Our 30 km “long and flat” day did not materialize as there were no places available in the desired destination. We scaled back to a 21 km destination in the industrial city of Navia, located on a large river.
Our day started with breakfast at the Hotel Báltico where we stayed. The elder manager opened the bar/restaurant early for us when we showed up at 7:50. He’s been working there for 43 years, and the tired look in his eyes discloses a deep fatigue. We thanked him for the coffee, toast and jam and headed off, climbing narrow passageways out of the tiny fishing village surrounded by cliffs.
The Camino headed west on gently rolling farmland with plenty of cattle, barn cats and grainaries. Our route stayed sandwiched between the new freeway and the older N-634 local highway, said to be semi-unused, and I could compare it to a US-66 as a historic highway. After 8 km walking at the 2 hour mark, we found a conveniently placed bench and stopped for an orange. In another hour we cam upon a nice little bar/restaurant in the farm town of Villapedre. Many familiar faces greeted us as we pulled up and ordered the usual orange juice, coffee, tortilla and bizcocho( like a coffee cake)
After our large second breakfast we continued along the country roads, passing churches, and increasingly industrial level farming, until we arrived at the city of Navia. Navia is a distinctly industrial, blue-collar town. It looks a little depressed with many storefronts up for sale or for rent. Our hotel was an elegant old mansion, nicely transformed into a modernized hotel without destroying the historical details.
We went out for some food after showering up and found an unusual American-themed burger joint that was playing both American pop music videos and a TV show from the 1970s set in Chicago. It was a little bit of a strange experience, but the burgers were better than most I’ve had in the US.
It was a more of an ”average” day on the Camino, 21 km, but we were thankful for health and good weather. Speaking of weather, it’s surprising that the temperature varies from about 60-68 every day. Today was windy and partly cloudy. Very pleasant for hiking. Tomorrow we will have a long hike, getting close to the Galician/Asturian border where we turn away from the coast and toward Santiago. Soon we will have less than 200 km remaining.
Tonight as I was relaxing and typing up today’s post I had trouble with the WiFi so I went down to the common and administrative areas. Our hostess and we started to chat. I mentioned I was hoping to find a glass of Rioja wine, famous from this area. She went directly to the wine cabinet, I helped her to open a bottle, and soon we were enjoying a glass of wine together with Alice. Perhaps she will bring her daughters over later to practice their English. I love the feeling of the family-owned hotels and the moment when I’m included in family life. Her 3-year old daughter came over and sat down beside me. Her name is Norah, and just as she sat with me Norah Jones was singing on the radio. These moments can’t be planned. They can only be embraced.