41. Gijón to Avilés

One of the things that distinguishes a Camino from walk is that a Camino takes you through everything, many landscapes, many experiences, many emotions - much like life. Today’s stage was not what i’d call beautiful or pleasant. It wasn’t a complete grind but it was getting that way. As per the routine, I was out and walking in the dark this morning, along with David who kindly offered me the spare bed in his pension last night. 

Fairly quickly, we were into the suburbs of Gijón, where we found an open bar for breakfast, and Jack, who was there sipping on a cuppa when we walked in. We three walked out together and a couple of kilometres later we were walking through the industrial outskirts of the city. Gijón has an industrial past and for quite some time we walked past what appeared to be a sprawling steelworks.

Eventually, we climbed a hill and moved into a more rural setting, at least for a time.

As we approached Avilés, things turned decidedly industrial again.

Much of the stage was along the road, and I’d say we were passed by more cyclists than cars today. Admittedly, it’s Sunday, but cycling is huge in Spain. I’ve seen so many cyclists along this route, especially on the weekends. Today I estimate being passed by well over a thousand cyclists, mostly men, many in groups, and nearly all with really good (expensive) bikes. 

🚴🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️🚴🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️

It felt like a long trudgy kind of a stage, one where you just need to keep at it. In the final couple of kilometres we found a path (including a bike path!) that wound into Avilés beside the river - a gentler end to a harsher stage. Perhaps to complement its industrial setting, the planners in Avilés have attempted a few modern buildings which you can see in this photo. I’m not sure that it’s been altogether successful but they do convey some of the Spanish flair and creative courage.

Add to that, this wild canter lever pedestrian footbridge and it really gave a final creative flush to an otherwise ‘undustrial’ (invented word) stage.