38. Nueva to La Isla

 Thank you everyone for your good wishes re my health. I am grateful for a good night’s sleep last night. The morning began with a twelve kilometre walk (in the dark along the road, and then as dawn broke through gentle rural/coastal country) to Ribadesella, another solid old coastal town where we (Matthieu, David and I) managed to procure breakfast.

It really was a nice path, though I was decidedly lacking in the energy stakes and probably not in the best space to enjoy it.

But there was always the prospect of breakfast at Ribadesella and that definitely kept me going.

When I say breakfast, I actually mean first and second breakfast! It turned out that the cafe in Ribadesella had a breakfast deal (coffee, orange juice and a choice of various omelettes etc) for a very good price. We ordered, it came, we ate and drank and it was fantastic, so good that we decided to do it all over again. It was fantastic, as good as the first time and really energising.

To be honest, I could almost have gone a third time, but the road called so off we went - across the estuary and onwards to La Isla. 

These boats look worse than we do!

After the estuary,there was a delightful section along the beachfront at Ribadesella. In fact much of the rest of the day was spent rising and descending over headlands and then walking along beachfronts.

As the afternoon went on and with the tide out we actually took to the beach to walk. It was wonderful. As you can see there was even some sunshine.

It was a wonderful afternoon day to be on the Atlantic coast.

This scene, looking through the eucalypts to the beach, felt so resonant with places I have been in Australia.

After thirty kilometres of walking we arrived at La Isla, a little seaside village. The check in for the albergue was in the local supermarket, which was a first for me. Not only that, but the owner of the supermarket only let us in two at a time, locking the door in between!! 

Anyway, as I was standing outside in a small queue waiting to be let in, who should I see inside but Andy from Switzerland. Persistent readers of this blog will know that Sarah and I met Andy at the end of our first days walk from Carcassone. We walked similar stages and stayed in the same albergue as him for most of the Chemin de Piemonte Pyrenean. We said farewell when Sarah and I paused in San Sebastián and he walked on. It’s amazing how you end up seeing and then not seeing and then seeing again people for weeks at a time on Camino.

Tomorrow, I hope to walk to Villaviciosa. This is a slightly shorter stage, which will be appreciated physically. It’s also the point at which those continuing vis the Camino Primitivo will diverge (and head inland to Oviedo) from the Camino del Norte path. Both Andy and Matthieu are planning to go this way so I will be saying farewell at that point. 

Meanwhile, there is dinner to be had, and thankfully there is a bar opening for dinner here in Ka Isla. It won’t open until eight, but hopefully it will be worth waiting for. 

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