Here Comes the Rain Again(Eurymythics)- Langre to Llanorrozo,Spain

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Spring is the same the world over. One minute it is warm and pleasant and the next, cold and wet.

And that is exactly what happened overnight. The fine clear skies of yesterday have given way to low clouds and light rain and a subsequent drop in temperature from 25C to 5C.Bit like being in Central Otago!

Our track takes us further west today and if we followed the E70 we would be there, without stops, in just over 2 hours.

But, the BBA V3 doesn’t do highways if there is an alternative so Gina will have work cut out today to ensure we stay off the E70 as much as possible so we can see the countryside as we go.

Skirting around Santander we headed for the coast bypassing the ancient cave drawings at Altamira after finding that the caves are no longer open to the public and that all you can visit is a museum with replica caves. When you go to see something like that it has to be the real thing or you feel cheated. Might have to see if we can find something on YouTube that was filmed before the caves were closed.

The rain had been intermittent as we drove on and as we reached the seaside settlement of Comillas a break in the weather appeared to be happening.

However what we couldn’t see ahead was an approaching dark cloud because of our location down by the harbour parked against a high hill and just as we had prepared ourselves for a walk out to the harbour breakwater the rain returned this time with hail! Oh, the joy of spring!

Giving the idea of a walk away we took the one road system away from the harbour to the town which is historic with links back to time when man lived in caverns.

With the sun reappearing we took a walk around the streets of the small. Compact town which is dominated from the hill above the town by the Pontifical University which was actively used from 1890 to 1969 when teaching of theology moved to Madrid and the university took on a different role in its teachings.

We didn’t actually find El Chapricho, a building created by that eccentric Spaniard, Gaudi as we wandered even though we did pass a couple of directional signs. And then the showers returned and it was back to the car and on our way.

The coastal road was also one of the pilgrim’s paths to Santiago de Compostelo and we passed small groups every so often wisely dressed with rain coats to keep out the light rain that came and went as we tracked west.

Next stop was for lunch at San Vicente de la Barquera another seaside town with fishing harbour well protected by a seawall.

The sun was out but the breeze was fresh and with the lower temperature from yesterday made it too cool to have lunch outside the car where we parked down by the harbour entrance.

As we headed on we noticed something that hadn’t been apparent to us before and that was a yellow line painted on the other side of the road to the way we were travelling which indicated the path the pilgrims should be taking. The line for a good distance was pretty well continuous although there is little chance of getting lost if you do come here to do the pilgrim trail as there were certainly plenty of road signs as well along with signs showing where pilgrims can get a bed when they have had enough walking for the day.

Along the way too have been restaurants and cafes advertising special menu for pilgrims.

As we neared Ribadesella we passed what might have been an ‘in-between pilgrim’, not a walker with a stick or ones in a car like us but on a cycle with his panniers full of his worldly needs. It is probably better than hulking a pack on your back but not as comfortable as we are in Peggy!

The showers came back as we got close to Ribadesella and as the hours were marching on we decided not to explore the coastal town but press on towards Llanorrozo and our apartment in a rural setting for the next two nights.

We were pleased we decided not to stay in Gijon as it and built up area around Aviles looked quite industrial with various plants belching out fumes into the atmosphere.

From the E70, which we had now rejoined, at one point we looked down on a valley absolutely filled with factories of a heavy industrial nature.

The highway made the driving so easy as the grades were gentle and the road fairly straight as where there was a need to cross a valley then a viaduct carried us over and where there a hill in the path of the road then a tunnel carried us through. In one short space there was a 4 lane tunnel (2 lanes each direction in separate tunnels) of 2.3km and within 300 metres another tunnel of 1.2 km.No wonder we were able to cut out distance so quickly.

As for the viaducts they also seem to come one after another.

The longest of them all on today’s drive was just short of 1.6km and had an ‘S’ formation. It towered above the valley below and we could only guess at the amount of concrete that had been used to construct it. Had we been in NZ with the same need to cross a valley then the road would have taken us down one side across the flat and then up the other side and probably would have taken 15 minutes or more to travel over opposed to a bare 2 minutes or less on the viaduct. Gretchen thought that there really wasn’t a need for the ‘S’ bend formation but it had ended up that way because the construction people forgot they were supposed to meet in the middle and could have made it straight!

Our rural apartment scores an overall 9.6 on booking.com and yet was only €45 a night and still under our buget! What a score for the BBA V3.

The owner showed us the large apartment type accommodation which had a separate dining/lounge and bedroom with en suite and separate his and her wash basins (we don’t even have this luxury at home!)Dish washer and all the mod coms were included. He also gave us details of spots in the area we might like to visit and a map to help guide us around the area.

We think we have made a very good choice for a couple of nights as we get ourselves closed to Santiago de Compostelo by car.

One of the things to do he had told us was to watch the sunset from an advantage point a short distance away and even though the weather by our arrival had cleared to a sunny sky we decided to leave the sunset viewing until tomorrow and instead relax with a G&T(duty free almost exhausted).



Tomorrow it’s a day of local sightseeing.

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