#4 Camino Primitivo

Paladin to Cornellana

Alarms had been set for 6am, but we were both awake before then. However, the departure time after all the faffing was finally 7:45am.

The difficulty of dormitory living is that everyone is living on top of each other…quite literally.

Pilgrim gear is by nature noisy too…waterproof gear rustles, rucksacks have clicking clasps and grating adjustable straps. Plastic ziploc bags (useful for separation as well as for waterproofing) are incredibly noisy, as is stuffing sleeping bags, stuffing rucksacks. Zips are raspy (there’s no way to pull one quietly…interminable when pulled slowly and raucous when pulled fast.)

In the dark, noise is amplified. And pilgrim dormitories are mostly dark. Someone is always asleep.

In order to avoid making noise this morning, Hamish and I decided we would just take everything outside to pack. This makes the whole process many times slower, especially in the dark, as there is an order to all the preparations. Somehow we were not in the “flow”, so had to unpack and repack many times.

Hamish couldn’t find his favourite Korean towel (which we had got on our honeymoon) and also a single sock, in particular a 5-toe merino sock that my sister-in-law June had recommended. (She and her husband Tom had just walked the full Camino Francès in spring and apparently everyone was raving about these 5-toe socks…)

Eventually the sock was found, but the whereabouts of the towel will remain a mystery.

It was beginning to get light when we finally left and there were a couple of other single pilgrims leaving at the same time.

We walked across a beautiful arched bridge over a river surrounded by imposing rock faces. The river was teeming with fish all blowing bubbles on the water surface and a single railway track ran beside it.

Around the corner, we came across an impressive church which seemed a little derelict. Soon we realised that the whole row of old houses next to it were derelict and it had the feeling of a ghost town… this was Peñaflor, on the outskirts of Grado. We wondered about what had happened to allow this all to happen to such obviously beautiful little houses in their day… perhaps subsidence, lack of amenities or funds?

By the time there were signs of civilisation again, we were on a sort of highway and when we checked the Camino app (Camino Ninja), we realised that we were off track and had obviously missed the signs to the Camino path way back at the derelict church.

But instantly, appearing out of nowhere, there was a little old lady, gesticulating and speaking animatedly in Spanish. She had the most resplendently purple eyebrows.

After retracing our steps, we discovered that Peñaflor actually had some beautiful narrow streets full of lovely houses… then a long flat approach walk to Grado full of dog-walkers, where we sat for ages outside a lovely café with a breakfast of delicious tortilla, toastie, coffee and fresh orange juice.

As we walked through Grado, this time paying closer attention to the Camino arrows and signs, we felt the urge for fruit…in particular a juicy peach. (Memories of the best peaches we’d ever tasted in the south of France last year)

We found a lovely fruiteria in the main square, where we bought red and yellow peaches (yellow recommended especially by the fruit seller) and a couple of plums.

We tried one of each peach, sitting in the square. Red and yellow varieties are completely different in flavour.

Both heavenly.

We both love tree identification, so we delight in spotting all the different varieties and looking up ones we don’t know… Willows, figs, limes, sweet chestnut, oak, apples, and many more…

We wondered what the houses on stilts were for, often seen with cars parked underneath, but always with a single top floor without windows, and steps up the side. The most popular thought was that they were for storing the apples for cider.

There was one village that made us gasp with delight. It was the antithesis of the ghost town. Absolutely idyllic…flourishing yet peaceful..

There was a lovely albergue with a gorgeously welcoming frontage, as well as a free Palestine flag. I thought how wonderful it would have been to stay here.

This was San Marcelo.

Noteworthy in the forests, the non-indigenous eucalyptus trees look like Jurassic aliens. Next to all the other varieties, their leaves look blue and their trunks have a smooth and eerie quality, making me think of alien dinosaurs.

Ivy is absolutely everywhere… it is clearly choking fence posts, paths, walls, buildings, and whole forests.

I am really starting to loathe it, to also feel the suffocating quality of its parasitic strangling. Everything in its grasp has either already died or in the process of having its life sucked out of it.

Lunch was another red peach and the most incredible plums, eaten underneath a huge arching highway which sheltered us from the midday sun. The plums were unlike anything we’d experienced before…like a cooked and melting dessert. So ripe. A boost of instant energy.

Although we had planned to try to get to Casazorrina, which would have been another 7k further, we were tired and decided to call it a day in Cornellana, which still made a respectable 22k. We had been advised by the proprietor of last night’s albergue in Paladín to take it especially easy in the first three days in order to go faster later. It was great advice and we heeded it.

Hamish is a wonderful travel partner and we have great fun walking, talking and often joking. We are very lucky to walk at a similar pace, but walking on tarmac roads is not only a killer for the feet, it is also annoying for the ears, as the walking poles click irritatingly. Hamish’s ingenious idea was to attach fallen apples to the bottom of his poles for the walk along the road to Cornellana. They not only dulled the noise, but added a pleasing pendulum swing to his stride.

The municipal albergue in Cornellana is housed in an ancient monastery, founded in 1024. It was a major economic force for around 700 years. The Romanesque church preserves its 12th century interior and the facade had a renovation in the 17th century.

The albergue is in a gated area around the side. When we rang the bell, we had to wait some minutes until a slim elderly gentleman approached. Everything about him was slow, deliberate and exact. I warmed to him instantly. He was mute, but could almost whisper, and his sign language was wonderfully clear and characterful.

Time slowed and checking in was a protracted but relaxing procedure.

The monastery is heavenly. Huge clean rooms… amazing bathrooms and showers, washing machines, kitchen, and plentiful washing lines and clothes pegs.

We put our feet into buckets of cold water, sitting in the sun. Bliss. Then we showered, did our laundry and hung it out in the heat of the sunny courtyard.

Just perfect.

We decided to make our own dinner tonight as the monastery is so perfect, so we went shopping in town…

Fun expedition and explore of Cornellana.. I snuck off to buy a birthday card and some candles (though realise I will now need a lighter/matches!)

Made many different and simple salads, with crisps, fuet sausage, artichoke hearts and Spanish asparagus, all washed down with the most delicious Ribeira wine, sitting in the sun to enjoy.

In bed by 9:30pm.

Hamish’s birthday tomorrow.