Gijon to ‘Somewhere near Salinas’

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All Saints Day - a public holiday in Spain. For me it had religious significance. Not just for all good people who have come and gone - but also for how our experiences while distinct and staged,  can join to become one - today was like that. I’ll try and explain . 

Part one. The day began beautifully- the Boogaloo hostel was a dream, weird after all the digital challenges but I had the best time. There were only four of us plus a Swiss family that we didn’t see. We pooled our groceries for dinner and breakfast, talked, sang and said goodbyes - very Camino.

It turns out the Romans did quite a lot for the gentle folk of Gijon in the early centuries.  

Today the Roman port is a boat harbour 

These footpath markers  were really handy on the walk out of the city. As I climbed I appreciated rhe industrial scope of this place.

And the beauty of the trail 

Part Two. Heading towards Avilles

The weather turned. There was no one about and the industrial landscape was bleak - kilometres of roadside drudgery.
My feet started to ache, I stopped and changed socks.
 👍 felt better! Then this showed up 🙄

Spanish town planners have a special gift for turning a simple railway crossing into a mini Camino- up and back and up and back and across and . . Then an albergue appeared and it started to rain- doesn’t get any better than this! Woohoo 🥳 

It was opening later but what really made an impression was . . . 
Plus the hospitalero resembled a prison warden so I didn’t even bother checking in. Ok - what now  Mike?

Walk on! I stopped by the church with the illuminated crucifix - it beamed at me through the drizzle.

I rang ahead and spoke to Carlos who runs a surf oriented hostel at Salinas on the beach about 5 kms away and booked in - as my phone was dripping wet and running out of battery 

‘Somewhere near Salinas’ 🎶  - no I’m actually here Bobby McGee.
A day in three parts - but one Camino experience blended but with each part important in contrast with the others- and the whole is greater - always - Trinidad!

I’m watching a football match and am just about to have dinner. 




















Comments

  1. Anonymous2 November 2023 at 03:52

    What a day, so many contrasts - community and solitude, dark and light, beauty and ugliness, natural and urban, ocean and earth, sunshine and rain, silence and song... The Way it is! BC Neils

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chrissy2 November 2023 at 04:45

    Haha bet you’re glad you pressed on and not risk those pesky fleas!! Goodness!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous2 November 2023 at 20:45

    Yep for sure Chrissy- I left before the bed bugs had a chance 😉

    ReplyDelete

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