How this day turned into almost 18 miles I do not know, but it did. Colunga to Villaviciosa is 17 k (10 1/2 miles, right!) a short distance, relatively speaking. "So," I thought, "I will do a stretch of tomorrow´s walk to Gijon," a distance of some 30k, which may mean 32 because that is how these things are (see above) and there is a ginormous climb.
On my way to the extra bit, I heard someone speaking English with an Australian accent. The wife was on the phone with, I came to learn, one of their sons whose birthday it was today, although, what with his being in Australia, it could have been yesterday for all I know. So I started talking to the husband, one Patrick, by name, a high school science teacher, semi retired. This was most enjoyable as we talked about philosophy and religion. The pair were doing the Camino as an on-the-way-to-full-retirement gig, and unlike me, were staying in albergues. I asked about the food. "Not great," they said. Both had suffered a bouts of food poisoning, which may not have been the fault of the albergues, but it does lay one low for at least a day. Anyway, we walked together for about an hour or so until our paths diverged.
Having reached my goal for the day, that being where the VV 10 meets the VV 9, I steeled myself to call a taxi. I saw a car go by and sort of pathetically stuck out my thumb. Then another car came along and this time I was a bit more assertive, and looked pleadingly as the car went by. When I saw that, yes, the car was going to stop, I galloped towards it and asked, ¿Van a Villaviciosa? Indeed, they were! And Natalia and Nacho gave me a ride in their 30 year-old Renault! (It is their favorite car.) What a blessing that ride was. They would not accept payment for their good deed, but at least I treated them to a bread at the panaderia, a whopping €1.
Villaviciosa is not much of a town and it is even less of a town on Sunday when everything is closed except for the MinyMas. However, my suitcase, wherein were most of the ingredients for lunch/dinner, did not arrive until 4:00, so I drank soda and ate nuts until it arrived at which time I was rebuked for its, the suitcase, that is, being too heavy. The suitcase is not too heavy according to the tour company, i.e., it does not weigh over 20 kilos, but anyway, the woman—a woman should not be schlepping suitcases—told me to put some stuff in a backpack, so I will. Watch, the next driver will tell me that I cannot have two bags! (BTW, according to the driver, my suitcase is not the worst offender, but I will admit, it is kind of heavy.)
Pretty scenery:
I am pretty sure the link to this song is in the blog from my last walk in Spain, which goes to show how much I like it!
Back to Villaviciosa and a factoid. The hotel I stayed is is Carlos 1. But it turns out that in this town there is an important spot called Carlos V because he slept there. (Why he did not sleep here, I do not know, what with the hotel being named after him and all.) Well, wouldn´t you know that Carlos 1 and Carlos V are the same person! He was Carlos 1 of Spain and Carlos V of Germany. Now that is a big job!
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