Seems like after the rain our luck improves. Once again yesterday the Hotel Villa Austarela that we found was excellent.  The room had nice heaters which allowed us to dry our shoes. 

  

As we were heading into the hotel, our Austrian buddies also showed up with the idea of staying in the same place. After a late lunch they engaged us in a lively Austrian card game that Pat won. 

    
 

Breakfast was included in the price of the hotel, so we had an early morning breakfast at 7 and headed along the country road. 

  
    
 

   

After 2 km we were off onto one of the beautiful country paths. The air was cool, and the morning breeze was full of the aroma of damp earth and bushes.

   

 
 

We have been passing by many dairy farms for days. Here is a typical scene. 

  

  

 

Navia, at about 9 km, was a big town on our way today. Situated at the banks of Rio de Navia, this 13th century town is fairly modern yet retains some of its 13th century architectural elements around town. 

  

  

   

  

  

  

 
  

  

  

  

  

  

 
 

We continued past Navia. Pat was up to her old trick of enjoying the blackberries as we walked. 
  
    
   

   
    
 

After the town of Jarro, we found this wonderful bench overlooking the ocean and decided to enjoy our lunch. 

   

After our lunch as we were leaving, Kristin appeared.  She had spent four days in Gijon visiting a friend and caught a bus directly to Luarca.  What a happy surprise that our paths would cross again, right there on the trail, after so many days.

    
   

We completed our 18 km to La Caridad and are settled in for the night at the albergue.  BTW, we lucked out and there was no rain. It is getting cold, though. Tomorrow morning the temperature will be in the 40’s (57 Fahrenheit), so fall is definitely on its way. 

   
 

I posted this once already but no email confirmation came. I am reposting. Apologies if you get duplicates. 

  

Some would call today a short day, and some would call it a long day. It is all a matter of perspective!

We were up early again. Outside the streets were wet, and it was misting a bit. We decided to eat a little before stepping out of the albergue. When we left at 7:15, there was no rain. It was a foggy and cool morning with a hint of autumn in the air. The views climbing out of the village were outstanding. 

   
    
   

The walk above in the farmland was surreal with fog hanging low among the trees. 

   
    
    
 

We passed this medieval ruin.  Unfortunately we could not decipher any details from the Spanish poster. 

  

We continued walking for about 2 hours. 

   
    
    
    
   

The wind picked up and the clouds were about to burst. 

   
   

It was time for a break and a snack. I told Pat, this would be a perfect time for us to find a church with a nice veranda so we could take our backpacks off and relax and eat. Low and behold as we made the turn, there was a church! No veranda or shelter, though. 

  

You take the lemon and make lemonade. We stopped and barely had a few morsels of food in our mouth, and the rain came pouring down.

 
    
    
 

We continued walking for the next 2 hours while it kept pouring. There was no shelter anywhere.  Walking in the rain was fun, but our shoes and socks were completely drenched.  Finally at 13 km we reached our first village. Our goal was to go 16 km, but we decided to get out of the rain and rest a bit.  While we scouted out the town, we had a tough choice to make–go another 3 km as planned and hope we can get a bed in the albergue or call it a day and get a hotel room right where we were. We opted to dry up and live to fight another day. 

All the while, it continued to rain outside!
   

Yesterday marked the end of a month of walking on Camino del Norte. In that period we covered approximately 550 km of beautiful coastline and lush green mountains. 

We were fortunate to find a fabulous hotel “Casa Roja” in Cadavedo. We ate our dinner at the hotel at 9 and were treated to a wonderful three-course meal (the best we have had the entire month). 

   
 
Breakfast was included in our price, so we decided to indulge in that, too, as we were only supposed to go 15 km today to Luarca. 

   
We were the only two for breakfast and easily this was one of the best breakfasts we have had in a month. 

I give our hotel two thumbs up. It turned out to be wonderful stop for us. 

 
The view from our window promised another cloudy and cool day. 

   

We left happy and content to begin our month 2 on the Camino.  

     

    
    
    
    
 
Luarca used to be a whaling town until the 17th century.  Now it’s a hybrid fishing and farming town. The colors of the town as you descend are noticeably gray and white.  One reaches the town center by crossing over Rio Negro. 

   
     
    
After 18 km, we are settled in an albergue. The wind is picking up, and the weather is looking as if fall is about to encroach on summer. We have successfully avoided rain today.