Camino del Norte 16: Fabada

30km from Llanes to Ribadesella strangely didn’t seem so tiring.

We set out from Llanes down a lovely promenade of trees slightly worried about the length of the day with rain looming. But we were still on a bit of a high after amazing meal last night.

Thanks to the rain, and the poor food of the previous two nights, we opted to eat in the hotel’s restaurant. The restaurant is in the former chapel of a monastery which makes a lovely dining room. We went for the Fadaba menu which centered on the local Austurian bean stew. Every part was just fabulous. For reasons no one could explain, we were also the only customers which meant we got attentive service and free flowing drinks. Really the only fly in our ointment was that we were always aware of our early start in the morning.

So the walk today was long but it was pretty and we had plenty of opportunities for coffee and orange juice stops.

At one point we passed the strangest little shrine that was a stone kennel with bars, sitting inside a larger set of bars.

There were several beautiful churches and rivers. And one church on a river.

The rain held off until we were almost at Ribadesella, so we only had to walk for about 4km in the wet. Our hotel is excellent but has a weird haunted house look about it.

But the continuing rain has left us with another decision. Do we venture out to find food, or do we eat in the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant? Serious issues confront us.