del Norte - Day 24 (26-May-2016): Aviles to Muros de Nalon (24.7km)

We left Aviles at 8am and the first portion was a long trek through the suburbs.  Finally we left town and began a nice walk through the countryside.  Fortunately we did find a bar for "second breakfast".  The day was relatively quiet and without interesting villages.  We left the valley and walked on gravel and dirt tracks through forest.  Descending into the river valley and past an old castle built over Roman ruins.  the last 5 or 6km was as difficult as usual.  We settled in to our Albergue Casa Carmina in Muros del Nalon.  Compared to our previous caminos where we spent 70-90 percent in Albergues we've now spent only two nights in Albergues and this is the first night in bunkbeds in a  room with a dozen bunks.  

After our showers and laundry we bought a bottle of wine and enjoyed that while visiting with other pilgrims.

Looking back along the coast towards Aviles

Village travel in morning

We left Avilles and began walking on gravel tracks

Even though we are on a quiet gravel track, the freeway and overpass is not so far away

The date on this chapel is 1130 - not sure what that means.

Drudging back uphills again!

Old castle, built upon the ruins of a Roman fort

One last uphill!

Nearing the end of our day's journey and still smiling!

del Norte - Day 23 (25-May-2016): Gijon to Aviles (19.7km)

We were "bad pilgrims" in the morning and took a bus for 6km.  One of our guide books had advised that the first section was through really ugly industrial area and that we might want to take bus #24 to the edge of the city.  That was a wise decision and we started walking just outside a rather bleak area.  we climbed over a ridge and then descended into a valley of small villages and farms.  Unfortunately, that soon changed back into another industrial area (probably steel mills) plus it started to rain!  We walked along a busy highway for some time then were able to move parallel to the road and walk on a hiker/biker trail near a small river.  We followed that until we entered the city of Aviles and walked into the old part of the city.  There, we had an inexpensive "light snack" consisting of a bottle of sidra plus fried squid rings and fres (all for $8.  Then we located a nice place to stay.  Hotel San Pedro is "expensive" based upon other places we've stayed on our camino but still only around $60 per night and includes breakfast.  More typical pensions or small hotels usually cost between $40 and $50 per night.

Aviles is an interesting city once you get past the industrial suburb and has an older section with city squares, bars, shops and restaurants.

Dinner was at one of the oldest restaurants in Aviles, a Sidreria, Casa Lin.  

View looking back to industrial zone outside of Gijon

The path went through fields and villages for a few hours before re-entering factories, etc.

Very colorful granary with corn hanging in bundles

Traditiional public "laundromat" - usually a stream was directed through these troughs and they were used to clean clothes.

Dreary afternoon walking in a light drizzle and along a busy highway through industrial area (seemed to be steel mills).

Can you see the yellow arrow that shows us that we are still on the "Way"?  Fortunately we were able to get away from the busy highway that we followed most of the afternoon and walk on this hiker/biker trail along a small river.

Walking all day re-defines what one considers a "light snack" - bottle of sidra and squid rings with fries - on special at 7 euros ($8) 

Our room at Hotel Don Pedro - a really nice place and we think it's expensive at 55 euro (~$60) per night!  

First course was anchovies on top of tomato slices with warm roasted peppers and everything drenched with olive oil.  Second course, not pictured, was grilled shrimp.

Third course was Chipirones a la Plancha (grilled small squid).

All was accompanied by a bottle of Sidra.

del Norte - Day 22 (24-May-2016): "Camping Deva" to Gijon (8.5km)

We had instant coffee and cookies in our bungalow at "Camping Deva" and headed off on our short hike to Gijon.  It was 8.5km to the area around our hotel (Hostel Gijon Centro) in the old section of the city.  ON the way we stopped for "second breakfast" of cafe and churros con chocolate - hard to believe we've been in Spain for three weeks and just now had this treat.  We toured the nearby ruins of the old Roman baths.  It still amazes us that the Romans were everywhere!  

After checking in we had lunch at La Escalerona, a nice little Sidreria.  We knew cider was popular in Spain and more-so in the Basque region but had not realized just how popular it would be all along the north coast and in particular Asturias!

Street walking into Gijon

Second breakfast - cafe and churros con chocolat - dipping the churros in melted chocolate

Beach of Gijon

We had a pleasant lunch and bottle of sidra here in Gijon.

First course - sliced jamon and sausages or shrimp soup with rice.

Evening along beach in Gijon 

del Norte - Day 21 (23-May-2016): Villaviciosa to "Camping Deva" (20.2km)

We had breakfast in a hostal nearby our hotel and hit the trail.  It's a nice day for walking and no rain predicted.  First stretch mostly on single lane road with little traffic.  We came to a Camino marker denoting the split of this route - with Camino del Norte continuing along the coast and the other fork going inland to Oviedo and continuing on from there as "Camino Primitivo".  Primitivo meaning original rather than primitive.  We encountered our first big climb of the day (400m) but it was not as bad as we expected.  There was only a bit of rocky and muddy road but mostly good.  Then we descended into a valley near Peon, had a nice picnic lunch of olives, cheese, and crackers and climbed over another ridge (300m) on similar paths and descended again towards Gijon.  It would have been a rather long and hard day of nearly 30km so we opted to book a bungalow at a campground, "Camping Deva", that's about 8km from Gijon.  Tomorrow will most probably be a short day and simply to Gijon.  That's because the next stretch of Gijon to Aviles is 25km and there's no in-between stops so must be taken as one day of hiking from Gijon.

Our bungalow is cozy and there's a frig and stove.  We did laundry at the laundromat and are now sitting on our porch enjoying a nice glass of Rueda Verdejo white wine.

Horse near this mornings pathway on country lane

This marker is a BIG milestone - the trail splits here with us continuing on towards Gijon on Camino del Norte and the other route goes to Oviedo and Camino Primitivo.

Walking next to apple orchards in blossom

Uphill on the first climb of the day.  We will pass over two significant ridges with climbs of around 1200 and 1000' each.

The second and last big uphill of the day.

Looking back towards the range of hills that we crossed this morning.  Our "campground" is another 7km or so.

del Norte - Day 20 (22-May-2016): Colunga to Villaviciosa (18.6km)

We got a late start from Colunga, hitting the trail after 8:30 but it will be a fairly short day, less than 20km to Villaviciosa.  However, there were no bars or other facilities so that made things a bit tedious.  We bought pastries in Colunga and founds a pleasant spot with a table so enjoyed a mid-morning treat.  Last night and yesterday we had significant rainfall so there was mud in spots.  Fortunately we had no rain on the trail even though a few sprinkles caused us to put on our parkas.  We passed through Sobrayo after 12km, where some pilgrims spent last night but there is only an Albergue and no kitchen or restaurants so that didn't sound good to us.  

On ouskirts of Villaviciosa we saw lots of apple orchards.  This area is a major apple growing region and thus sidra making as well.  Supposed to be home to a dozen cider distilleries.  

We settled in to our hotel - "Casa Espana" in the center of town.  Normally, we would not have bothered to book ahead but considering the rain and how difficult tomorrow will be we used booking.com yesterday to book a room.

Cindy found a nice restaurant, Trebede, and lunch was excellent.  A nice salad with jamon and roasted goat cheese and mango dressing, Fabada Asturias (typical bean stew) and of couse a few glasses of Rioja Crianza.  Then back to room to enjoy a soak in the tub!

We had a nice dinner:  Manchego cheese ande walnuts, mussels with spicy tomato sauce, roasted vegetables and a bottle of Rueda Verdejo wine.

Church in Colunga near our hotel

Uphill for one of several climbs today - nothing like what we will have tomorrow but hills nevertheless

No bars or other facities on today's trek.  We did find a nice table to enjoy pastries we purchased in Colunga

Enough of rain (just a sprinkle) but we donned our raingear.  

Getting closer to our destination - fields, and a glimpse of the ocean.

We had significant rain yesterday and last night - now encountered some muddy stretches on the road.

On ouskirts of Villaviciosa:  Apple orchards with cider making facility in background.  This area is a major apple growing region and thus sidra making as well.  Supposed to be home to a dozen cider distillaries.

Manchego and walnuts

Mussels and spicy tomato sauce

Roasted vegetables.  All accmpanied by a bottle of  Rueda Verdejo white wine

del Norte - Day 19 (21-May-2016): Ribadesella to Colunga (23.7km)

We got a late start as our hotel's breakfast did not start until 8am.  After crossing the river we walked out of town along the beach then left the coastline, walking along one lane country road uphill, thought pretty fields, etc. then back down through two small villages and rejoined the coast.  Stopped after 7km for second breakfast at a bar on the beach.  It's Saturday so there were surfers, but not very many since the weather is a bit gloomy.  We resumed walking on a trail and often followed the cliffs above the ocean through fields with cows.  It started to rain so we donned our trusty "Sea to Summit" ultra-sil ponchos (see photo). We rejoined the beach and ducked into a beach-side bar to sit out the shower, enjoying white wine and patata fritos con ali oli (fried potates with garlic mayo!).  We also booked a room at our destination village of Colunga.  This gave us confidence that we would have a room for the night so could enjoy our wine and the view. The rain stopped after an hour and we continued on another 7km to Colunga.  We are staying at "Hotel Las Vegas", a nice little place in the center of Colunga.

Dinner tonight was at Casa Laureano and among the best ever in Spain.  We had a really great Ribera Duero wine, salad with tomatoes, wild mushrooms, tuna and lettuce, chipirones fritos with aioli and grilled pork ribs.

Typical walking path when for much of the morning.

Interesting village

Another lemon tree with lots of fruit

In Asturias we are seeing these old harvest storage buildings.  They are set on stone pillars to keep pests from the grain/corn storage.  Here they are square and in Galicia they are rectangular.

Back on the ocean!  Afternoon we mostly walked on paths and with view of ocean and beaches.

We passed an old man with a bag of limpets, barnacles, etc. that he had gathered from the rocks at low time.  The smallish barnacles are supposed to be delicious.  Hard to imagine1

The well dressed pilgrim:  We are using "Sea to Summit" Ultra-sil ponchos.  These weigh around 6 ounces and take the place of rainjacket, rainpants and backpack covers that we used in previous Caminos.  So far we like them a lot!  

Salad with tomatoes, lettuce, tuna, wild mushroms and shrimp

Grilled pork ribs

Chipirones fritos.  All of this with an excellent Ribera del Duero red wine!