A new Camino adventure
June 2, 2023
My first day on the Camino del Norte! I got off to a good start with breakfast at the same cafe I ate dinner last night. Then it was time to head out of Avilés, thankfully a much more pleasant walk than what I came through to get here. I needed to rely on my GPS as the signposting isn’t great in big cities. Today was a combination of road walking, thankfully most of it on quiet back roads, and trails through forests. There were a lot of steep up and downs throughout the day, just as you would expect.
It was a beautiful, sunny day and much warmer than it had been while on the San Salvador in the mountains. I finally got to wear my shorts! I was fortunate only to get caught in the rain once on this trip with most days being clear and sunny once the morning fog burned off.
I met up with one other pilgrim as we were trying to figure out which way to go. There was a discrepancy between the waymarks and our app. We went by the waymarks since the app had us on a highway the whole time. As we were walking by a house looking confused, a local said we were going the right way and it was shorter. Thank god for small favors! I ended up walking with Angel for most of the day. He’s a Spaniard and is fairly fluent in English so it was nice having someone to talk to for a while.
Along the way, we got our first glimpse of the sea in the distance! Soon thereafter, we parted ways as Angel wasn’t walking as far as I was that day. In fact, he thought I was crazy for going as far as I was and I began to think the same thing!
Cudillero
I made my way thru the village of Cudillero where there was a fantastic estate (pictured right) and a church across the street. The Church of Jesus the Nazarene is so different architecturally because it is relatively new compared to most churches in the area. Not far beyond the town was the turnoff to my hotel, La Casona de Lupa Hotel-Spa. This was an interesting place! A couple of pilgrims had arrived just before me and were calling the receptionist from the desk as there were no people anywhere to be seen. The receptionist finally made an appearance and got us checked in. The main floor was a series of large, fancy dining rooms and sitting rooms with unique furniture. My room was very nice plus, I had a bathtub! I walked around the hotel a bit that evening and saw no people and never did find out where the pool was.
Today was the second of my three long days in a row. Today I walked 15.5 miles, 2 miles shorter than I had anticipated, which I did not mind. My first thoughts of the Camino del Norte… There are definitely more pilgrims on this route but not so many that you feel like you’re in a parade. Groups of cyclists are also prevalent. Villages with bars and cafes are plentiful so I don’t need to carry much in the way of food anymore. And no need to worry about the afternoon rain as there is none!
Photos: Click to enlarge
