Day 24 - Llanes to Ribadesella
Date: Monday July 8
Start: Llanes, Asturias
End: Ribadesella, Asturias
Daily Mileage: 21.03mi (33.8km)
Total Mileage: ~267mi (~429.7km)
Today we passed the halfway point of our walk to Santiago de Compostela! Woo hoo!
With all of the potential alternates and variants, it’s hard to say where the actual halfway point is. All we know is that the distance from Irún to Santiago de Compostela is approximately 520 miles, and today we passed the halfway point of this mileage. Good enough for us!
Speaking of alternates, we started our day with a coastal alternate that was not included in any of our mapping apps, but mentioned in a guidebook that I also use. Perusing multiple sources has been very helpful when we look at route options, as sometimes blogs or guidebooks may mention alternates that are not marked on maps, or vice versa.
Anyway, while the ‘official’ Camino route followed the road out of Llanes, we decided to take a coastal variant that hugged the coast for the first three miles. It added about a mile onto what was already going to be a pretty long day, but seemed worth it.
It was a beautiful day as we set out – and all day, really. Climbing the steps above Playa de El Sablón, we took in our last views over Llanes before continuing westward along the coast. The small cobbled path of Paseo de San Pedro ran high above the coastal cliffs, eventually fading into a grass path that continued along the coast through pasture land of grazing cows and horses. Other than a couple of overgrown sections where tall weeds spilled into the path, it was a great trail with excellent views to the sea. It seemed strange that it wasn’t the official route out of town rather than the road.
After about three miles, we dropped back down to meet the official route just passed Playa de Poo (Poo Beach), a nice calm beach set inside a narrow inlet. Despite having an unfortunate name, it seemed like a relaxing spot to enjoy a beach day. Despite being on a very long walk along the coast of northern Spain and passing numerous worthy candidates, we have yet to have a beach day. Thus far, most of our town/rest days along the coast have not been warm enough to enjoy a trip to the beach (usually we’re just lucky if they aren’t raining). We’ve also yet to take a break for a dip while hiking... It seems like something we need to make happen before the route leaves the coast though.
The remainder of the morning routed us along nice gravel pathways set back from the coast and around several beaches. A little over five miles into the hike, we took a break along Playa de Palomina for cold drinks under the shade of an umbrella, as warm days are meant to be enjoyed. Still only midmorning, it was already growing quite hot.
Leaving the beach, we hiked trough the outskirts of Celoriu and on through the edges of the town of Barru. Outside of Barru, we passed the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, or ‘Parish of Our Lady of Sorrows’. (As we all know, ‘Dolores’ short for ‘Our Lady of Sorrows’).
The church sat above a wide tidal flat, only partially covered by water at this time of day, boats beached in the ground around the high complex. While already a stunning setting, I imagined just how much more majestic it must look when high tide gorged the Ria del Barro, swelling to the outer walls of the church. Boats arriving for Sunday service.
Continuing along country roads and under the shade of forested gravel paths, the town of Niembru came into view, climbing high into the hillsides. Our route took us along its lower reaches, where many of the structures along the road were little more than crumbling facades. Beautiful though, contributing to the ‘it’s really old here’ atmosphere. There is so much history in Europe... it seems every old building we see could tell a story through ages of kings and conquests and wars.
The morning continued like this: shaded gravel paths through forests; views of the Picos de Europa in the distance – still with some bits of snow; an isolated church in a field, crumbling and covered in vines, yet important enough to leave standing in a field, delicately planting the crops around its edges. Beautiful beaches with surf schools practicing in the sand and waves.
Around noon, we wound our way through the central plaza in the small town of Naves, where we discovered, fairly unshockingly, that the restaurant that we’d planned to eat lunch at was closed, despite being listed as open at this hour. Have we mentioned how difficult it can be to get a meal here?
We continued down the road another half a mile or so, where we ended up having a very delicious lunch of grilled pork, salad, fries, and crusty bread, which we enjoyed at a shaded table on an outdoor patio, very happy with where we’d ended up.
Finishing up just after 1pm, we were still only halfway through with our day of hiking, with another 10+ miles to go to Ribadesella, our stopping point for the day.
A bit of a summary of the afternoon:
There were more shaded paths through the forest, though also quite a lot of unshaded country roads. There was a library in the forest. We passed through the town of Nueva, which looked just adorable – clean, bright, and lively. The type of place where you’d want to grab an ice cream and sit on a park bench. We, however, continued on.
There were horses and our path walked along the railway tracks for a bit, a constant reminder that there are quicker ways to get where we’re going.
And, we went through the very small town of Pińeras, which is were many pilgrims would end their day at an albergue. Also, about the closest you could get to the halfway point of the Camino del Norte. I snapped a picture of the town sign and we continued.
There were more churches and gravel roads through beautiful countryside with view of the Picos. There were flowering vines and colorful houses and there was so so much sun on our skin. We were happy each time we happened upon a water fountain to refill our bottles.
As it is, I am playing a bit of a game with my backpack called: how quickly can you get the water bottle back in the water bottle pocket? My new pack is an Osprey, a model that I’ve actually used in the past and really like overall. Except for those water bottle pockets. They are too high and tight to easily slip your water bottle back into. You can do it, but it takes some doing.
Eventually gravel path gave way to paved country roads which gave way to a much busier road, which deposited us into the narrow backstreets of Ribadesella’s historic quarter. We weaved our way through the small lanes and down cobbled staircases by homes and businesses to the riverfront area where, we ran into, of all people, our friend the tick whisperer, Andy from Australia. (Despite this being the third time we’ve run into him, we only learned today that his name is Andy). We chatted with him for a bit. He had arrived yesterday after only hiking 12km from his last stop and, though he’d originally planned to continue on, he’d met a nice German couple on the beach yesterday and they’d partied together into the wee morning hours. So he was still here. That seemed like as good a reason as any to take a zero.
After chatting a bit, we continued along the bridge over the wide Rio Sella, which emptied into the Bay of Biscay just beyond our site. Ribadesella is split by the river, with a wide mountainous peninsula on the eastern side, which also houses its historic quarter, and the remainder of town, including the very long Playa de Santa Marina to the west of the river.
After checking into our hotel (on the west side of town), we were back across the bridge on the east side once again, looking for dinner. (Reviews for restaurants on the west side were no bueno). There was an outdoor market set up along the promenade along the river here, and we walked through taking a look at the stalls of baked goods, cheeses, meats, local crafts, and clothing before venturing toward the historic quarter to find dinner.
Monday is a tough day sometimes. Many restaurants are closed on Mondays (or Sundays and Mondays). This combined with the late dinner hours conspired to result in a picnic style dinner from the grocery store (too lazy to return to the market). Back at our hotel, we sat in the grassy area in front of the building, pulling patio furniture into the shade to enjoy our little picnic of baguettes, chorizo, apples, chips, and fizzy waters. Dinner of champions.
There is a little carnival going on across the river near where we walked through the outdoor market. The music is THUMPING. How long do we think this will go on into the night? We shall find out.