Noja to Galizano, 11.2 miles
Supposed to be staying in Hotel la Vijanera, beautiful stone work, wonderful restaurant, nice people. Guessing the rooms would have been great. But nope – we got there and they said that they had 65 middle schoolers coming with 4 teachers and a bus driver and expected chaos. We’d been moved 1.5 down the road 10 days ago, but had no idea. The new place is very sweet, right near the beach which is beautiful, and a bit further along on the i amino, but probably not a recommender.
The front desk guy at the original place was so nice and drove 3 of us down to the new place after we ate – Rick was ready to walk the distance and said it was a beautiful walk. He’s amazing, first walk after getting back from Chicago and walked the whole way.
I was very relieved today because Matthew crafted a different camino from what MacsAdventure had and was 5 miles shorter. Rick was up for anything and actually followed our path on All Trails marked as a camino. It was all tarmac which made for easy walking and a lot of it was country lanes or very low use 2 way roads. And I was still tired! Yep, it’s adding up. I’m expecting a second wind after a day off in Santander, day after tomorrow.
We had a nice breakfast at our place and a bit of time to talk to the owner. It was all in Spanish, but I understood most of it. I was saying that the Norte was spectacular and the food great, but the signage on the Camino de Frances was much easier to follow. He said that it was because everyone on the Camino del Norte thinks their way is the best and puts up directions accordingly. He also said that May and September into October are definitely the best times to hike. From mid-July through August, Noja goes from a population of 30,000 to a population of 130,000. In general, it’s just tourists and no peregrinos, too hot, too crowded and too expensive. He said it could rain any time, but maybe a bit less in the fall.
So pretty walk with really nice weather.
Tiny town, giant church. Wish I knew more about the social structure and how these things got built back in the day.
Like I said, not great signage at times. Very nice of someone to put this up. Maybe the farmer who was nice enough to let people walk across his field?
View from a top of a hill, can just feast the eyes as we walk today.
Incredibly clean cows…
Walked by a lot of timber clear cutting here. Saw logs being loaded and also rolls of smaller bits and pieces that are then used for parchment or particle board (they’re near the bottom of the photo, tractor is collecting and rolling). And I mean it’s clear cut – there was nothing on these hills when done. Alternated with replanted trees, so never giant swaths of bare land, but enough.
Coming into our town, very happy to see it and so pretty! Nestled into a bit of a valley with the ocean just beyond.
We had a great lunch at the original place as they said there wouldn’t be anything at or near the new place for lunch. The new place is sweet and they were excited to have visitors. Very low rafters, but second floor, fields outside and a cama matrimonia versus small twin beds. Might be a sleeping night. Just hoping for no head bashing before we leave tomorrow 🙂
Love the living room decoration. Right up my alley. Really, who wouldn’t want a full size cow in their Irving room?
We dropped our stuff then walked down to the beach. Gorgeous. Matthew and Carol walked back up and Rick and I stayed just for the marvel of having an incredible beach basically to ourselves with warm weather and the sound of the waves.
Found a dinner place, the only place, very cool, brand new, mod – had a yoga group going behind it, all 6 people young adults, where did they come from? None of us were that hungry, but it was so pretty and it was something to do. And it was great, very fresh, veggies from their garden. And I’ve now eaten anchovies at multiple places. I had no idea they could be so tasty.
We loved some of the phrasing on the menu:
8 anchovies of the highest quality….accompanied with some toasted bread to get greater delight.
All our dishes are made fresh. All of this entails a philosophy, a duration and surely understanding on the part of our clients.
It’s so incredibly beautiful, breezy, sunny and it feels Iike we should be out and walking, but we’ve done enough, so we came back to the room. It’s 9:30, sun still up, bright skies. I can still hear kids playing, church bells, the breeze. Wonderful.
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