Day 23 Gijón to Avilés

The weather seemed to have changed this morning, I normally wear a fleece for the first hour or so but today it was already 22 degrees at 8am and the sea looked a lot more inviting than it did 12 hours ago. Apart from some runners and a group of folk doing yoga the beaches were empty and I had an uneventful walk out of Gijón into its industrial heartland and largely abandoned housing schemes, parts reminded me of the Clune Park Estate in Port Glasgow.

As I climbed Monte Areo the day was at its hottest. The effort required got me going and I didn’t feel quite so lethargic. At the top I missed the way marks to the prehistoric Dolmen de San Pablo which probably shortened today’s section.

The final stage from Trasona, where I had a coffee with M from Seville and her partner who joined her yesterday, it was a relentless 9k schlep into Avilés along side a relatively busy road. The temperature was beginning to drop and rain was forecast which made it very doable. Sensing the Avilés is a very traditional Asturian town I ate opportunistically at 4.

This evening it’s raining quite heavily with the promise of sunshine tomorrow but not high temperatures. I’ve bought a few emergency food bits and pieces - there are reports that nothing is open in Muros de Nalón on a Sunday.

The main blip is Avilés which on account of the rain and lethargy I haven’t really explored.