Today was a challenging walk with just over 30km to walk with two big climbs in the middle of it. One was 500 metres and the other around 260 metres. The first hill was quite demanding as it was steep, but the second was a little kinder to us.
We weren’t all that impressed with Villaviacosa nor with the food. For a long walk, we set out with a black coffee and a piece of toast in our stomachs. That seemed to be all that was on offer at the hotel. The food the previous night wasn’t much to write home about either. Sitting here writing this now, I’m famished and could murder a steak, but restaurants don’t open till 8:30 pm—another bugbear.
We’re quickly in the country and headed uphill for our first climb. We saw another Camino veer off to the left and head inland on the way out. This path is called the Primitive Way, and at one point, Ron and I were deciding whether we should take that route or not. We decided to stick to the Northern Way hence me here writing in our town for tonight, Gijon.
We reach the summit and are pointed along the road, which is a gentle slope all the way down into the valley. So many gum trees up here that are a pest in Spain, and they have trouble eradicating them. They were initially planted for shipbuilding and paper, but once they got out, that was it.
We get some lovely views of the valley as we head back down the road. Very quiet and peaceful here.
We were busting for a coffee and some more food at this point, and in the above image, the cafe looked promising from a distance. As we approached, we discovered it was closed. Not happy! We continued and started our second climb for the day, which wasn’t as arduous as the first.
Once we come to the crest of this hill, we can see Gijon, our home for the evening. There is still about 8km to walk into town, which took us through the ritzy part of Gijon with large homes and gated communities.
We’d read that once you get into Gijon, it’s best to head to the beach promenade and walk into town. We did that feeling quite knackered by that stage as we were hitting 30km of walking for the day. I was looking forward to the hotel where I could take off my shoes and relax.
And that ends today’s walk. I am heading off to bed now for a good night’s sleep. I need it!
Thanks for reading and for a map of today’s walk; you’ll find it below.
Buen Camino! 🥾