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.