We had a late start today because breakfast was not offered until 8am. Regardless, we were grateful to start our day with coffee and a nice selection of morning treats. They even had gluten free cereal.
Harold and I toured the old town while we waited for Jorge. He is not a morning person 🤣☕
Our journey to Cobreces was uneventful. No yoga today haha. In Cobreces, we met up again with the sea and walked high above the shore.
First a climb up from a beautiful and quiet beach, past the cows and the horses.
It was overcast all day and breezy. We prayed the weather would stay as it was. It did. The views were beautiful and the walk had everything. Farm animals, green fields, the ocean and a few beaches.
This was exactly as I imagined the Camino del Norte to be. Quiet streets twisting their way through farm fields and pastures high above the rocky shores below.
Views of the distant mountains always to my left as we walk west and the sea always to my right. Jorge puts his jets on right from the start and Harold and I strolled slowly at best. There were so many things to photograph and a new view at every turn.
The beach in Cobreces had at least 2 restaurants but both closed. The restaurant up high on the cliff edge near a beautiful yellow church, also closed.
We made our way down again after a couple of hours of walking in hopes of finding something open. We didn't. We kept walking another 2 kms to get to Comillas.
As we approached the centre Plaza, I joked about seeing Bernard in the main square. After 2 café con leche, that's exactly who showed up....Bernard. I met him on my first day in Spain and we have seen him every day since.
There was a church in the city centre where we were sitting which of course I had to see. It was dark inside, very dark and not one that had a good energy so I quickly left.
It was time to keep moving anyway. This was the time of day when we all sort of separate and walk at a different pace. Jorge in the lead, which explains why I have so many pictures of the back of his head, then me, then Harold. Sometimes I speed past them both, sometimes I fall behind taking a million pictures but in the end we always end up at the same place.
After Comillas, we walked along the road for a bit but there were many trees lining the street and leaves that have already fallen. A Spaniard on a bike going the opposite direction slowed down as he approached us and said after the 2nd bridge turn right for a much more scenic walk. We were looking for the turn off already so this confirmed our decision to take the sea side route.
It was beautiful as suggested and the views were stunning even on this cool cloudy day.
This is where at some point I passed Jorge who re-ties his shoes every km. I'm not sure why he is so stubborn and refuses to double knot his laces. He waited for Harold to catch up and I sped ahead.
We found a place for cold drinks and took a rest. We were within 2kms of our destination and would soon separate to our accomodations. Mine was up high on a steep hill with a fabulous view but my goal today was laundry. So I gathered my dirty hiker clothes and found a laundromat... at the bottom of the hill. I got lucky with one machine available and started my clothes. I bought a glass of wine at a tiny 'man bar' next door. That's a bar with 12 local men playing cards and drinking. I had an outside table away from them. Shortly after I sat down, Jorge showed up with his. The laundromat became a very busy place. While we drank and waited for our clothes, a cute girl we saw on the Camino in the morning walked by us so we said hello and chatted with her. She was super nice and smart and very likeable, so we invited her to sit with us.
Her name was Ines from Belgium and not only did she speak perfect English but she understood and laughed at us as we talked smack to each other. She is 23 and just graduated university. When I found out she just hiked the GR20, she became my new hero. That is a very difficult and somewhat technical hike in Corsica.
We invited her to dinner with us and Harold met us at the restaurant for another great meal of fish, chuleton, fries, salad and a few things I couldn't eat.... shrimp, calamari etc. But there was wine..... and that's the important part 😁🍷
We closed the night with desserts and I walked home with Ines, up the hill again, her Albergue was near my hotel. The guys hotel was right next to the restaurant so they will have that nice steep hill for breakfast 🤣
Buenos Noches x
"This is where at some point I passed Jorge who re-ties his shoes every km. I'm not sure why he is so stubborn and refuses to double knot his laces." There is a much better way to stop your laces untying themselves. Laces untie themselves because of the constant swinging of the loops as you walk. The swinging of the loose ends adds a small amount of loosening. To stop your laces untying, tuck the loops under any of the crossovers where the laces go from one eyelet to another. The loops now cannot swing, so the knot stays tight. And, best of all, you can undo the knot simply by pulling on the loose ends, which you cannot do with a double knot.
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