Distance: 29.5km (80.5km), time spent: 8:44 (24:45).
Weather: Overcast with a light drizzle in between.
After an early morning in the albergue in Oviedo, I am finally officially on the Camino Primitivo, wandering beneath a grey and sad veil. The cathedral appears dark and gloomy when I pass by it in the morning, the streets mournful in the tiny rain. A plaque in the paved street displays where the Camino Primitivo and the Camino del Norte goes in their separate ways and explains that it was from the El Salvador basilica that the Asturian king Alfonso II began his first pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela to honour the grave of St. James.
"En los comienzos del siglo IX, desde ésta su basílica de El Salvador, inició el monarca astur Alfonso II el Casto la primera de las peregrinaciones a Compostela para venerar la tumba de Santiago el Mayor y fundar allí, en su honor, la primera basílica."
Waymarks in a park outside Oviedo, grey clouds drifts through the landscape and there is a light rain in the air in the morning.
The absence of the sun marks the day, a grey melancholic veil lies over the landscape, light raindrops fills the air. When the route leaves the outskirts of Oviedo, and you enter into more rural surroundings again, what is essentially a sad weather is however creating a peaceful atmosphere and mood. The yellow arrows leads me up and down hills past small and pleasant villages. The views are limited, but it is still a beautiful scenery to walk in. I almost get the feeling of walking in a remote landscape, and I love remote landscapes.
Low clouds where the trail passes by small acres after San Lazaro Paniceres.
Inside Capilla del Carmen, work is being done to fix the damages after the vandalizing of the small chapel.
In the small Capilla del Carmen, it was possible to get a stamp for my pilgrim's passport in the porch, but there was no stamp to be found. A look into the chapel reveals the cause; someone has vandalized the chapel and work being done to fix the damages. The saddest sight of the day, vandalism has always been completely incomprehensible to me.
After Venta del Escamplero, the Camino goes through a lovely and melancholic scenery in the grey weather.
Fortunately, the continuing walk is still nice. I stop for a coke at a bar in small La Bolguina. Whereupon the route alternates between walking alongside a road and secluded sidetracks through woods and misty landscapes. Venta del Escamplero is the first place where there is a pilgrim albergue after Oviedo; the albergue is built in the same style as the one in Sebrayo. Otherwise, everything else seems closed at the place. I pass by and is begin passed by other pilgrims, often the same ones, faces that I will see again often in the oncoming days.
Molino de Picarin, an old mill that lies just a little outside of the route before you come to Premoño.
At the bar in Valduno (where I suspect the owner of the place to have rerouted the camino to go past it) a group of pilgrims is gathered. A common sight, you can walk for a long time without seeing anyone, then you come to a bar and there you meet a large ensemble of them, both familiar and unfamiliar. Valduno marks the first meeting with Xavi, Ruben, Elisabeth, Elke (on her ninth camino), Vicente and others. Fabrice is also there (he was one of the few other pilgrims in Pola de Siero).
Walk through forest and fruit gardens just before Valduno.
From Valduno the most prominent part of the route is the cliffs you walk through at Peñaflor, the route being guided by a river towards a bridge you cross over just before the small place. The cliffs throws you out on a long open field before you come to Grado. There is no food available in San Juan de Villapanada, so those who wishes to stay the night there has to carry food with them from Grado. I partner up with Xavi and Ruben for dinner and walks the last four kilometres together with them
At Peñaflor, buildings almost constructed into the mountainsides.
I went almost the whole day with little belief of getting a bed at San Juan de Villapanada, there are only 22 beds there and true to tradition I know that many starts walking a lot earlier than I do. Fortunately, I know there is another albergue not so very far away (Albergue Cabruñana). I arrive at the albergue, after a nice small climb up from Grado, somewhat surprised to see that it is not completely full at the place. The albergue is not open yet however; outside several pilgrims are sitting and waiting. I am just as surprised to see that both Axel and Elke is there as well. I thought Axel was still in Oviedo and Elke told me she would only go to Grado when we took a break at a bar at the bride in Peñaflor.
View down towards Grado from the albergue in San Juan de Villapanada.
The albergue is situated in a wonderful place, with a great view over the valley and Grado below. In my backpack, I carried a few beers for the evening, something that turned out to be an unneccesary burden; there is beer in the refrigerator for a euro apiece. The albergue is being full, two Spanish brothers and a woman from Austria has to sleep on mattresses in the dining room. And the hospitalero, Domingo Ugarte, has to turn away several pilgrims arriving later (among others the Brazilian family). However, they did not have to walk, he drove them to Cabruñana. Xavi and Ruben are making the dinner, chicken with rice and salad, I make the dishes afterwards.
The very nice albergue in San Juan de Villapanada. People relaxing outside and waiting for it to open. Fabrice waving satisfied.
It was little in the morning hours that indicated that it should become such a great day as it turned out to be, but in the weather that was it became a lovely and somewhat melancholic walk. The evening at the albergue was excellent and I had a great time there. The list of pilgrims whose faces I will see repeatedly in the next days are beginning to become long. Axel, Pol, Fabrice, Pablo, Rocio, Xavi, Ruben, Vicente, Elke, Elisabeth, Valery, Marine, Rafa, Raul and others that I do not know or remember the name of (they have to excuse me for that).
Dinner with Xavi and Ruben.
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