Abidan, Galicia

 Abidan, Galicia 

After a short walk yesterday that started in the rain, I vowed I would not set out in the rain for a day's walking, however short it may be. I ended yesterday cold and wet with sniffles. I felt that I was getting too old to be brazen about it and I could afford the train/bus/taxi alternative to stay dry, comfortable and avoid some blisters and colds. I walked through the suburbs of Mondonedo with Lesley as I didn't want to get lost by myself, but being lost with soneone else didn't hold so much dread.

We reached the Cathedral Plaza where there was a choice of paths, the traditional route or a five kilometre shorter high level route. Five kilometres shorter would have clinched it for me but the route is through forests, and as it had been raining the day beefore and for part of the night, it might also still be muddy. Plus it was a higher ascent in total. Jorge had slipped and I had had a fall and I didn't want another one.

The traditional path was along rural roads or gravel paths and less of a total ascent, and all of a sudden five extra kilometres didn't seem so bad. I tagged along with Lesley on the traditional route until we were out of town. 

Our paces were different and whilst she liked to go at her speed and saviour teh scenery, I find it difficult to walk slowly as I have a task to complete to reach the next hotel and whilst it is not a race, I am chopping at the bit to get ahead. The only issue was that every morning start is up hill.

Settlements are often located in the bottoms of valleys where the land is flatter and fertile. There is often a river or stream for water supplies. Settlements grow up around bridge crossings or around forts that are built to protect river crossings. Therefore accommadation is also located in these settlements. And that is why every morning it is a climb up the valley sides away from the river/bridge/settlement to follow el Camino.

The route out of Mondonedo follows the same pattern with a walk through the centre of the settlement and then up a steep hill. We were soon out of the urban fringe but it was a struggle up a steep slope. I couldn't march ahead as the terrain was still so steep and challenging. I only left her for her contemplative walk when the route reached some level ground. 

The terrain may have changed but there was still mist in the trees and low clouds obscuring the tops of the hills. Looking back down the valley, there was clouds in the valleys and although some of the tops of hills were in the sunlight, it was cool as the sun had yet to warm up the atmosphere to banish the low clouds and mist. 

On some of the eastern facing slopes, the sun was warming the ground and there were patches of blue sky and sunlit fields. But there were only a few farms and no village shops. The guidebook had advised to stock up when you can as opportunities are few and far between. Galicia is the most thinly populated region that El Camino del Norte passes through. 

The Basque Country has a population density of 308.7 per square kilometre, the highest in Spain outside of Madrid whereas Galicia has just 91.5 people per square kilometre. For comparison purposes, England has a population density of 278 people per square kilometre.  

I knew that I was getting neat to the top of the valley as there were wind turbines scattered along the ridge line, slowly turning in the wind, although partially obscured by clouds.

Once in the high ground, the sun and wind had pushed the clouds away and it was at last a warm and sunny day. El Camino passes through farmland as it descends into Abidan and my evening stop.

Mondonedo, Galicia

 Mondonedo, Galicia 

It had rained during the night and it was still raining in the morning. I was awake early and listened the rain beating down on the rooftops. 

Jorge and Lesley were stayig at the same place, Casa Gloria and we had breakfast together. Jorge's knee was getting better but it was a 28 kilometre walk to reach his next hotel, so he was going to take a bus most the the way and walk the last few kilometres. For Lesley and I, we only had eight kilometres to walk to Mondonedo. She was in no rush and would choose a time to depart when the weather looked a little brighter. 

It was still raining after breakfast but I imagined it to have eased off a bit. I was ready to go and had nothing else to do such as read a book, so I set off.  I hadn't got a kilometre out of town before I had to stop to put my waterproofs on as the rain had intensified. 

I don't like wearing waterproofs as although it keeps the rain off, they don't allow air to circulate so I get hot, and with the exertion ofwalking, I sweat and still get wet. To add to the misery, the cloud base was low with mist in the trees and clouds hiding any views ofthe countryside. It was a matter of keeping you head down, slogging up innumerable steep slopes and avoiding the worst of the puddles and mud. 

I reached the plaza in front of the cathedral in Mondonedo. It is a 13th century cathedral with a five metre wide rose window in the west facade. The frescos on the walls are some of the oldest in Galicia and the walnut choir stalls are Gothic masterpieces. 

Although the cathedral is only 13th century, Bronze Age remains have been found in the area and busts of both Marcus Aurelius and Hadrian have been found bearing witness to the Roman occupation of the area.  

Another interesting building...

...and whilst I was walking the wet streets of Mondenedo I came across another local resident, a black and yellow salamander. 

Lourenza, Galicia

 Lourenza, Galicia 

The weather forecast was for more rain with more than a 40% chance of rain all morning, but it dropped the the 20s in the afternoon. The itinerary said that it was to be a 31 kilometre walk that day and also helpfully added that there was a total ascent of 803 metres and that the terrain was 4 on a scale of 1-5 with one being easy and five being challenging. If I ever needed a reason to skip a day, there seemed to be quite a few reasons to take the bus inside.

The next stop for the night was Lourenza which isn;t on the railway network, and being a Sunday, taxis would be hard to fin and expensive. The two buses ran at either 6.40am or 17.50pm and took ages as it isn't a city centre to city centre bus but a rural service linking dozens of small villages.

I was ready to leave and looked out of the front of the hotel. It was cloudy with dark clouds in places but small lighter coloured clouds and a few patches of blue sky. But it wasn't actually raining. which had been raining, I would have asked the hotel to phone a taxi and I would pay whatever it took to arrive dry.

I left Lesley nursing a second cup of coffee as she debated with herself whether to take a day off. She had some blisters developing but had Compeed so she was leaving it to the weather gods, and if it was raining when she was ready to leave, she would take the bus.

I walked through the suburbs and took a wrong turn. I had researched the route out and it passed a soccer pitch. I could see the floodlights a few streets away and I was going down a tree lined avenue that led to a cemetery. My mind had wandered and so had my feet.

I back tracked and took the correct turning to pass the soccer field and out of town.

                                                 

Being a new region, there are a whole range of new signs for the pilgrim, although Galicia, being host to Santiago de Compostela and terminus of so many routes across the country and Europe have ensured that their signs are unambiguous. 

There are granite pylons at every junction to indicate the way to go. The are a little over waist height and taper gently towards the flat top. There is a yellow concha on a blue background pointing in the direction to follow, and below it a yellow arrow. Beneath that is the distance, in kilometres, to three decimal places, so these waymarkers claim to be accurate to within a metre. It is ever so reassuring that you can count down the distance to the final goal.

Galicia is sparsely populated and there would be no cities or large towns until Santiago de Compostela. The route would traverse mountains and forests and small villages and often little or no opportunity to buy supplies en route so some forward panning is essential. 

Much of the route was on forest tracks, high above the farmland cleared in the valley bottoms. 

There was a change in the horreos, The square horreos of Asturias standing on another storeroom had been replaced by long narrow buildings. This is a modern version to show that they are still being built and used but they will be plenty of traditional versions seen as the route travels deeper into Galicia. 

I had seen penty of date palms but they were all female. In order to get a crop of dates, the female date palm needs to be pollinated by a male tree. Commercial plantations plant one male tree for every 10 to 12 female trees to ensure sufficient pollen is available for a viable harvest. 

This was a sign that could not be missed. The benches are sponsored by a local bank throughout Galicia and the arrows always point in the right direction.

The 10th century Benedictine Monasterio de San Salvador, designed by architect Casas y Novoa who was also responsible for the facade of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. And my hotel for the night was just 200 metres further on. 

Ribadeo, Galicia

 Ribadeo, Galicia 

A better view of my hotel in Navia, El Palacio del Arias.

It was a long day with 31 kilometres to walk through shady forests, past maize fields and pastures with cows or horses grazing contently. 

I crossed Rio Eo that forms the border between Asturias and Galicia. This a view of part of the port in Ribadeo in Galicia lookig back into Asturias from my hotel. 

I tried to find some interesting buildings in Ribadeo but it is a modern town and ancient pilgrims would have bypassed it to cross the river at the then lowest crossing point further to the south. 

The customs house.

It might have been worthy of a photo but this building was undergoing extensive repairs. 

And the local council offices. And I couldn't find much else of note in the centre. 

Navia, Asturias

 Navia, Asturias  

I walked out of Luarca at 9am after a late breakfast. The hotel didn't offer an early breakfast option or a picnic breakfast. There were a few pilgrims on the road and I overtook several of them but after an hour or so, there were few pilgrims ahead of me. 

It was was a pleasant walk through farmland with fields of maize, some harvested with just the stalks sticking out of the ground, and other fields ready to be harvested with cobs bursting with yellow corn on the cob just waiting to be eaten but destined to be harvested by giant machines, chopped up and used for cattle fodder.

There was noise from the motorway a long way below in the bottom of the valley, but once over the mountain, it was peaceful with just bird song breaking the silence.

And of course lovely views of forest and the sea in the distance.

But as mentioned before, the motorway is built on the level but El Camino dipped a long way down to cross a river. Where just a quarter of an hour before, I had been high above the motorway, now I was a long way beneath it, but after crossing the river, it was a long haul back up the far side of the valley.

I had seen plenty of horreos en route but one particular house had a minature version in their front garden. 

And I had thought that there wouldn't be much to add to the hungry pilgrim's menu but there was an apricot tree growing at the side of the road. The lower fruits had all been picked and there were just a few tempting fruits left high up in the top branches of the tree and out of reach of pilgrims on foot.

After passing through a lot of farmland, the trail dipped into the outskirts of Navia, a port on the river Navia. 

It has some fine buildings but the view is rather spoilt by the railway viaduct running through the centre of the town. ..

...and across the river. 

The port. 

The casino.

...and my hotel, El Palacio Arias.

Luarca

 Luarca 

It was a bright, sunny morning, with just a light wind but being in the mountains and being early autumn, it was cool, but perfect walking weather. 

The hills were off to my left and my early morning start was along some flat coastal areas. But in the distance, there was a path cut into the hillside (barely discernible in the photo but it was there for the naked eye). El Camino never makes it easy for the pilgrim and the route that I was following would take me up and over that mountain. 

There was another type of waymarker. On the road was painted the usual yellow arrow but beside it was a spray painted concha. 
                                        

And what was not seen in the earlier photo was that there was a river to cross before I even got back to the level with the path cut into the hillside. I had followed El Camino via an underpass beneath the motorway and whilst the road continued level over a viaduct, El Camino dips down to an old road bridge over the river and then climbs up the valley side back to the level of the motorway. 

There were plenty of sandy bays, beautiful places but empty of people as it was September, autumn and the locals think it is too cold to swim in the sea or even sit on the beach. 

After a long walk, I came to the pretty port of Luacra with some distinctive buildings, but all squeezed into a deep valley with steep sides...

...another view of the harbour...

...and another from a different angle as I descended down a steep alleyway...

...the descent from the mountains down into the town...

...the town hall.

There were many fine buildings such as this hotel, but not mine...

...the casino but again not my hotel...

...a great example of art nouveau hotel...

...but this was my hotel, a little quirky on the outside, but given its odd shaped site, it was equally unusual inside with rooms with odd angles and rarely walls with neat 90 degree corners. 

The town was squeezed into the narrow steep sided valley.The local railwaycame out of a tunnel, high above the town and was carried on a tall viaduct around one side of the old town. 

A view up the river from one of the bridges across the river...

...and a view from the other side of the bridge which emphasis the small space in which the town has been squeezed into teh small space available. 

There were many interesting buildings in the old centre, such as this one, just one of many...

...and some modern buildings like this one set up high on the valley side, overlooking the harbour. 

 

Cadavedo

 Cadavedo  

As I was walking out of Cudillero, I met another pilgrim...a mural on a wall.

Just twenty minutes before, the track I was following as level with the motorway, but El Camino dipped down to an old bridge to cross a river before climbing back up to the same level as the motorway.

But we were also never far from the coast with a calm sea.

The horreos were ifferent in this region, being a stone store room at the base with the granary built on top.

My hotel which was so far out of town, it was jsut a few metres from teh cliffs, the shore and the Ermitage de la Regalina.

The hermitage's horreo...

...overlooking its own beach...

...with views along the coast...

...the hermitage itself...

...and a view of the islets just off the coast.