Today we took a day off. Apparently even God had some rest after 6 days. We had it after 12.

Yesterday it was impossible to find a place to stay for the night in almost any town from Ribadesella to Gijón. The reason is simple: today Ribadesella hosted the 86th descent of the river Sella, one of the most prestigious international races for canoes (piragüas, in Spanish).

Apparently this is the biggest weekend of the year in this neck of the woods. It would be like stumbling into Le Mans the friday just before the start of the famous 24h motor race and complaining about not finding a place to sleep. It’s obvious if you know about the race, but if you don’t… Then that’s a big surprise coming your way.

What saved us, ironically, was the points I still had from my consulting days. These allowed us to book a stay at a high-end hotel in Gijón, at no additional cost. After five years, the gifts keep on giving.

Since it was impossible for us to reach Gijón on foot, we decided to take a bus and take the day off. This hopefully will allow Laura’s knee to rest and recover.

The small bus ride probably hurt me more than actually walking to Gijón. I was feeling dizzy and like I had to throw up the whole way.

When we got down from the bus, I was glad we could walk to our hotel, more than 30 minutes away. I feel like our bodies needed to walk, as if they were expecting it. This is a good sign.

Tonight, however, we are taking it easy, walking around town and enjoying a good beer.

It is our honeymoon after all.

Tomorrow we will start walking again.