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on the edge of Oviedo in a different direction, there is another pre-romanesque church, San Julian de los Prados (also called Santullano). Its fate was worse than the Naranco sites because it is surrounded by busy roads and development. But also very nice and has some unusual paintings inside on the walls.
Hi, Gary and Katie,
You'll see, it's not confusing. Probably most of the people walking the Primitivo miss the Naranco church and palace because they are not on the Camino, but for anyone with a love of old buildings they are absolutely incredible.
So, to your questions
There are two albergues, one is actually a private apt. whose owner rents out rooms to medical students, I've been told. It's the Villa Cecilia, and I don't know anyone who has stayed there. Here is their web site: http://www.residenciacentro.zobyhost.com/ It's about a km from the cathedral on foot.
The other is the official Camino albergue. It's a bit closer to the historic center and is now installed in a single family residence. I haven't stayed there either, but I have visited and talked with the hospitalero and it seems pretty nice.
I usually stay in Pension Los Arcos. It is in a great location, a few steps from the ayuntamiento, from the library, and from lots and lots of good restaurants, etc. The owners are really nice, young and enthusiastic, a pair of brothers I think. http://www.hostal-arcos.com/
I haven't stayed in Escamplero either, which is the obvious stopping point if you visit Naranco and want to continue on. There is nothing there but a bar/restaurant and an albergue, which gets mixed reviews. Grado is 21 km from Oviedo, so I don't know what it would be with the detour to Naranco added on. From Grado to the first albergue, San Juan de Villapanada, it's another 5 or 6 km, so that might be pushing it on the first day. But San Juan to Bodenaya is a pretty manageable day. I do highly recommend Bodenaya, I missed it my first time on the Primitivo and won't repeat that mistake, because when I was there last year it was just terrific. To get to Bodenaya from Oviedo would either be two average days of 25-28 with the first night in San Juan, or three short days with several ways to slice that up.
Buen camino, Laurie
and p.s. though you didn't ask, if you want to both see some of Oviedo and the churches of Naranco, another option would be to just spend an extra day in Oviedo and you could do all the touring on that day and then head off on the next day. If you arrive in Oviedo at 4 in the afternoon and leave the next morning to walk, you are not going to have much time at all to see Oviedo, and it is one of the most beautiful small cities in Spain, IMO.
Hi, Gary and Katie,
Well, if you are going to spend two nights in Oviedo, to give you a full day there, you technically can't stay in the albergue two nights (I say "technically" because I know the hospitalero there frequently bends the rules if the place isn't full). So you could stay in a private place for night one and move to the albergue for night two, but then you waste a lot of your "full day" in Oviedo moving around. Which is why whenever I walk through Oviedo I go right to the Hostal Arcos and spend two nights there. I always take a rest day in Oviedo because I love that place.
You're right that if you're in an albergue the first night you will leave Oviedo already having seen and met a few people, but you'll meet up with them that evening so I don't think it puts you at a disadvantage or anything like that. The last time I walked from Oviedo, I met five or six of the people who would eventually become my "Camino family" within the first few hours on the route. But of course I didn't know that they would be those people then, it took a few days to gel.
I always hesitate to tell people "what to do", so take this just as one person's idea. If you spend a full day in Oviedo and visit the Naranco churches and the town during the day, get a good night's sleep in a pension that night, and get up and leave no later than 7 am the next morning, you will be able to pace yourself nicely to make it to San Juan de Villapanada on the first night. That is another great albergue with a hospitalero who really cares a lot, makes a communal dinner, and gives more advice than I do(so nod and smile politely and then do what you want). Buy food in Grado, take a good rest in Grado, and then finish the last 4 or 5 kms up to San Juan. It's in an amazing setting. Staying in Grado, which is a much nicer 21 kms, means you have to stay in a hotel or pension and you can't experience the lovely albergue environment in San Juan. I think it's definitely worth the push, so long as your body is screaming to stop.
Thanks again, you are really a fount of info! And we're not worried about meeting up with peeps, we both know, w/o having done this, to simply trust the process ( just get in the 'river, you can't force it) Your suggestions ( and I appreciate you dispensing some advice, I 'get' your reticence) I guess the only thing is if there is no room in San Juan de Villapanada but then, I am not going to worry about things like that ( we will most definitely NOT be the ones getting up at 5 and rushing out, no disrespect to any/all that do). Going to put the Ototaps high on my list when I get there! Mucho gracias!
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Ah, the snoring. Yes it is sometimes almost unbearable. Most ear plugs just fall out of my ear, but I love Ototaps. I buy them in Spain, they are little balls of wax with some furry substance around them. Sold in boxes of 12, I think, about 4 euros a box. They mold perfectly to the shape of your outer ear, they are cheap enough to discard after a few nights when the furry stuff wears off, and they relegate the sounds to the background. Sort of like when I was in the process of "going under" with a general anesthesia and I had this vague distant sensation of sound but nothing piercing into my consciousness, if that makes any sense. I personally don't understand why albergues don't get a big industrial fan and set it on high for the whole night -- I think we all would sleep much better with a constant loud white noise in the background. But I digress.... Bottom line -- ear plugs will never block it all but can reduce the extent to which it wakes you up, I think. Buen camino, Laurie
X Gary and Kate. We will be following you some days later. I presume that you are from the States and therefore have jet lag to deal with. We have 8 hours difference. Plus the journey itself. So we have always slept in a hotel, pension or Casa Rural the first night. Do not be tempted to hang around in bed the next morning. Get up, say at the very latest by 8 am. We will also walk and visit the to Romanic churches in Naranjo and then will continue on to Escamplero, from where we will take the local bus back to Oviedo, stay another night and then, the next morning bus back to where we left off and start walking from there. We don't want to overdo it the first day and because we really want to take advantage of visiting Oviedo, we decided on this rather unusual beginning. (Usually we just simply walk a 20 k. Day on our first day).
For me, ear plugs are essential. Adriaan never bothers with them. Ours are courtesy of Iberia and are super. I usually don't hear a thing! It takes about 3 or 4 minutes to get them positioned correctly. You need a bit of patience! Anne
what are your thoughts about staying right away in an Albergue, to get into the pilgrimage 'flow'?
Hi there! ...thinking about spending a day in Lugo also..........what do you think about that? Feel free to weigh in on that one also Laurie!
I don't need much encouragement to weigh in so I'll throw in my opinion on Lugo. I love Lugo, I think it's a beautiful city, nice atmosphere, nice people. I have never spent two nights there, primarily because the people I was walking with at that point were going to move on the next day, and the choice was a day in Lugo or staying with my Camino family. I knew that ahead of time, so what I did to give myself a little more time in Lugo was to go on beyond Cadavo to Castroverde and spend a night there. That meant my next day into Lugo was much shorter and I had plenty of time to enjoy the city, to the extent that you can "enjoy a city" in a half day. The albergue is right inside the walls, great location, everything historic is a stone's throw away, so a full afternoon/evening is really a fair amount of time to walk around, see the cathedral, sit in a cafe, eat some pulpo, even had time to walk on the walls a bit! Buen camino, Laurie
We seem to have a few walking experts on this Forum with knowledge as to how to get back on the Camino Primitivo from Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo churches. (Oviedo) Consulting Google Earth at the location of these churches, there seems to be a path going up for 200 mt. North-west of San Miguel de Lillo, connecting with a road which runs parallel North of the Centro Asturiano. If indeed this is possible, I figured that it should be shorter and possible to go straight down towards Ules, and from there to El Llano and Lampaya. From Lampaya, take first road left and follow until crossing. Go down 100 mtrs., turn right direction Loriana. From Loriana follow signs of the actual Camino to Escamplero.
Angulero ¿que te parece?
Thank you Laurie for this text (which by the way I had already since I am a member of this same Spanish Forum), but my question was about a possible path Northwest from the San Miguel church to the Centro Asturiano. It would mean going up instead of down. I'll investigate this "in situ" next week, since it's only 200 meters, and report on it.
We seem to have a few walking experts on this Forum with knowledge as to how to get back on the Camino Primitivo from Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo churches. (Oviedo) Consulting Google Earth at the location of these churches, there seems to be a path going up for 200 mt. North-west of San Miguel de Lillo, connecting with a road which runs parallel North of the Centro Asturiano. If indeed this is possible, I figured that it should be shorter and possible to go straight down towards Ules, and from there to El Llano and Lampaya. From Lampaya, take first road left and follow until crossing. Go down 100 mtrs., turn right direction Loriana. From Loriana follow signs of the actual Camino to Escamplero.
Angulero ¿que te parece?
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