- Time of past OR future Camino
- Recent:Norte/Muxia- Spring '23
MadridWay- Fall '23
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The train to Oviedo from the Madrid airport was about 3.5 hours and not difficult to find it. The last half of the ride was beautiful with some jagged rocky mountains and far off stunning views. I think they may have been a section of the Picos de Europa. It was very enjoyable! Hope this helps.And post about the train ride, please!
Buen Camino
Thank you for the suggestionBuen camino, Chris!
I know you didn’t ask for suggestions, but here goes anyway.There are several real jewels along that section. I highly agree with lt56ny’s endorsement of O Xistral. It is really lovely. Some others: Casa Carmina in Muros de Nalón (in what used to be the grandma’s grocery store, I believe) (and a side trip to Cudillero is a terrific idea - it’s a touristy but amazing little town hidden in a cove); Parga Natura on the north alternative after Baamonde is very nice (the hospitalera used to be at Ferreira with Juanma on the Primitivo, but they amicably went separate ways); Abeiro da Loba is stunning (food was so-so, but the place is great — its misfortune is that it is only 6 km further on from Sobrado dos Monxes, where most people will want to stay, especially the first time — but it is gorgeous and has won lots of eco-architecture awards).
I don’t know if you have seen the coastal alternative thread, but there are a bunch after the cut-off. for the Primitivo. Especially, the high route from Soto de Luiña the high is really 5-star and perfectlly walkable despite the dire warnings given by the hospitalero.
Looking forward to hearing all about your Norte, buen camino, Laurie
Thank you for posting, looking forward to reading them, buen Camino!I am excited to be heading to Spain once again to walk the second half of the Camino Del Norte. My son and I walked the first half of this route in 2016, but had decided to finish on the Primitivo at that time. All arrangements had been made to return to finish the second half in the spring of 2020, but the pandemic had abruptly halted all international travel and we were forced to cancel.
So here we are again, ready to leave tomorrow to fly to Madrid, then a train to Oviedo where we will begin the Norte, and eventually finish walking in Muxia.
We will be gone for one month, which includes a few leisure days. I'm hoping all goes well with no setbacks related to an injury either of us would have to deal with along the way.
I truly feel grateful to be able to go on another of these long treks that I love, and am appreciative of my husband for being supportive about this "hobby" I keep embracing while I am able.
I look forward to sharing my daily journal writings, along with a few pictures on the forum.
Chrissy
I so want to know what this is?? Is that chocolate sauce omg
It is layers of thin roast beef and ham with white cheese in-between. It is then breaded with a corn meal coating and squid ink mixed in, which gives it the brown color. Then it's fried and has a nice crusty edge. The fries have mayo mixed with squid ink drizzled on top. Hope this helps to either whet your appetite or makes you cringe.I so want to know what this is?? Is that chocolate sauce omg
Thanks for clearing that up - much prefer squid ink mayo on my chips to chocolateIt is layers of thin roast beef and ham with white cheese in-between. It is then breaded with a corn meal coating and squid ink mixed in, which gives it the brown color. Then it's fried and has a nice crusty edge. The fries have mayo mixed with squid ink drizzled on top. Hope this helps to either whet your appetite or makes you cringe.
Thank you, @Corned Beef for always offering great suggestions. All our lodgings were arranged ahead of time, but we are planning to visit Cudillero on our way to. I will make note of the Arbichera restaurant and Palace Selgas, too, and hope we have enough time.If you haven't booked your accommodation in Cudillero, there is some very nice accommodation on the outskirts at El Pito (Casona De La Paca). There is also a great traditional Asturias restaurant close by (Restaurante Arbichera) and the Palace Selgas which is like a French chateaux (open to the public).
The Casona is one of the Indianos(?) you'll find on this coast. Well appointed country homes, built by those returning from the Americas/Indianos who made their fortunes. Not only is it a beautiful building, it's also very well run.
Thanks for starting this--I plan on walking some of the Norte later this year so all the suggestions and comments are helpful treasures. Looking forward to hearing and seeing more of your journey.I am excited to be heading to Spain once again to walk the second half of the Camino Del Norte. My son and I walked the first half of this route in 2016, but had decided to finish on the Primitivo at that time. All arrangements had been made to return to finish the second half in the spring of 2020, but the pandemic had abruptly halted all international travel and we were forced to cancel.
So here we are again, ready to leave tomorrow to fly to Madrid, then a train to Oviedo where we will begin the Norte, and eventually finish walking in Muxia.
We will be gone for one month, which includes a few leisure days. I'm hoping all goes well with no setbacks related to an injury either of us would have to deal with along the way.
I truly feel grateful to be able to go on another of these long treks that I love, and am appreciative of my husband for being supportive about this "hobby" I keep embracing while I am able.
I look forward to sharing my daily journal writings, along with a few pictures on the forum.
Chrissy
How lovely that you can resume your Camino with your son Chrissy! We had booked the Camino del Norte for August 2020, but obviously that wasn’t meant to beI’m thanking God or some other Higher Power now, since having just walked from San Sebastián last week to Santander today and I think I would have died with the combination of hot weather and the seriously big hills in the Basque Country!!
I too have had the blessing of walking with my boy (21yo) and although things didn’t work out quite as he expected due to an Achilles heel injury in the first week, he has already learnt the important life lesson of listening to your body, not just “pushing thru” (which our Aussie males are always being told).
Anyway it has been an amazing 2 weeks on the CdN and on Monday he flies out ro Albania and Montenegro to continue his adventures. And as for me I will continue to Santiago but there is little chance I will catch you up, which is a shame. So Buen Camino to you and your boy and I hope you both have a fabulous time travelling the way
My reactions are easy to sum up — wow and yum.This was an interesting day; part tourist, part long slog
Day 4-
This was an interesting day; part tourist, part long slog. The day was overcast once again, but no umbrella needed.
We took a bus from Soto del Barco to Cudillero for a mere €1.55 and arrived around 10:30 before hoards of tourists showed up two hours later; it was as if they were all let off a cruise ship. Thankfully we had walked around out to the pier, then climbed many steps up to a viewing tower well above the town. It was a lot of fun with many beautiful photo opportunities. I will add that we were the only "tourists" wearing full backpacks and Camino garb.
An interesting old communal laundry facility.
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Afterward we sat down at one of the many outdoor lunch spots at 1:00 and treated ourselves to drinks, chiperones, and Galician style pulpo w/potatoes; all familiar and all yum!
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We walked out of town at 2:00 back to the Camino on quiet country lanes to start, with an occasional mile here and there walking through uninteresting newly de-forested eucalyptus trees.
The most difficult part was the several miles of ups and downs surrounding the area of impressively tall cement pilings used for a newer bridge that curved and snaked over the deep valley. As we walked there were awesome views from different angles of its 1200 meters. Here is a Link to see incredible pictures or read about it.
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We didn't arrive to our lodging, Hostal Paulino, in Soto de Luina until after 6:00pm. Dinner tonight was a hodgepodge straight from our backpacks.
CB, we were unable to go to the Palace Selgas yesterday; unfortunately it does not open for the season until June (thru October). I was looking forward to seeing it as it looks outstanding on the website.There is also a great traditional Asturias restaurant close by (Restaurante Arbichera) and the Palace Selgas which is like a French chateaux (open to the public).
I’m very sorry if I had anything to do with this, but I always try to make clear that it’s not the “coastal route” that you want from Soto (if you want to get off the camino), it’s the high route. Gronze has a good description and illustration. The lower route (which the hospitalero always strongly recommends) goes close to the coast but I’ve been told you rarely see the ocean and it’s a lot of asphalt. The high route is a perfectly fine route for anyone who has managed the norte till now. It’s got 600 m of gradual ascent. See the tracks here. The views down are glorious on a good day.We tried our best to take the coastal routes, but it seemed more often than not we were funneled in to eucalyptus forests, going up and down valleys with paths filled with many rocks; I had to be careful to not roll my foot on the downhills. There were numerous pretty clumps of purple columbine added to the drab forest floor path.
Laurie, you did absolutely nothing wrong, so do not fret. For some reason I thought the words "coastal alternative" meant the opposite, so when we saw that "costa" sign, I assumed wrongly. I have re-read the pdf notes and the words make perfect sense now. I will mention that behind us all of the mountains were shrouded in fog all day long anyway, yet there was never any fog on the coast so we saw a number of beautiful cliff top views.Hope you have a better day tomorrow, Chris!
Kaz, I am a person who paints pictures of my Caminos with words, so my daily posts can get rather long. If I don't do it every evening at the end of the day, the details fade somewhat as I lose some of the vivid recollections by the next day's walk if I don't write them down.I'm hugely impressed with your dedication to posting/sending each day!
Heaven forbid!Glad to hear you are enjoying the daily updates. If I happen to miss a day or two, don't think I have fallen off a cliff!
Thanks for posting daily, I am walking with you along your posts.Day 8-
We left Luarca for a 20k walk to Navia. It sounded quite doeable for me as that has always been my favorite average. The day went well; a combination of lanes, paths, and a few roads. Thankfully there were no eucalyptus forests today, and although a few climbs, nothing unmanageable. That said, it took nearly seven full hours with only a 30 minute lunch break to reach our awesome b&b Inn in Navia, which made the long slog worth it. I must be slowing down as it wouldn't have taken me that long to reach my destination a few short years ago.
Along the way, we met a family from Australia, and also two friends from Baltimore walking together so chatted with them for awhile as English speakers are few and far between on the Norte. We also saw a number of bicagrinos and several other walking pilgrims along the way.
I think Luarca must be an end stage or beginning stage for many, and I am not surprised with its lovely harbour.
It was almost too warm a day for my preference; going from partly cloudy to sunny, and then back again. Our final half hour produced a light rain, so we used our umbrellas for the first time and it was great to not be digging out rain gear for such a short amount of time.
After checking in and showering we decided to eat in our room and enjoy its balcony with views of a beautiful Norfolk Island pine and palm tree in their garden, along with the river view, instead of going out for dinner. We enjoyed vino blanco with ice, and Ceasar salads for dinner.
All in all, a good day that ended well.
My pictures are not loading; a very nice Inn, but unfortunately poor wifi.I'll try in the morning again.
I'm sorry, but we never noticed a farmhouse with goodies on a table. I'm sure we missed a very nice experience of Spanish hospitality.If you didn't yesterday, today you will pass a farmhouse on your right with some goodies arranged on a table under a overhanging part of the house. The wonderful farm lady will make you fresh coffee. Buen Camino
I love fences too!...they're a great example of using what's available rather than bringing in materials....what really captured my interest were the literally miles of fences made from chunks of fascinating slate and bluestone...
Ahhh Chrissy...for me, your meals are an epi-pen waiting to happen!We ended our day with a few individual Galician offerings for dinner, and shared them to try them all. We had squid croquettes, large fava type beans in a sauce with clams, a hamburger with egg and bacon, and a homemade dessert similar to a custard. All were yummy and two glasses of vino blanco rounded out the meal.
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Kaz, if you take the squid out of those croquettes, and the clams out of the beans you should be just fine.I love fences too!...they're a great example of using what's available rather than bringing in materials.
Ahhh Chrissy...for me, your meals are an epi-pen waiting to happen!
Happy trails...you must be past the halfway point by now.
Yep, but then the eggKaz, if you take the squid out of those croquettes, and the clams out of the beans you should be just fine.
You are a problem child I would be happy to have.Yep, but then the eggin the hamburger will get me...!!!
I'm such a problem child...
Ahh...so we've met somewhere before...!?!Maybe Kaz could just have the vino.
I love Tassie, especially Stanley and New Norfolk and ....Ahh...so we've met somewhere before...!?!
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