2024 | fogcityboy

Fog City Boy on the Camino del Norte

San Francisco, April 24, 2025

20 September 2024 – Ribadesella to La Vega

Continuing the chronicle of the Fog City Boy’s pursuit on the Camino de Santiago del Norte. . .

After a suitable breakfast at his vintage hotel in Ribadesella, The Fog City Boy set out on a causeway across the Rio Sella which affords a view of the town.

The Way follows along a lengthy and charming beach side promenade,

eventually turning inland. After several short climbs, The Way reaches a resting place thoughtfully provided by a local hamlet, Abeu. Shortly thereafter, political graffiti.

And a mural celebrating the Camino on the way down.

The Boy’s destination for the day was the beach town of Vega.

A friendly restauranteur summoned a taxi that returned the Boy to Ribadesella.

21 September 2024 – La Vega to Colunga

The Boy was up timely and had a good breakfast at his hotel. The hotel staff called for a taxi and The Boy was on his way back to Playa de Vega. The Boy picked up where he had left off the day before.

It had rained the night before. The Way from the beachfront end of the road was narrow, rocky, wet, slippery, occasionally steep, and somewhat menacing. But the Boy persevered and eventually emerged from the trail.

The Way passes through several small towns including Berbes . . .

. . . and Caravia, providing yet another lovely vista.

The Boy overnighted at a comfortable hotel in Colunga. Hotel Los Caspios was formerly a manor house built in the early twentieth century. Though only rated as a three-star hotel (perhaps because it did not have full restaurant service), the accommodation was certainly four-star in quality and amenity. Dinner was a short walk back into town. The town folk had gathered at a local bar/restaurant to cheer on their favorite soccer team.

22 September 2024 – Colunga to Priesca

Notwithstanding the absence of a full service restaurant, the Fog City Boy and all other guests enjoyed a satisfying breakfast and made our separate ways forward.

The Way traverses country roads with vehicular and other traffic.

The Way passes through Beldredo where a family had built and continues to maintain a small shrine.

The Way encounters challenging elevation as it climbs to Priesca, a small town with an albergue maintained by a nearby rectory. La Iglesia de San Salvador de Priesca was built in 921 is one of the oldest churches on the Camino.

The Boy determined that continuing on to Villaviciosa was not practical that afternoon. He stood down for the day and awaited the hospitalera to arrive at the alberque. She summoned a taxi which deposited the Boy at his hotel in Villaviciosa which would be his base of operations for three nights.

The Boy checked into his hotel and walked through the town. The Municipal coat of arms, City Hall:

In front of the Teatro Riera stands a statue of a woman with a basket and a smile.

23 September 2024 – Priesca to Villaviciosa

After two cafes con leche and a small sandwich of undetermined content, the Boy returned by taxi to Priesca. The Way continues on small country roads and occasionally traverses trails through the woods.

And as previously reported, some graffiti art is better than others.

The Boy again overnighted in Villaviciosa.

24 September 2024 – Villaviciosa to Casquita and Beyond

The Boy again enjoyed two cafes con leche but this time with a sandwich of determined content, and set out again. He set out to reach Casquita, where The Way splits with the Camino Primitivo (which the Boy walked in 2016 and 2017) and the Camino del Norte divulge.

On the way out of town, The Way passes La Iglesia de Santa Maria de la Oliva, built between the 13^th and 14^th centuries.

And then a pleasant walk through a local park.

In time, The Way, and the Boy pursuing it, reached Casquita. A small chapel welcomes the peregrino, and this peregrino captured a sella in his Credential del Peregrino.

The Boy had been here before. The earlier launching point for the Camino Primitivo looked familiar, but that was years ago. Before, there was less guidance. Now it was quite explicit.

The Boy decided to press on, actually following the route of the Primitivo, eventually arriving at Monasterio de Valdedios where a kindly hospitalera tried to find me a taxi to return to Villaviciosa.

She had no luck, but since she lived in Villaviciosa and was headed home for the evening, she offered me a ride. And I accepted. Acts of kindness from people encountered along the Way are not an uncommon experience for peregrinos.

24 – 29 Villaviciosa to Oviedo

The Fog City Boy had determined that it was important to return home to Fog City and eventually North Carolina, but that required a return to Oviedo, where he began this iteration of the Camino. The Boy settled into a comfortable seat on an intercity bus departing Villaviciosa and several hours later arrived at the Oviedo bus terminal. He donned his mochila and walked the mile to his hotel. It was a comfortable venue.

In the days before his flight, the Boy explored Oviedo.

The Oviedo public market was not the first such that the Fog City Boy had encountered, but it was the most spectacular.

A town square in the Old Town.

Local folks enjoying a late afternoon walk through the Old Town.

A soprano sang for passersby. Stripes are still in! Please excuse the jumbled first few seconds.

Public art in the old town, and in the modern city.

The Boy found his way to the Plaza de Alfonso II and the Cathedral de San Salvador which traces its roots to the year 781. Alfonso II was instrumental in establishing the basilica that formed the first element of the cathedral. A statue of Alfonso graces the plaza adjacent to the entrance to the cathedral.

On the afternoon before his departure, the Boy hired a taxi to take him to a hotel adjacent to the airport. It was an occasion to bid goodbye to his faithful hiking boots that had essentially disintegrated along The Way.

In the wee hours of September 29^th, the Boy made his way from the hotel to Aeropuerto Oviedo and bade goodbye to the Camino del Norte. The flight to San Francisco by way of Munich was comfortable. It was good to be home.

With that, my ruminations and this blog installment are concluded. Where to next? Time will tell.

Buen Camino!

And with that, I’m off.

Knute Michael

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Fog City Boy on the Camino del Norte

San Francisco – April 12, 2025

12 and 13 September 2024 – San Vincente de la Barquera to Pesués

The forecast was for heavy rain and, while the Fog City Boy has walked in the rain many times (when it rains, you just keep walking!), the Boy has an aversion to walking in lengthy downpours. So, the Boy asked the hotel to call a taxi to transport him to Persués, his next destination on The Way. After arrival, the Boy spent the rest of the day sitting on the porch at Hostal Baviera, watching the rain, and finishing his book. The bar served a local favorite – reminding the peregrino that he was headed to Galicia – and also served as a community package drop for deliveries. That suggests that there are porch pirates in Cantabria, as there are in much of the known world.

The next day, the Boy was up timely, arranged for a second night at the lodging, and returned by taxi to San Vincente. The Way actually bypasses most of San Vincente – continuing from the causeway up a moderately steep road traversing an upscale residential neighborhood and neighboring farmland.

The approach to Serdio, a small hamlet, is lovely.

The Camino Lebaniego splits from the Camino del Norte in Muñorrodero just after Serdio. The destination of that pilgrimage is the Monasterio de Santo Toribio de Liebana. That Camino has its own distinctive waymark – a red cross with a red arrow, often appearing with the traditional concha in parts of Cantabria. The Monastery is one of five sites empowered to grant perpetual indulgences. That camino is quite a climb! Ascent 2133 meters; descent 1636 meters. The Fog City Boy encouraged peregrinos headed up that climb, but did not accompany them!

After the split, the Camino del Norte continues on, adjacent to a foreboding and fenced mining facility, eventually crossing the Rio Nansa, before arriving at Persués. The Rio Nansa is home to the Escuela Paddle Surf Ocle.

The Fog City Boy did not sign up for lessons. Back in Persués, the Boy enjoyed a decent supper and bedded down for the night.

14 September 2024 – Persués to Buelna

The Way continues in close proximity to the Bay of Biscay crossing from Cantabria autonomous region (province) into Asturias autonomous region at the Rio Deva. Ribadedeva welcomes the traveler with a small park that features a statue of a peregrino.

The Way in Asturias begins with a long climb up a nicely paved senda, eventually arriving in Colombres.

The Wise Pilgrim Guide to the Camino del Norte provides this insight into Colombres:

“The Indianos . . . everyday Gallegos, Austurianos, Cantabrians, and Basques who because of their proximity to the sea were most able to emigrate from Spain to the Americas (central and south) during a period of great poverty in the late 19th century. A great many left but only a few struck it rich, and when they returned they turned their fortunes into building large manors and securing titles. Many of the houses still remain and those in Asturias are the finest example. They are sometimes colonial in style and always eclectic with palm trees as a tribute to their tropical lives.”

The Way passes a plaque capturing the departure of emegrees setting out for the Americas.

Many peregrinos rested and refreshed after the long climb at the Colombres park and town square, presided over by Iglesia de Santa Maria de Colombres.

The Way emerges from town and returns to a more rural track.

The Fog City Boy’s destination for the night was the Casa Rural de Aldea El Valle in Buelna – Llanes. Though the Boy had a legitimate address for the casa rural, it took a very long time to locate the venue, and when he got there, it was unattended. A few minutes after a phone call, a friendly attendant arrived and the Boy checked in. The Casa was actually quite charming.

The Casa did not have evening food service nor was there any in the town, but there was a microwave and the hotelier pointed the way to a Supermercado Día where the Boy and others staying there could purchase frozen meals suitable for the microwave. The Boy had pasta con pollo, pan, e vino tinto. Breakfast the next morning was provided and was quite satisfactory.

15 September 2024 – Buelna to Cue

Leaving Buelna, the Way hugs heavily traveled roadways and passes through several towns.

The Boy found his lodging with less difficulty than the night before. Hotel Migal is situated on a bluff just outside the small village of Cue – Llanes. Overlooking the Bay there are beautiful views all around.

16 September 2024 – Cue to Llanes

The Boy got a late start to a short day and enjoyed the walk.

His lodging was Hotel Rocas located in the heart of Llanes, a city popular with tourists.

17 September 2024 – Llanes to Naves

The Fog City Boy made his way out of town passing several notable edifices along the way. Leaving tourism behind, the Boy captured political graffiti which, as his wont, he captured for the gentle reader.

The Way proceeds along an estuary with views of a handsome church in the distance. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores.

The Boy’s lodging was at a small hotel that boasted a handsome horrero that provided shade in the afternoon and a pleasant setting for breakfast the next morning. Dinner that evening was at a pizza parlor a kilometer or so into town.

18 September 2024 – Naves to Cuerres

The Way continues along quiet country roads and sendas. A small shrine honors a departed loved one.

At Nueva, the Boy heard the sound of an approaching passenger train and paused to capture a picture of it as it passed by.

Later that morning, the Boy passed a rural residence that had been decorated with flowerpots, some of which were dressed as “flower children” sitting on the window ledge.

Eventually The Way departs Nueva and enters pastureland. The Peroquia de San Pedro Pria rises up above the pasture.

The views are compelling.

Continuing down from the Peroquia, The Way passes a medieval stone bridge.

Lodging that evening was at the Casa Rural Villalen. Quite isolated but quite comfortable.

19 September 2024 – Cuerres to Ribadesella

The proprietor of the hotel advised me to follow an alternate route which turned out to be a very pleasant stroll adjacent to an occasionally used railroad track. As is the case with many lesser railways in Spain and Portugal, the alignment is one meter gauge (39.37”) rather than standard gauge (4’8 ½”).

Eventually, The Way found itself in a more urban setting and continued on into Ribadesella.

The town was founded in 1270 by Alfonso X and developed around whaling.

My lodging was at a vintage hotel near the town center.

The lobby displayed state of the art communication equipment from another era (including a typewriter similar to the one on which The Boy learned to type)!