Day 26 - Colunga to Villaviciosa

Date: Wednesday July 10

Start:  Colunga, Asturias

End: Villaviciosa, Asturias

Daily Mileage: 11.13mi (~17.9km)

Total Mileage: ~290mi (446.7km)

Today started like most other days. After pulling ourselves together, we walked down the street in Colunga to find a cafe for breakfast. En route we ran into both Andy and Terry, who were chatting with each other. All of our acquaintances, together at last.

Cool little cafe in Colunga. And Terry’s back.

I asked Terry how her foot was doing. She was bailing on the hike for this year. It was going to take too many days to let her ankle heal, and even then, jumping back into full days of hiking probably wasn’t the best idea. Since she had lodging booked the next few nights, she was just taking the bus from town to town until her flight out of Oviedo on Saturday. After catching up, we continued on to get egg/chorizo tortilla sandwiches and coffees at a cafe conveniently set right along the Camino route. 

Heading out of town after breakfast, the first couple of miles were fairly flat easy walking.  Beyond this, the next few miles were comprised of two significant climbs. Neither was particularly steep, just long steady grinds up hot, exposed country roads. The sun was out in full force. The humidity must have been near 100%. Our shirts were soaked as we plodded up the road. There was little breeze to relieve the situation.

We have long since stopped relying on weather apps for useful information; however  before the Euro Cup game last night, the TV in the restaurant had the news on. When the weather forecast came up, the map of Spain was mostly bright oranges and dark brick reds, with most of the country experiencing high temps in the low to mid 30s+ (86-100ºF). In comparison, the northern coast was swathed in a pale yellow on the TV screen. It seemed fairly moderate with highs closer to 24-27ºC (75-80ºF). So I suppose we should count ourselves lucky, though these temps still feel quite hot when you’re out for a long walk. 

Other than being hot, it was a nice morning. Tucked inland, the scenery was full of rolling green hillsides and farmland. The dull clanging of cowbells along the hillsides a constant companion. 

Along the route, we also passed several small apple orchards, fueling the vibrant cider culture throughout Asturias. Cider, as we have found, is the drink that defines Asturias. Every town has at least a handful of sidrerias, each serving cider (sidre) out of traditional green bottles. When they arrive at your table, the bottles are either poured from very high into a glass below (something the waitress does) or they come with a little barrel/straw contraption that you fill your glass from. Each of the methods is intended to aerate the cider, bringing out the flavor. 

Iglesia parroquial de Pernús

While I find ciders in the U.S. to often be too sweet or leave a vinegary aftertaste, here the ciders are exceedingly dry, with almost a flat but still flavorful taste. No vinegary aftertaste. I much prefer the style here. I could have gone for a nice cold cider on the hot climbs.

Not long after cresting the top of the second climb, we actually had refreshment of another sort. It had been well noted in blogs and guidebooks that the route from Colunga to Villaviciosa had little in the way of places to stop for any sort of food, drinks, or other services along the way. Since the walk was only about 11 miles, we didn’t worry too much. We topped up our water bottles, had breakfast before leaving Colunga, and would eat lunch when we arrived in Villaviciosa. 

Weed whacking. Spain’s second national sport.

But descending from the long climb, about halfway through the walk for the day, set upon the stone wall in front of a home was a small selection of cold beverages and a pitcher of fresh lemonade with a stack of small cups. Prices were listed to leave a euro or so for any drinks that you took. How nice. 

We dug two euro out of our pockets and helped ourselves to a couple of glasses of the lemonade, just as the woman who owned the home came out to set up a few more things. We thanked her for the lemonade and chatted for a bit. We all commented on the hot weather and she asked if we were heading to Villaviciosa for the day, which we affirmed. She told us that it was “solo dos mas horitas”. Only two more hours. In Spanish, -ita is often added to the end of words to create a diminutive form of the word, or make the word sound cute. Small/short/easy horitas vs. long/hard horas. Cute little hours. Fueled by cute little cups of lemonade.

We had actually passed by a number of lemon trees today, as well as along the Camino in general. I love the way the yellows of the lemons pop against the background of green here. Lemons add a nice splash of color to any landscape or decor really. Bright yellow is my power color. As we left the makeshift roadside refreshment stand, fueled by fresh lemonade, Shawn commented that he was surprised lemonade didn’t seem to be a bigger deal here considering how common lemon trees seemed to be throughout the region.  

Regardless, the roadside lemonade stand had definitely lifted our spirits – or at least hydrated them a bit. There actually hasn’t been too much of this kind of thing along the Camino, in terms of this kind of interaction/offering from those living in homes along the route. This said, just yesterday we had walked by the house of a man that was very excited for us to use his water spicket. “Agua fria!” he exclaimed. Cold water! While neither of us needed any water at the time, he seemed so dang stoked to offer water to pilgrims on a hot day, we stopped to top up our bottles anyway. 

While everyone we pass along the route is friendly, returning our holas and other morning/afternoon greetings, these types of offerings/help/kindnesses – which in the thru hiking world we would refer to as ‘trail magic’ – from those that live along the Camino route have been pretty rare, which makes them all the more unexpected and special when they occur.

Maybe this woman knew that her home was in a good location to be of service. Halfway through a hot day on a long stretch between towns. It was just the kind of place where a cold drink could go a long way.

Luckily, while much of the route had been exposed, the second half of the hike carried us through a few shadier sections of trail through forest and along small rivers. Veering onto one of these side paths through the woods, the temperature dropped immediately as we entered. Wet leaves carpeted the path and a hummingbird flitted across the trail just ahead of me. The river babbled over some rocks. It was a fairytale sort of setting after coming off the hot road. 

Due to recent rains, in some areas there was a bit of walking the tightrope of dry ground around muddy puddles, but all this could be forgiven for the tradeoff of shade. 

On another one of these forested sections, we had just come off a stretch of exposed paved country road once again. Shawn was a bit ahead of me. I had looked at the down the road behind me not long ago. No one. We had only seen a couple of pilgrims throughout the day. None for awhile now.

Feeling comfortable in my solitude, I stepped off the side of the trail and squatted down to #1. (Bet you didn’t think that was where this was going.) Just as I’d started to, you know, go... I looked back down the trail and there were two hikers just coming down the trail not far behind me. Clear line of sight. “F-ING HELL–“ I popped up, quickly pulling up my pants, halfway pissing all over myself in the process. Going just around the bend to try and finish what I’d started, suddenly there were two other hikers just ahead, who Shawn had obviously already passed. They were stopped to take photos. WHERE THE F DID ALL OF THESE PEOPLE COME FROM ALL THE SUDDEN. 

At this point, I was making haste down the trail in my piss pants. I passed the women taking photos. The two other hikers coming up behind me had DEFINITELY seen me ... how much bottom they got an eyeful of, I don’t know. But I didn’t want to have the uncomfortable interaction of running into them. Oh hey... buenos dias! I was working out how to translate “Sorry for the show back there”, (in the likelihood that they were native Spanish speakers) whilst simultaneously hiking very fast so they wouldn’t catch up and I wouldn’t have to use this phrase. Pelicula means movie... ‘Lo siento para el pelicula... “ that doesn’t sound right... 

I double-timed it down the trail to catch up with Shawn. There were less than two miles to get into town, but the bathroom peepers seemed to be hard chargers. Each time I had looked back along the trail, I could see them coming. Catching up, I told Shawn what had happened... explaining why I was walking so fast. This was honestly far from my most embarrassing bathroom moment in the wilderness (there are many)... but nonetheless, I didn’t feel like the situation needed to be any more awkward than it already was. Shawn would later joke that I was running from the pee-parazzi. 

Coming into Villaviciosa, the route wrapped around some frontage roads along an interstate, eventually taking us over the highway on a bridge and descending into town. The pee-parazzi was still in my rearview mirror, but a ways behind. We continued through the streets of Villaviciosa and to our hotel. Embarrassing interaction avoided. 

Sidra El Gaitero, a large cider orchard outside of Villaviciosa.

Naturally after checking in, the next course of action was a shower combined with a bit of shower laundry. Once we arrive in Gijón, we’ll find a laundromat for some proper washing. Maybe I can set the shorts on fire there, who knows. We have a really good track record with laundromats right now.

Iglesia de Santa Eulalia

After getting cleaned up, we went back out for lunch. Having not had a menu del dia in awhile, we found a sidreria with one that was well rated not too far from the hotel. While the menu del dia typically includes a first course, main course, and dessert along with bread and water or wine, we soon found out that the sidreria we were at actually provided EVEN more food, including a soup course in addition to all the rest. 

The menu del dia is typically already more than enough food. And with very generous portions, this menu del dia was far more food than we needed. But it was all tasty. We really liked the fish/seafood soup (though come on, if you’re going to put prawns/shrimp in a soup, it really seems like you should peel them, right?) and the paella. And we washed everything down with cider because: Asturias. Villaviciosa in particular is well known for its ciders, so it only seemed appropriate.

Villaviciosa City Council

Miserably full, we were back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the afternoon/evening. 

And that was our day. Some hot climbs. Tasty lemonade. And I basically peed my pants. All in a day’s work out here.