Llanas to Ribadesella ...

Clocks go forward an hour, though Sun is up only a little earlier ... breakfast at Albergue, coffee, juice, bread and jam a wise choice, since first open cafe on the road arrives 3 hours later after a coastal track, some woods, a little road ... shorts on as Sun comes up and gorgeous all the way to Casa Raul near Navas for fresh orange juice and good coffee though no meat-free pinchos to be found ... never mind, Sun brings energy directly and almost half the stage is done by 11 ... an hour later Nueves appears with lots of cafe choices including tortilla ... after that it's a steady plod mostly on dirt tracks all the way to Ribadesela by 3 and a filling menu del dia before looking for a bed ... which turns up in a 2 star pension for a little comfort after yesterday's austere delights alone in a 6 bed dormitory with heating spared and three blankets to keep warm ... proper sleeping bag skipped for sake of weight and volume in the pack ... possibly a problem in busy hostels, but they seem very quiet now ... no pilgrims seen all day ... perhaps things will pick up for Easter ...

San Vicente to Llanes. ..

Soaked oats, banana and yoghurt enables extra early exit and epic stage  ... crescent moon in clear dark sky ... uphill for dawning and along quiet roads to Serdio for first coffee at 8 ... quick second coffee at 9 and juice plus pastry at Unquera at 10 ... the last town in Cantabria ... over the river and up to Colombres, where a bus load of children from Gijon are roaming round asking questions ... the teachers trying to get them to speak English (it's important for them) ...

On into Asturias on back roads and hard shoulders with occasional dirt tracks ... feet complain at all the asphalt, left knee joins in, then shoulders ... all connected and conspiring to find softer surfaces and shorter stages ... a brief excursion on coastal tracks lift the spirits, before returning to hard shoulder and lunch an hour before Llanes with extended rest ...

The rather fine town finally arrives at 5, tourist info is open for update on coming stages (each region is responsible for Camino info and infrastructure) ... hostel located in search of pilgrims, absent all day, though there none here ... too early they say ... season starts in May ... except for Germans and the odd Englishman ...

Ribadesella tomorrow perhaps, 32km a little gentler than today's hard 45 ...

And for readers who like pictures, the blog has decided not to load them ... users of FB may find a selection there ...

Santillana to San Vicente

Perfect walking weather for a 30+ stage with sea to the right, snow capped mountains to the left, beautifully restored buildings along the Way. .. early start and brisk pace means San Vicente and main meal of late lunch is reached by 2.30 ... though since the Albergue closed a while back alternative accommodation has to be found ... which turns out to be the rather lovely Hotel Luzon, where Jose Antonio plays the game of haggling with the pilgrim and finds a reasonable offer ...

Before which, a diy breakfast at the Convento is laid out before 7 ... muesli, an apple, coffee, some sliced white bread for toast, skipped for the sake of the stomach ... Lena shows up first, then  Hubert and finally Claudia ... the rest taking it easy ... Remo with inflammation of the leg, advised to rest, but thinking of a few kilometres, others aiming for Comillas, where the Albergue is closed until May, when the main season starts ... ringing ahead to find alternatives ...

The first pilgrim, Peter from Switzerland, appears after Comillas ... fluent in Romansch, German, French, English and Spanish, though more in speaking than listening ... he seeks a dune diversion to avoid the road and asks a passing local, who points the way ... he heads duneward prematurely and has not been seen since ... the river may possibly be forded at the sea, updates if he turns up later ...

Meanwhile, the forecast looks fair for a few days before some rain appears next week ... hopefully not turning to snow on the mountains after Oviedo ...

Tomorrow, out of Cantabria, into Asturias ...

Santander to Santillana

An early night and an early start sets up a decent first day of 40km  give or take a few miles. .. or kilometres ... since the stage is confusing, with marked routes leading to a stretch where the train is recommended for safety reasons ... experience confirms the danger ... in any case the first bridge available to pedestrians is at Puente Arce where the N611 runs, motorway and railway bridges being downstream ans shorter, but prohibited to walkers ... so, some hard shouldering is chosen since the 611 goes to Torrelavega via Puente Arce ... a tough enough challenge for feet with tarmac all the way ...

So, 7 am is coffee in Santander, 8, first breakfast of tortilla and coffee in the outskirts, 9, second breakfast of fresh orange juice and croissant and after the medieval bridge at Puente Arce a change to shorts since Sun has emerged from clouds and briskly to the impressive chemical factory ... the universe's way of offering contrasts, since beautiful Santillana is coming up ... a barber produces a proper pilgrim short shorn look, not shaven like the Buddhist monks, but short and comfortable ... then a quiet back road with protected pedestrian space all the way to Santillana, Claudia, a nurse from Germany met along the way as she was talking to a Basque cyclist heading home, having been robbed in Llanes ... checking in at the Convent Albergue by 2pm suggests the distance was more like 35 km, but still a good effort for the first day ... perfect timing for a shower, rinse some clothes and hang on the line and off for a filling menu del dia ... enough for today with a little fruit for later ...

The group which has been together along the Way is German speaking, except for Andrea, from Vigo ... as usual they speak English since she speaks that, but not German ...

Tomorrow a 7 am breakfast leaves plenty of time for Comillas or San Vicente de la Barquera, though the Hostel there has closed ... let's see what the morning brings ...

Portsmouth to Santander ...

Skipping the party, a peaceful night is passed in cosy cabin without views of the sea to distract and an early walk up, down and around decks remind organism what it's here for, which is to walk ... amongst other things ... the phrase "I'm here to walk" has stuck somewhere in the memory store, wherever that is located ...  the quote from the 40+ km per day woman who resisted the meandering pace preferred by others ... the name lurks in the recesses, though the blog knows if you care to scroll back to a day in the Bierzo region, heading towards O Cebreiro ...

Biscay quite calm, though a brisk breeze brings a swell ... Pont Aven apparently has superior stabilising equipment ... anyway Sun rises in a clear sky and forecast is fine for a few days ... after that, who knows? The pack is light, but sufficient layers are available, including waterproofing, hopefully not needed quite as much as last year's Spring and Autumn outings ...

Early musing processes insights gleaned from the very special Emma ... modelling a human of the future, free from fear and unencumbered with easy access to reading and writing ... not to trivialize the potential for problems with a diagnosis of severe dyslexia, just to note that sometimes a divergent skill set may be a gift disguised ... in an amusing riff on normality, she observes that at her art school eccentricity is highly valued ... prompting recall of K's remark that it is no sign of sanity to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society ... though, of course, cultivating a crazier than thou persona is like cultivating a holier than thou one ... better to feel into one's deepest self and relax ... play the parts that resonate, drop those that don't. .. and in each life we may play many parts, to paraphrase Shakespeare ...

At lunch a conversation with Devonian Michael, on a Pont Aven round trip ... coach to Portsmouth, cruise to Santander, a few hours ashore, return to Plymouth ... it seems the Brittany based crew do three trips from Roscoff before having some days off ... as for the excursion, it seems a fine trip if Biscay behaves ... anyway, it's another way to pass retirement ...

At disembarkment a pilgrim turns up for a conversation in the queue ... a disenchanted social worker from Fordingbridge, taking a break from work and busing it to Irun in the morning to start the Norte from the French border ... no names exchanged or photos ...

At the Hostel Liebanego, near the ferry terminal, bus and rail stations, a rather morose chap finds a room at a slightly higher price than suggested by research, reduced after a friendly haggle ... at Tourist Info a map of the Ways in Cantabria and at the Cathedral a very helpful security guard locates someone to issue a pilgrim passport ... a snack of tortilla and churros with chocolate is enough nourishment after a sedentary day and substantial lunch and an early night calls, ready for a dawn start and a possible 40km tomorrow ... as cities go Santander is amenable, but it will be good to get out and on the road ... Buenos Noches dear readers!

Towards Santander, slowly ...

Finding flying rather fast and finding train travel often convivial, the Camino is set to start in Santander ... some forward planning ensures economical tickets to Portsmouth Harbour via London ...  two buses lead to Durham and then a fast enough train where the gods of ticketing kindly connect with a premature pilgrim - the delightful Emma, who walked to Santiago from Lisbon with her father last summer ... and found it inspiring and rather hot ... a student at Glasgow School of Art, she is returning to see her family in Penge  and open to a three hour conversation about what's going on beyond the mundane world ... a generous hour and twenty minutes to reach Waterloo is swiftly walked in less than half that time, stretching the legs and testing the weight of the pack, which seems fine, even with food prepared for today on the train and tonight and tomorrow on the boat ... not so much from parsimony, more a wish to use up food stocks, waste being something to avoid where possible ... the London skyline from Waterloo Bridge radically changed since the bus driving years, poor old St Paul's dwarfed by weird shaped office towers thrusting to the skies, symbols of Mammon ... Portsmouth train offers a contrast with few passengers and no apparent pilgrims ... and for future reference Portsmouth Harbour is rather large and its train station is not close to the continental ferry port ... still check-in is timely enough and a rather over rigorous security check has a confused octogenarian beltless and confused, not to mention a peaceful pilgrim having a Swiss army knife scrutinised for terror potential ... after which, with queue building and departure time approaching, passengers were waved through ... compact cabin located, entertainment ensues, food and drink abounds and it's party time all the way to Spain. .. and a calm sea for the Bay of Biscay, hopefully ... anyway the connections all worked, Santander tomorrow evening, maybe Santillana del Mar for day one of the walk ... let's see!

Spring 19

After joining the rest of Nature in a winter retreat, Spring inspires a train and ship trip to Santander and the previously imagined Camino Primitivo, along the coast for a few days, down to Oviedo, over the mountains to Santiago and on to Finisterre ... maybe three weeks, then see what's next ... return tickets avoided in order to keep the options open and the mind free to wander ... home base in Stanhope still only tenuously held and disposing of it and the car always in the possibility field ... Stanhope itself continues to nurture and friends encourage the regular excursions ...

Defining Spring is not simple, of course ... by calendar it's the 1st of March, by the vernal solstice, the 20th ... a week of warm weather mid-February seemed like Spring as did the perceptible return of the light, enabling early morning walks to greet the Sun. ..

Today's wet day looks like the end of a stormy period and a chance to resume writing after the winter rest ... plenty of reading though, topping up before the book-free walking time ... Charles Eisenstein's "The Ascent of Humanity" offering support for current world view, especially on the major error of humans in thinking ourselves as separate from Nature ...

Meanwhile, another contemporary guru, Mooji, stands accused of abusing his position of power ... allegations of sexual misconduct and beef eating amongst the allegations ... the kissing of feet and according the guru the status of a god are indications of gullible disciples, themselves complicit in the inflated ego almost inevitable in such cases ... and having no personal experience of the guru, who was away from the Monte Sahaja ashram each time I passed through nearby Sao Teotonio, no opinion is offered ... only observation that K's teaching about avoiding gurus is followed here and the question of energy trading examined again ....

Volunteering opportunity at the Brockwood Park 50th anniversary reunion means three weeks in August with the K tribe ... before that some local volunteering at the Land of Joy next week to complement occasional minibus driving with Weardale Wheels to Meals ensures some balance for the seductive solitude ... and Andrew Harvey, on You Tube, a guru with lots to teach, though not apparently gathering disciples, was elected a Fellow of All Souls, Oxford, many years ago and horrified to find himself surrounded by men running the country exhibiting signs of being psychopaths. .. perhaps a book or two to be ordered for the library, still mostly stored away as alcove awaits competent carpenter ... Sacred Activism is his current thing, prompting introspection on how to be an activist for good without falling into the trap of political polarity ... Thay's example during the Vietnam War was to promote peace without supporting either side, which did not endear him to the winners who made him unwelcome in his own land until his recent return to his root monastery as he prepares to die ... Harvey meanwhile contributed to the seminal work "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying", which maintains that fundamentally there is no dying ... as experienced floating off the coast of Portugal ... Sogyal Rinpoche, main author of the book, himself in disgrace after sexual misconduct allegations ... this ancient drive so often the downfall of the powerful, even when money love is transcended ...

Rain eases as river spills over and rushes towards Sunderland and the sea ... a brief visit to feel the power and take a photo for you, dear neglected reader(s) ... ten days until Spain again and the long winter evenings have yet again not been spent improving language skills ... strangely unmotivated even though a working knowledge of Spanish would be helpful in the coming adventure .... perhaps Maria at the Land of Joy next week will help improve the Portuguese instead ...