Day 51: Colunga to Oviedo

Walking from Colunga

Yesterday, we adjusted our plans a bit after walking to Villaviciosa. We took stock of what was between us and Oviedo, and decided to take the bus to Oviedo. The walking we skipped was part of the connecting trail from the Norte to the start of the Primitivo, in Oviedo. As we cruised on towards Oviedo (on the bus), the scenery we saw confirmed our decision to give it a miss. I would say that after the monastery in Valdediós (which we saw from the bus), the rest appeared to be simply unremarkable industrial estates and suburbs. But to each his own. I am sure there will be those who walked from Villaviciosa to Oviedo, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's possible. But, back to Oviedo. We have booked into a nice hotel (Ciudad de Oviedo) with air conditioned rooms, quite close to the cathedral. We went to mass at noon today, at the cathedral, and as it was the feast of Corpus Christi, there was a special liturgy, and procession of the blessed sacrament after the mass. It was quite an affair with the procession, including banners, flags, and a band, winding through the nearby neighborhood for close to an hour before returning to the cathedral. We joined the cafe society, and had lunch at a sidewalk cafe close to the cathedral. We are now relaxing (we do this well), and are laying out our stages for tomorrow's departure on the Primitivo. This will truly bring us back to reality. No more goofing off. It will be back to work for sure. In truth, Robin and I are both looking forward to getting this part of our journey started. There is much talk on Camino forums, and in guide books about the challenges of this route. We are definitely in the best physical shape we will ever be in, so we will just see how we do. The weather seems to be leaning towards rain or at least rain showers over the next week. I am not sure how that will affect where we walk at this point. We hope to walk the Hospitales route if the weather allows. We are still in no hurry, so if we can find ways to break up some 30 km days we will do that. I have no idea what the wifi situation is on the Primitivo, but I will continue to post as frequently as I can. Gotta go. More relaxing to do.

Walking to Villaviciosa

Scenes along the way to Villaviciosa

This church, in Priesca, was consecrated in 921

Approaching Villaviciosa

Cathedral in Oviedo

Corpus Christi mass at cathedral

Procession exiting church

Procession in square

Awaiting return of the procession

Returning

 

 

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