Day 1: Oviedo to Grado, 28.71 km, 17.8 miles

King Alfonso II started this movement to Santiago de Compostela around 1200 years ago. On this rainy morning in Oviedo, I’m not sure if I should thank him, or climb up this statue and kick him in the hindquarters…

LOVE/HATE

I have a love/hate relationship with the ways to Santiago. 51 weeks of the year I am reminiscing a past walk, planning the next one, or actually walking on the Iberian Peninsula. The 1 week of hate per year is the week immediately before starting the new walk – worries about the timing, my responsibilities, the sheer irrationality of the walk, the weather, etc. And I hate the long plane ride across the Atlantic. These feelings of despair last right up to the morning of the first day of walking. Then…

SOLVITUR AMBULANDO

Saint Augustine (pre-dating King Alfonso II by 400 years or so), claimed that problems are solved by walking (or practical experimentation), solvitur ambulando in Latin (I don’t speak Latin but am pretty handy with Google Translate). So, angry at King Alfonso II? Nervous about life choices? Anxiety about the weather? Start taking those first steps, and begin ambulando-ing…😁

LOVE

After 1 block of walking, I remembered, I love walking these ways to Santiago, and this new-to-me Camino Primitivo is no different if the first day is any representation. Oviedo is cool, lots of mountains around, and some interesting people, as always.

Thanks, Alfonso!!!