill” painted on. (The scum inside the cup is real.)
The taxman cometh
Speaking of credit cards we stayed in one place this trip and paid cash. They didn’t take our passport and we didn’t even give our name. No receipt, of course. I’m not sure the Spanish tax authorities will see that transaction.
Semana Santa poster
We have seen the poster numerous times. Each person can interpret it in their own way. I was captivated by it.
We have some reservations
Normally on our trips we reserve the first and last day and nothing else until the day before, but right now we have the next 12 days reserved. Why? Two words: Semana Santa, which is a big thing in Spain. That’s a week the Spanish take off work and they like to go to the ocean.
Normally I am the cockeyed optimist in the marriage and Wynette is the Mistress of the worst-case scenario. She was worried about Semana Santa so, two weeks before we left, we tried making a few reservations and things were full. We eventually made reservations all the way through April 22. Semana Santa includes the Monday after Easter.
We will be in a medium-small town, San Ciprao, for Easter and we hope to catch some of the processions all during SS.
A few years ago we were on the Italian Riviera at Easter and Wynette literally called 30 places for a reservation and there was none to be had. We ended up staying in Bergamo, way inland.
Little Hórreos and Slate Roofs
Post by Wynette: On the first part of this walk, most houses had red clay tile roofs, but now they are mostly black slate. Sometimes they use red clay on the ridge lines. As mentioned before, we see dozens of hórreos every day. They were used in the past to store crops, to keep them dry and protected from rodents. The closest thing we have to these in the states, that I know of, is a corn crib. Now I think the hórreos are used mostly for storage. Many are very old and ramshackle. We’ve started seeing little dollhouse-sized ones that are close replicas of the big ones. Very cute. Note also in above photo the Camino shell on house wall and statue of St. James (Santiago). I imagine it is a source of pride to live on Camino.
Day 8, April 11: Villapedre to Navia
Post by Wynette: We walked 7.2 miles today. That includes 2 km round-trip to/from the laundry after we got to Navia. And we didn’t get lost or anything, so it was an easy day. Mostly on quiet roads like above photo. A little was on muddy trails through a pretty bosque and about 100 yards was through a field on an 8 inch wide trail pushing through what we are pretty sure were stinging nettles. (Photo below.) Our legs were stinging a bit at the end, even though we had on long pants. Still feel a little itchy. I can’t imagine going through there in shorts. Surely they mow a larger path through this section in the busy, warmer season. As Charlie said, it was very nettlesome.
Navia is a little town of 10,000. Towns this size in this part of Spain are so vibrant and alive. Of course, they seem huge to us after the tiny villages we walk through. Below is the ayuntamiento, or city hall.
We checked into our hotel then walked to restaurant for a delicious menu del día and then walked to the laundry which was in a large supermarket. The sign in photo below says While you do your shopping or have a coffee, do your washing.
