Saturday 16 jun - Navia to Tapia de Casariego

Woke at 6 to darkness so thought maybe I could go back to sleep but no. Quietly got up and dressed  and started to go out but realized it was raining out so changed my fleece for my rain poncho. Good thing too as it was raining pretty steady.
Walked down to the park and across the grass to the lagoon.

Followed the path around the lagoon to the boardwalk and crossed the lagoon on the rather cool wooden bridge. Very long, out to the really great beach. On a sunny day it would be even better.
The rain was coming in off the ocean with mist and wind.  A Light house up on the cliff  was just visible and houses across the bay from the lighthouse must have had a magnificent view on a clear day.

Spent a bit of time out on the concrete wall that keeps the river from washing away the beach or maybe the beach from clogging up the river.  I was the only person out there.
Walked back into town following the river walk. There were the oddest fish I have ever seen. They were slowly swimming upstream in the river with their mouths open just above the water line. It looked like they were catching anything that might be floating downstream. Very odd feeding behavior.

 There were birds. small brown birds and gulls of course. I only saw one boat go out and that was earlier, not when I was walking back to town by the river. Walked into town and it wasn't as far as it seemed the day before. Aaw some young revelers out closing a night club or something.

All dressed up and nowhere to go and they were not drunk. They went into a bar and ordered coffees. I kept going I was looking for the bus station to see what time the buses left. After asking a cab driver where the bus station was I found it. Could not make head nor tails of the schedule though. (maybe 1225 and 1925 to Tapia) went back and found a coffee shop , the Bar Antolin, that was also a  bakery and a chocolate shop. Those are the best kind of shops to find.
I had a tea and a fresh croissant, bought some chocolates for Maureen and I later, used the washroom, wrote in my journal and some postcards.

I found the remnants of a medieval wall that was very interesting. I found the  cathedral which was very cool but locked. I found the Post office after wandering around for about 30 minutes. It is behind the information building about two blocks and is closed on sundays. But I did find a mailbox and mailed the postcards that I had ready.

Went back to the hostel  at around 920 only to find Maureen was locked in the room?  I had taken the key so I could get back in not thinking that one would need a key to get out. We had a breakfast of semi burnt toast and tea, got our credentials stamped and paid for our stay. La Hostal Restaurant La Mariana might have been recommended in the guide book but I think that I would recommend it for large school groups as there are lots of rooms.
The bill worked out to only 62 Euros for 2 which is cheap enough for what we got I suppose. the beds were comfy and dry.

We walked into town  past the ugliest duck I have ever seen. Walked up to the ALSA station and decided that we did not want to wait for the bus so headed back into the center of town. The Cathedral was now open so we went in. I said a few Hail Mary's and lit a few candles for Bill.  got some pictures.  Nice church. We went into town to catch a cab to Castro de Coana and made arrangements with the cab driver to come back and pick us up at 2 to take us to Tapia de Casariego.
Castro de Coana is about 5 km south of Navia.   Castros  were the most common type of celtic/Iberian settlements at the end of the Bronze age, consisting of  80 circular dwellings  arranged haphazardly over a hillside surrounded by moats and palisades in the Navia valley. It dates from the Iron age,  pre roman, with the first archaeological digs taken place there in 1877.

We got there and it was still misting out. Paid our 7 euros left our packs behind the counter and walked over to the settlement. It was so cool.
None of the buildings had walls touching each other. Some had little kind of entry areas before the main circular interior . Of Course none of the buildings had roofs but I could imagine what it must have been like. It was very Conan.
Then too, the people were smaller then so the walls would not have to have been as high as for us today.
We went through the on-site museum which had many of the finds that had been unearthed there and showed what the site would have looked like and what they would have been doing in the area for the last 2500 years.

 it was very interesting. We picked up a few things a the little gift shop. I got a bracelet with a stone from the area. Very cool.
While we waited for our cab I sprinkled a bit of M&D there. They would like that.  Our cab came and took us to Tapia. the rain stopped and about 1 kilometer from town Maureen asked the driver to stop and let us out so we could walk into town? OK.
Tapia is another lovely little fishing village. I have to admit not as lovely as Luarca, but very nice.

We had to find the police station to get a key for the refugio. the guide book said it was by the harbour. so we walked all around the harbour but could not find the police station. we must have looked like we needed help because two young teens came up and asked  in english if they could help us. of course we said yes. Gillermo (William) who was 16 and Maria (Mary) who was 15 checked with their parents who seemed to think that was fine and so they took us to the police station which is up two roads from the harbour.

We never would have found it easily. It seems they spend every summer here with family . They are from Gijon. (Pronounced HHeehon) I never did get the pronunciation right. They interpreted for us our requirements to the police man.  The police officer had to call someone who had the key and asked Guillermo and Maria if they could show us where the refugio was. they happily took us there. they were great. I am sure that they must have an assignment to write when they get back to school on how many pilgrims they helped over their summer holidays.

Maria helped me with my spanish . when she found out that I was a vegetarian she wrote it down for me what to say so that the servers would understand. "Soy vegetariana, no quiero carne, ni pescado. Estaria bien ensalada o pasta, como arraz. vedura, queso a huevos." which means I am a vegetarian, I do not eat meat or fish. I will eat salad, pasta and rice with vegetables, cheese and eggs.
they took us to the refugio and said "buen Camino".  there were two floors  to this refugio.  the main floor had 6 bunks , two washrooms one guys, one gals with showers and sinks and toilets enough for two or three to be busy at the same time.
Upstairs were 7 more bunks. We each got a lower bunk  on the main floor and  I took the pasta and sugar that I had carried from Madrid and put it on the kitchen table.  We got changed into dry clothes as most of what we were wearing was damp from the rain that morning. Hung things out on the line to dry.
The refugio is located at the edge of town right on the ocean with its own stoney beach. Absolutley breathtaking. The sun was now shining and drying everything up very quickly. we walked into town t find a restaurant on the wharf. I had tomato ensalada with ewes cheese. very yummy.

Wandered up to the sea walk above the town, well actually the town was up there too, all along the ocean. Stunning views and lots of little beaches. there was a naval memorial and a salt water pool right on the ocean.  I had to use the washroom so Maureen and i split up and I went inland while she went along the wall back the way we came.  I found a washroom, a store where I purchase some fruit and postcards, a church with a very cool stained glass window and on the way back to the refugio, an optical illusion sidewalk.

I went down onto the beach and made an inukshuk and sprinkled a bit of M&D there. Maureen showed up just when I was finishing the inuksuk so we poked around the beach and collected sea glass. very small pieces of sea glass, not big enough to make jewelry . maybe a mosaic, a very small one. we will see what I can think of. When it started to get dark we went back up the stairs to the refugio and i wrote postcards and read Wicked.

fell asleep pretty quickly but did not get a real good sleep as I was woken up by snorers. I had ear plugs in when i went to sleep but for some reason when i woke up in the middle of the night to use the washroom I took them out. not smart.