Left Oviedo at 9:40 am. Arrived Grado 6;03 pm. Miles walked when we reached hotel – 16.87.

Once again, watch died so had to revert to the health app to find miles. Tomorrow I’ll try a different method.

Backing up to yesterday, we were pleasantly surprised with the envelope awaiting us at the hotel. It contained our pilgrim passports, new Camino shells for our backpacks which indicates we are “pilgrims”, a guide book and a map of Galicia and downtown Santiago de Compostela. The good news is that we did not have to find the local tourist office to get all these items. Bonus points to the tour company for having taken care of this for us. We were not looking forward to finding the tourist office after having traveled for about 30 hours.

This morning we started off our well practiced routine of dropping our bags off at reception by 8 am for pick up by the tour company, breakfast, and return to room for a quick nap.

We walked about 2.5 miles through town before getting to the rugged Camino trail. It is advertised as mountainous, and that would be accurate. Lots of climbing and then the dreaded descending. We got quite the workout.

Didn’t see that many other pilgrims but enough to confirm we were not alone. We got an early reminder that bicyclists are a menace, and people with walking sticks are really noisy. It is an assault on the ears when you are in the middle of what should be a peaceful walk. However, I understand the need for them for certain terrain.

Much of the trail is shaded and lovely. We have also been really fortunate with the weather so far. Starting in the morning about 60 degrees with a high of 72, perfect for walking.

One guy was walking with his French bulldog. We also saw him carrying the dog uphill. A very well behaved dog indeed (with a thoughtful owner).

We did see a train go through, but no idea where it came from or where it was headed.

Plenty of flowers and plants to photograph, but I tried to restrain myself.

Dinner was provided by a restaurant up the street from the hotel. We were pretty tired and not very hungry – disappointing for the proprietor. However, the main course of tacos adobo was a surprise. He brought a plate of meat with potatoes below and peppers on top. We were waiting for tortillas (tacos, right?). Turns out they consider the potatoes under the meat (which was tender and delicious) to make this tacos. Live and learn.

We passed on dessert in favor of returning to the hotel for much needed rest.We both have ailments that are mildly concerning – my left heel and Caleb’s right ankle. We are optimistic that tomorrow will find us repaired by rest and ibuprofen.

Good night. Nearly 11 pm and still fairly light out.

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