Warm day today, which started with rain and ended up with a blazing Sun and more than 30 degrees Celsius.
The afternoon reminded me of the dreadful mesetas on the Camino Francés, which is funny, as we are exactly “above” (to the North of) Carrion de Los Condes. That town is right in the middle of the desert that is the mesetas. I told Laura a few episodes from my walk in 2013.
I believe there is a before and an after you walk through the mesetas. It’s probably the most challenging part of the Camino Francés, both physically and mentally. I would like to do it again some day, but not during the summer. I pity the poor bastards who are walking down there these days, with these temperatures. My heart goes out to you, fellow peregrinos.
Luckily for us, the Northern route is better from almost every point of view, except for the predominant asphalt.
Today we entered the region of Asturias, the birthplace of the one and only Fernando Alonso, and left Cantabria. Laura’s knee is still troubling her. It’s quite unpredictable when it starts hurting, which adds to the frustration she feels every day.
Still, we managed to walk up to where we wanted to be, a small albergue in Vidiago, close to coastal town of Llanes.
We met a few times with a German woman, probably in her fifties or sixties, called Kathrine. She walked the Camino del Norte last year, and she’s doing it again this year. I guess she’s also been struck by the Camino sickness, and a serious case at that. She even admitted to liking the mesetas. Crazy!
Around Colombres, we met Veronique again, which was nice. She was still featuring her signature umbrella, placed between her shoulder and the bag, to cover her from the Sun. Nifty.
This albergue seems alright, we were able to get a nice shower and a bit of time off to plan the next few days.
Tomorrow we should head to another small town, as we are still offset from the stages suggested from our guide. We’re almost half day behind, which is quite alright if you ask me. That’s why we have a few buffer days.
Our bodies are feeling the burden of the walk, but besides the unpredictable knee, we are in a fairly decent shape.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is still unfavorable to us. Warm and sunny again.
I’m just glad I am not in the mesetas.