Day 25 - Ribadesella to Colunga

Date: Tuesday July 9

Start:  Ribadesella, Asturias

End: Colunga, Asturias

Daily Mileage: 12.6mi (20.3km)

Total Mileage: ~279mi (449km)

Today we did a short(er) day to Colunga.

While we had originally planned to do a few long days in a row to get to Gijón, somewhere on the dusty backroads on the way into Ribadesella yesterday, pouring sweat in the late afternoon sun and feet feeling very sore around 17-18 miles in, we ‘changed minds’.

And so, instead of doing a ~23 mile walk to Villaviciosa today, we decided to do a ~12-13ish mile walk to the small town of Colunga instead. The beauty of only booking our lodging one night in advance is that we can make these kind of last minute decisions.

The problem with long hike days is it doesn’t really leave you any time to explore the towns/cities you’re hiking into (and through). I like to arrive with enough time to have a poke around and, in several places, even stay an extra day.

Also, when we keep the days more moderate, I think of the Camino as more of a nice walk between meals, coffee breaks, and ice cold fizzy waters enjoyed at beachside cafes. Once we start getting into the longer distances, it can feel like more of a quest to make miles with less time for breaks and exploring. It becomes a lot more work. And that’s not very fun.

Grab ya cane and walk this way... 

So with all of that backstory out of the way, onto our day to Colunga.

Knowing that we had a shorter day ahead of us, we slept in a bit and it was nearing 8:45a when we head down the street for a bit of breakfast.

Sitting at a sidewalk table outside a cafe, we waved Andy down as he walked by, his focus squarely on the beach about a block or so ahead. We chatted briefly. He was also on his way to Colunga today.

Not long after he left, a woman walked up, plopping herself down at the table next to ours. “Well, I hurt my ankle yesterday,” she said to us. She was clearly a pilgrim, but we had not met her before. We did not know this woman. Ummm, hello. Mucho gusto. Nice to meet you?

“Oh no!” I said. My feeble attempt at sympathy with the stranger.

She continued on. “I took the coastal route yesterday and ended up injuring myself,” she explained, “So I went to a doctor. He said to stay off my feet and rest it for a couple days.” She pointed to the swollen ankle she had twisted on the trail. “The problem is, I already have lodging booked in Colunga, so I’ll have to take the bus. I hate to miss the walk, though...”

We commiserated with her for a moment and then I decided to back the conversation up a bit. Start with the pleasantries and introductions that had been hastily skipped. Like, Hi! Are you hiking the Camino? Where are you from? She was from California. Her son had lived in Barcelona for about six years now and she figured she was coming over often enough that she would start hiking the Camino in sections. Last year she had gone from Irún to Santillana del Mar, where she had picked up the hike again about a week ago.

After finishing up and paying, we hefted on our packs and wished her well, further rewinding our conversation and exchanging names. Her name was Terry. Since she was also heading to Colunga today, maybe we would see her there later. [Note: we would not see her there later.]

Heading out of town, we walked down the boardwalk along the Playa de Santa Marina and through the San Pedro neighborhood, where we collided with the Ruta de los Dinosaurios, before making our way slowly uphill out of the city.

Dinosaurs. Making their own Camino…

The morning brought a mix of paved and gravel countryside roads, rolling green hillsides, and small coastal towns. At one of the first said towns, Vega, we stopped at a beachfront cafe for an early break, because... I needed to use the bathroom. But more importantly, why not? The day was already growing hot and I’ve developed a healthy addiction to agua con gas (fizzy water).

For some reason, I’m always so relieved when we return to the coast. 

After our break, the Camino led us past the Playa de Vega and into the hillsides along single track dirt trail that meandered high above the coast. A family attempted mountain biking up the rocky path, only to spend most of their time walking their bikes. We would intersect with them on a short section of highway later on our hike.

After routing away from the coast along forested paths, village laneways, homes ornamented with incredible hydrangea bushes, and short clips along a busy road, the trail eventually led back to dirt paths above the coast. The beaches below were rocky and wild. Harder to access, many were empty.

The number of hydrangea bushes along the Camino del Norte is insane. The bushes at this house get the blue ribbon (thus far) for ratio of flowers to leaves. Looks like a giant pink pom pom at the corner of the house.

Eventually a grass trail led us down along the more popular beach of Playa de la Espasa near the beach town of La Isla. With only a few miles to go for the day, we stopped for lunch at an outdoor bar/restaurant along the beach, posting up at a picnic table for couple of pizzas we would rank as a solid “meh”, but filling nonetheless.

Mackerel skies. The rain is coming...

Pretty sure this was made atop an actual tortilla.

After lunch, the Camino took us away from the coast, leading us inland toward Colunga. This route started along a busier road before diverting to smaller pathways behind homes, shaded leafy paths through the forest, and quiet backroads.

During lunch, the skies had grown overcast and now threatened rain, spitting a bit, but ultimately holding off. The day had been exceedingly humid and it was a certainty that rain would come eventually. The clouds were heavy with this promise.

Capilla Na Sra. de Loreto

Luckily for us, we marched into Colunga before this happened. Shawn had booked us into a very cute little ‘historic’ hotel, which mostly meant that it was old. But it was very nice, nonetheless. We checked in and then left our shoes outside our room, feigning respect for the cleanliness of the room, when in reality we just didn’t want to smell them. After some days of hiking in wet shoes, they were not smelling great. Especially mine. As the Spanish would say, “huele mal”.

Having arrived a little after 3pm, we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening relaxing in the room. The skies had a good little rain during this time. And we had a good little siesta.

And, you won’t believe it, but we actually went out for a very late (read: normal) Spanish dinner. I mean, not incredibly late, but we would consider eating dinner anytime after 8pm pretty late. The purpose (beyond the obvious desire to eat) was really two-fold.

First, I’d found a well rated restaurant that had scallops. With the scallop shell as the official symbol of the Camino, there had been a surprising dearth of scallop offerings along the trail. We are finally getting to the point where we are seeing Galician scallops on the menu. Shawn is not a scallop lover, but they may be my favorite type of seafood. I was keen to have some.

Second, Spain was playing France in the semi-final of the Euro 2024 at 9pm. We could potentially stay up for a Spanish dinner time if there was also entertainment in the form of a futbol (soccer) game involved.

And so, a little after 8:15p, we made our way to the restaurant down the street. Bar Laredo. Meals in Spain are generally a relaxed affair. They seat you (eventually), take your orders (eventually), and bring the food (eventually). They don’t bother you much and generally you may need to wave them down if you need/want something. Unlike the U.S., they aren’t generally trying to get you to vacate your table as quickly as possible.

The scallops did not disappoint.

This place did not get this memo. Or maybe just our waitress. On a day when we wanted to take our time so we could watch the game, we may have had the most proactive waitress in all of Spain. She was so attentive and so quick to take our orders and bring the food that we were worried we wouldn’t even make it to game time. She could definitely get a job at a restaurant in the U.S.

We stretched out the meal. We ate slowly. I ordered a bottle of cider (a big thing in Asturias) with a fun little barrel dispenser. Shawn had several beers. We got dessert. I had coffee. It seemed none of the wait staff was bothering the other tables, letting them simply sit with a drink and watch the game. But somehow we were always being asked if we wanted something else. Finally, when we had ordered everything there was to order for a complete meal, we were left alone. 

So this was a lot of fun.

It was a good game and Spain once again prevailed, besting France, 2 to 1. This means they are heading to the championship against the winner of the England/Netherlands game, so we’ll need to stay up late once again on July 14 to watch the final. 

Leaving the restaurant after the game, judging from the whoops and hollers we were hearing down the road, it seems there were more exciting establishments where we could have watched the game. As is was, our own restaurant crowd had cheered for the goals and clapped at the end of the game, but nothing too rowdy or spirited. Down the street, a few small firecrackers were set off and we could hear yells of celebration. Perhaps we will try and find somewhere with a bit more zest to watch the championship game. 

And now it’s off to bed. Tomorrow we be another short-ish day to Villaviciosa.