We got up at about 7:30 AM in Villaviciosa and we were out of the hotel at 8:00. We walked about a block and encountered a wonderful bakery and had to stop for breakfast. I had a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and a chocolate covered cinnamon twist.

The Way took a while to get us out of town but after about 45 minutes of walking we were out in the countryside.

The Camino Del Norte is hard with a lot of long stretches with no support and a lot of steep hills to climb. The Primitivo is even harder. You had better be young and in good shape to tackle the Primitivo. Marco and I didn’t even think about tackling the Primitivo. I know some of you think I am crazy for doing the Norte. Me trying to do the Primitivo would be insane.

At one time this area was covered with old growth oak forests. All these old growth oak forests were cut down to build the ships for the Spanish Armada. Someone once asked the King of Spain where all his country’s oak trees were. He said they were at the bottom of the English Channel. The trees that they are logging now are eucalyptus trees. These trees grow quickly and are used to make paper. I wish they would regrow the oak forests.

When we got close to our final destination for the day, we had to climb a very steep hill. This hill involved an increase in elevation of almost 600 yards and we had to walk about 2 miles to get from the bottom to the top. it was a very arduous climb.

The owner’s name is Magdalene. Her grandparents developed an agricultural estate in the Peon valley.

Magdalena spent last year building the absolute best alburgue on any Camino. She gave me a 45 minute guided tour of her establishment and everything is first class. There is a huge dormitory room with enough bunk beds for 60 pilgrims and it is air conditioned! She built all new separate bathrooms for the men and the women. There is a new indoor common room for the dormitory and a new kitchen.

Marco and I are staying in the old estate house.

The owner of the alburgue gave me a laundry basket and told me to fill it up with all our dirty clothes. She then took me down to the washing machine and showed me how to operate it. She is unbelievably nice.

Dinner was soooo delicious.

After that we had a salad and ice cream for dessert. I am stuffed.

I hope you are having a good day wherever you are. Good night from Peon, Spain.

It is approximately 50 kilometers between Ribadesella and Villaviciosa. The alburgue at the halfway point was closed on Mondays and all the hotels at the halfway point were full. We decided to spend the money and take a cab from Cangis de Onis to Villaviciosa. It was a beautiful drive through the Picos de Europa. Marco and I both need a rest day and we are taking one in Villaviciosa.

As the waiter put this placemat down on the table in front of me I commented, in my fractured Spanish, that I loved this Edward Hopper painting. I have a print in my living room. I told him I saw the original at the Chicago Art Institute. He said that was impossible because this painting is hanging in a museum in Madrid. I googled it and showed him that this painting is on permanent display at the Chicago Art Institute. He looked down his nose at me and insisted that I was wrong and that this painting is in Madrid. I gave up arguing with this guy and ordered a bocadillo.

Marco and I are thinking about hijacking this train, filling it with pilgrims and driving it to Santiago.

I saw this letter on the internet today and thought I would share it with you. Sullivan Ballou was an officer in the Union army during the civil war. On the evening before the first day of the first battle at Bull Run he had a premonition that he would not survive the battle and wrote this letter to his wife to say goodbye and let her know how much she meant to him. I purposefully avoided calling it a love letter because I think it is so much more than a love letter. The following is an excerpt from that letter.

“Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me unresistingly on with all these chains to the battlefield. The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me and I feel most grateful to God and to you that I have enjoyed them for so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, few and small claims against Divine Providence, but something whispers to me – perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar – that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name. Forgive my faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have oftentimes been. How gladly I would wash out with my tears every little stain upon your happiness. But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth, and flit unseen around those they loved, I will always be near you; in the gladdest days and the darkest nights, always, always. And if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead; merely think I am gone and wait for me, for we shall meet again.”

Can you read this letter and not get even a little teary eyed? The rest of the story is that Sullivan Ballou was killed on the first day of the Battle of Bull Run. His farewell letter was delivered to his wife Sarah at the same time she was notified of his death.

I hope you had a good day wherever you are. No steps, no kilometers and no stairs climbed today.

The plan was to catch a train at the Celorio train station and ride it to Ribadesella. The train was scheduled to arrive at Celorio at 7:20 AM. We got to the train station at 7:00 AM and spent some time with these teenage revelers.

It was Sunday morning and this group of Spanish teenagers had been out all night. They absconded with the road sign as a souvenir of their wild night. They were very wasted after drinking and raising hell all night. When they found out I was from Colorado they were extremely excited and wanted to know all about the Grand Canyon. It took me forever to explain to them that the Grand Canyon is in Arizona, not Colorado.

We waited and waited for the train’s arrival and at 8:00 AM one of the Wild Bunch called the train dispatcher. The train dispatcher told him that the train had been cancelled and the next train would be by at about noon. We decided to start walking to Ribadesella. The Wild Bunch decided they would nap until the next train arrived at the station.

We got to Ribadesella at about 4:00 PM after a 27 kilometer hot and sunny day. Marco started to feel very tired and chilled. We visited a pharmacy and the pharmacist said he had a severe sunburn on his legs and was probably suffering from mild heat stroke.

We could not find a place to stay in Ribadessella so we took a cab to Cangas de Onis and checked into a hotel to give Marco a chance to rest and recover from his sunburn and heatstroke. Dinner tonight was delicious. I had a huge fresh salad.

Today we walked 29 kilometers, took 37,000 steps and climbed the equivalent of 15 flights of stairs. The blog reached a milestone today, 10,000 views since I started it in 2018.

I hope you are having a great day wherever you are. Good night from Cangas de Onis, Spain.

We left the alburgue at Pendueles at about 7:30 AM. After we walked about 2 kilometers we got to a very steep hill leading down to the ocean. To my surprise and relief someone had expended a great deal of time, effort and money to build a stone staircase. There must have been 100 steps to this staircase. For an old man like me this staircase was a godsend. I don’t think I could have safely navigated this steep descent without the staircase and the handrail.

At the bottom of the stone staircase we encountered this bucolic campground. What a wonderful way to spend your summer holiday.

On my prior Caminos I became addicted to chocolate croissants. We stopped for a mid morning breakfast break and I had a scrambled egg and Serrano ham pintxo and my first, but not last, chocolate croissant on this Camino.

We did a lot of road walking today. I don’t like to walk on the side of the road. However, we did find some beautiful forest paths.

At about noon we stopped in Llanes for lunch. It was absolutely packed with people. It was a Saturday and it was the feast day of San Roque. Llanes is not on the coast but there is a river that provides access to the sea.

For lunch I had a tortilla español washed down with a Radler.

We finally made it to Celorio and checked into the alburgue.

I hope you are having a good day wherever you are. Good evening from Celorio, Austurias, Spain.

Today we walked 27,000 steps, 22 kilometers and climbed the equivalent of 21 flights of stairs.

For this to make any sense I should probably start at the beginning. Last night at the alburgue at Comillas we decided that we wanted to walk as far as Cerdigo and stop for the night. That would be about 20 kilometers, a piece of cake. Unfortunately all the accommodations in the area round Cerdigo were booked. The only alburgue we could find that had open beds was in Pendueles. If we walked from Comillas to Pendueles that would be 37 kilometers, and that’s impossible! No way, no how, can I walk 37 kilometers. I noticed in my guidebook that we could catch a train at Pesues, a town 2 kilometers west of Cerdigo, that would take us to Pendueles and the walk from Comillas to Pesues is a doable 22 kilometers.

The journey from Comillas to Pesues was uneventful.

We got to Pesues at 4:30 and realized that we had failed to check the train schedule. In a panic, I hurriedly got out my trusty IPhone and checked the train schedule and the schedule said that the next train was going to stop at Pesues at 5:30. Marco walked up a hill to the train station and there was a posted schedule that said the train was going to arrive at 5:12. The train did arrive at exactly 5:12 and at 5:40 we got off at Pendueles, walked one kilometer to the Alburgue Casa Flor and checked in.

The guy that owns the alburgue also owns an adjacent Mexican restaurant.

So the Camino not only provided a train exactly when and where we needed it, the Camino also provided us with a very nice alburgue and a great Mexican dinner.

That’s it from Pendueles, Asturias, Spain. I hope you had a good day wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

I walked 35,000 steps, 25 kilometers and climbed 13 sets of stairs.

We got a late start to the day and after enjoying breakfast at the Convento Alburgue we hit the road at 8:30. We almost immediately got out into the country and ran across these two goats.

After feeding the goats we decided to take a break so we stopped at a bar and I had an Aquarius.

I told you yesterday that I was going to spread me in Anna’s ashes at a beach along the way. Halfway along the way today we found this beautiful beach.

As far as I am concerned this beach will be forever known as Playa de Anna, or Anna’s Beach. I waded out into the water and let the surf take Anna’s ashes out into the Cantabrian Sea. I got a strong feeling that Anna was watching and was pleased to be part of this journey and was pleased to be part of such a beautiful place. Rest In Peace Anna.

We finally got to Comillas at about 4:30 PM. The alburgue is at the top of the hill so it took another 30 minutes to drag our tired sweaty carcasses up the hill to the alburgue.

The alburgue is nice and clean and they give each pilgrim a curtained off sleeping cubicle. It will be nice to have a little privacy.

Today was a very hard day. It was very hot and humid and the whole walk seemed to be uphill. I am very tired and hope to get a good nights sleep tonight.

Kilometers walked – 28.

Steps walked – 34,000

Floors climbed – 23

I hope you had a great day today. Good night from Comillas, Spain.

This morning we got up early and we were out of the alburgue at about 7:30 AM. We walked about six blocks to the train station and took the train to Mar, about 25 kilometers west of Santander. I know what you are thinking. Taking a train instead of walking is no way for a true pilgrim to start the Camino. The Way for the first 25 kilometers west of Santander is nothing but suburbs, factories and chemical plants. I don’t feel like I have anything to prove on this Camino so I am OK skipping the ugly parts and taking trains, buses, ferries or taxis to avoid walking through these ugly parts.

When we got off the train at Mar we walked out of the station and were immediately accosted by an old man who adamantly insisted that we were going the wrong way. We were following the yellow arrows and Marco’s GPS so we were sure we were on the Camino and heading in the right direction. I think this old man was just trying to screw with us because he saw us get off the train instead of walking into town. He must be some kind of Camino purist.

We found a little cafe in Mar and had breakfast. I had a ham and cheese sandwich and an Aquarius, which is like Gatorade. I want to break my Radler habit or at least wait until noon before I start imbibing. After breakfast we walked 13 kilometers and at about noon we got to Santillana Del Mar.

Santillana is reported to be one of the prettiest town in Spain. I don’t think so. It is packed with tourists and the streets are lined with t-shirt shops and fudge shops. We stopped at a cafe for an Aquarius and a pintxo and then walked over to the alburgue.

After we got to our room I took a shower and hand washed my clothes and put them on the clothes line. While I am waiting for my clothes to dry I sat in the shade at a long picnic table having a beer with a group of Italians and Germans.

In 2019 I was walking the Camino Del Norte and was having a rest day in Santander when I got a call from my sister Marina who told me Anna would pass away soon. The next morning I was on my way back to my hometown, Springfield, Illinois. By the time I got home Anna had already passed away. Anna loved to travel but wasn’t able to do as much traveling as she would have liked. I have two containers of her ashes with me on this trip. I am going to spread the contents of the first container on a beautiful beach here in Spain, because she loved going to the beach. I put flower seeds in the second container with her ashes and I plan to spread the contents of this container when I walk in Italy in September and October. Anna loved flowers and who doesn’t love Italy. Rest In Peace Anna.

Today I walked 19,000 steps and travelled 15 kilometers. Tomorrow will be a longer day with more steps and more kilometers.

Good night from Santillana Del Mar.

I got a great night’s sleep last evening at the Alburgue Allegro in Santander. I put in my industrial strength earplugs and then I was dead to the world and couldn’t hear the cacophony of snoring in the alburgue. Marco got to the Alburgue Allegro early Monday afternoon and got us both bottom bunks. I really appreciate that as I am getting too old to crawl up to a top bunk.

We slept until 8:00 AM and then had a very nice ham and scrambled egg breakfast at the alburgue. After that I had to finish packing my backpack and make sure I had everything I needed and nothing more. I tried to pack light but the loaded backpack still weighs almost 20 pounds.

I put everything I will need for my travels after the Camino in my suitcase and Marco and I trundled down to the Post Office to mail this suitcase to Santiago. The clerk at the Post Office knew a little English and I know a little Spanglish so we were able to get through the mailing process in about 45 minutes. Did I mention that the Post Office is not air conditioned and it very hot here in Santander? I was sweating buckets and the clerk was fanning herself with one of those old fashioned folding fans.

After we finished at the Post Office we walked to the beach for lunch.

After lunch we walked to another beach and found two benches in the shade and took a little siesta. It gets hot here in the afternoon and it sure was nice to take a nap in the shade at the beach. After nap time we were feeling a little peckish so we decided to get some ice cream.

After ice cream we walked to the train station to check on the schedule for the train from Santander to Mar. We are going to take a 20 kilometer train ride to avoid walking through the industrial area of Santander. Tomorrow should be an easy day’s walk from Mar to Santinilla Del Mar, about 15 kilometers.

That’s it from Santander. I hope you all had a good day.

Good night.

My direct flight from Denver to London was scheduled to take off at 8:20 PM Sunday evening. At 7:30 a big storm settled over the airport in Denver and the flight was delayed until 9:00 when the storm subsided. We then got on the plane and the pilot announced that lightning around the plane had caused so much static electricity that the flight computer was malfunctioning. We had to deplane and wait for the maintenance people to fix the malfunction. We finally departed at 10:30.

The plane was only half full or half empty depending on your perspective. I found an empty row and stretched out for what I hoped would be a transatlantic slumber. I never could get comfortable so I got some rest but not a true long siesta.

We were scheduled to land at Heathrow at 12:30 in the afternoon. We didn’t land until 2:00. The pilot had the ground crew in Denver put extra fuel in the plane so he could put the pedal to the metal and make up for some of the delay.

In London my bags were on the carousel when I got there and it took five minutes to go through customs and passport control.

I splurged and hired a driver to take me from Heathrow to the Standstead airport for my 6:30 direct flight to Santander. It takes two hours to drive from Heathrow to Stanstead and I was warned to get to Stanstead at least 3 hours before the scheduled departure of my flight because it was taking forever to get through security at Stanstead.

When I exited the international arrival gate at Heathrow I expected to see my driver with one of those signs with my name on it. No such luck. I can’t find my driver. I spent the next 45 minutes trying to find my driver. After 4 phone calls with the dispatcher at the car service I finally found my driver. He apologized profusely and said this was the first time in 10 years that he failed to meet his client on time.

Now I am very nervous and worried that I would miss my plane. We got to Stanstead at 5:00 and I got through the checkin and passport control and security process in 45 minutes and ran to my gate for my 6:30 scheduled departure. They kept us waiting in line at the gate for more than two hours while they worked to repair some malfunction on one of the engines. And did I mention that it was a blazing hot day and there was no air conditioning in the terminal?

We finally got on the plane at 8:30 for our two hour flight to Santader.

After we landed in Santander I quickly picked up my bag, breezed through customs and their COVID control process and caught a cab to the alburgue.

That’s all for tonight. Good night from Santander.

Continue reading “Sunday, August 7, 2022 – Bon Voyage” →