The day started off very well. We are on the Primitivo so the height meters happen every day. Whereas on the Camino Frances they seem more spread out. 

The day started with rain and ended with rain. In the middle it was fairly nice for the multiple ascents and descents. 

One of the struggles we are having with the Primitivo is the lack of infrastructure supporting pilgrims. In this day we went 10 kms without a stop. That included no cup of coffee to start the day. 

The wonderful part of the Camino Primitivo is the scenery. There are beautiful vistas around every corner! Really quite amazing!!!

The funny thing that happened is we arrived where we were supposed to stay and were told it didn’t open until 3 but we were welcome to sit outside in the rain and wait. That didn’t sound fun. Our next issue was our backpack was supposed to be delivered here and the delivery person said he had delivered it 4 kms on at an albergue. The hospitalero told us he doesn’t accept backpacks delivered. Oh no wonder our backpack was delivered elsewhere. 

We told him to cancel our reservation we had to walk on. We quickly made a reservation at the albergue where our pack was delivered and walked on. Just after visiting a quaint little chapel the rain started again, heavy. 

Our hostess greeted us and helped us to get our wet things off and put on a drying rack. It ended up being a blessing that our backpack couldn’t be delivered where we wanted. The Camino Provides. 

We left very early today. I’m not sure why because we only had 18 kms again. We arrived in Grado after 6,5 kms. Breakfast time. It was a great break for at least an hour. 

While at breakfast we saw Martin from Slovakia. While walking up the big hill for the day we ran into Ronald from Germany. Super great walk and talk which distracted us from the ascent. 

We were hoping for a break and food in Doriga. Despite the ad that we saw on our ascent that said Bar y albergue, nothing was open in doriga. We ate a sandwich that we brought along from our first stop. There was a bench so we sat and enjoyed a bit to eat and some water. While we were sitting there Evgeny and Ronald came walking up. We would see them again in Cornellana. They were having lunch. We were done for the day. 

We had a bit of a fun descent going into Cornellana. 

We had a super nice “dinner” for lunch. We always feel it is better to eat big at lunch. 

Hope you are well. Buen Camino!  

I’m a day late posting. But excited to share with you despite the fact that FB has decided to delete my posts. 

Yesterday, after our last stage of the San Salvador Camino (Mieres to Oviedo) we started the Camino Primitivo.

We had a fairly quiet day. I started counting the number of pilgrims that passed us, yes we start early and are super slow. I think we may have seen 50 pilgrims, whereas on the camino Frances there is at least 3-4 times more. 

When we arrived at where we thought we were staying we tried to go to the albergue. The man working at the bar called us over. We tried to say we had a reservation. He said, “at the hostel?” “Si” we replied. “This is the restaurant, the hostel is 4 kms back!” My face went white. Another pilgrim said, “only 3,5 kms” Noël looked at Pablo and said, “you are joking!!!!” Pablo doubled over. And everyone had a great laugh. We became friends. 

Dinner wasn’t until 8:00, which meant we didn’t eat until after 9. But it was really yummy food. Our table was so multi-national as well as multi cultural. At our table were people from 

Poland

Hungary

German 

Spain 

Belgium 

US

Russia/now living in Portugal 

Slovakia 

We had such a great evening. This is a great place to stay. Villa Palatina in Paladin. 

Hope you are well. Buen Camino!!

We left Mieres del Camín before the sunrise. We had only 19 kms to walk but quite a few ups and downs and we like to take it slow and enjoy. 

There was only one cafe at about halfway through the hike. We had a nice rest before the next two steep ascents and descents. 

We found a nice little picnic area to have a rest and a snack after another 5 kms. Then just before coming down into Oviedo City there was a nice little cafe on a very busy corner. We met the only two pilgrims we saw all day. Larry from Colorado and Gerard from the Netherlands. They both were finishing the San Salvador. Larry will be joining the Primitivo on Friday after a rest day in Oviedo City. 

We had a very nice traditional dinner of cachopo, it is similar to chicken cordon bleu or Wiener schnitzel (minus the cheese) though ours didn’t really have cheese either. We can check that off our list. Maybe try one more time. 

Oviedo City is a very lively place. And we are ready for this next adventure.

Ohhhhh and today was the 36th anniversary of my ordination to ministry.

Buen camino.