We had a tasty meal of roasted mussels and thin sliced octopus on a bed of potatoes that were dusted with paprika. Delicious!

The little plaza in front of our hostal, however, is being renovated so as want as we were to spend more time here, we were driven off by the noise of construction to continue west on the northern Spanish coast .

After a stroll about Llanes, a light breakfast and stocking up our larder for a picnic along the way at a local charcuterie, it was off to Porto do Barqueiro or O Barqueiro to be brief.

West we went on the coast and then inland along tiny roads to be caught as if in "Ground Hog Day" in Obidos, trying to find the scenic route through the mountains. A full 3 times we went in the same circular route, of about 5 miles, before acting like less than a "real" man and stopping for direction (something I’ve needed most of my life) and finally doing what I had resisted by piercing the heart of Obidos on surface streets and coming out alive on the other side via the correct "highway."

We had been overly optimistic when thinking we could make O Barqueiro in one day and in the advancing twilight stopped in Cornellana for the night.

After again visiting a shoppe for victuals we were on the road and taking another full day, we drove onward first through typically beautiful, did I say incredibly beautiful, Spanish countryside, filled with high rolling hills, a patchwork quilt of fields, farms, forests and small villages over an extremely winding route. Then through a pass that revealed a totally different landscape of almost, but not quite, barren hills of the same magnitude as before, through snow zones without snow, above vast reservoirs behind high dams, an awe inspiring vastness to eventually emerge once again at the coast highway and reaching O Barqueiro to book a room at dusk.

Our journey took us from Oviedo through Trubia, Cornellana, Grado, Salas, La Espina, Tineo, Poa de Allinde, the Puerto de Palo (the aforementioned pass), Grandas de Salime, Pesoz Llano, Boal, Coana, Navia, Ribadeo, San Cosme, Foz Burela, Cervo, Viveiro, many small burgs not on the map and finally Porto do Barqueiro. A route I would heartily recommend to anyone with the time, a car, and who is just as interested in the journey as in arriving. Life after all is about the journey and when we arrive, well the journey’s over. (Que profundo!)

But arrive we finally did. Situated on the Ria Barqueiro, Porto do Barqueiro is an unassuming port flanked by another recently constructed concrete pier. It is here we have chosen to halt our march for 3 nights and 2 full days to recharge and enjoy the near to most northern point of Spain.

We had the pleasure of being here on the full moon and with the lowest tide of the month, the women of O Barqueiro row out to the sand bar that appears at tides ebb and dig for cocquines, a small clam, much like a butter clam, that we had later for lunch "a la marinara" cooked in oil with onions and much garlic and yes while we were here we also had the pulpo but thought it better in Llanes, where I’m sure it’s also caught locally.

We were the only guests in the hostel we were staying at and had a third floor room overlooking the harbor and the Ria beyond. Having managed to have the proprietor turn on the steam heat in our room it was discovered that it was on in all of the rooms on our floor. This was a great boon for us it turned out. After washing our clothes in the shower as we bathed, we rang them out and spread them upon each and every radiator to quickly dry.

Bridge over the Ria Barqueiro