Old and new

A good walk today of 22km from Grado to Salas under overcast skies.  The Camino wound through several little hamlets and down two tracks mired with mud.  

In the town of Cornellana I received two treats, one old, the other new.

Monasterio San Salvador was founded in 1024.  While it is no longer an active monastery, the old cloister is used as an albergue for pilgrims.  I was delighted to see a sign stating  in the run up to their 1000th birthday they are renovating the place to keep it up.  

Just around the corner from the old monastery, the hillside was planted in vines.  At first I thought they were grapes.  But instead they are kiwis!  It's the first time I have seen them growing.

One of the lovely blessings of walking along the Camino is discovering riches old and new.  

Santa Eulalia church

I love dropping by churches as I walk along.  Many are locked up, others at least have a window through which you can look inside.  In the village of Valduno I stopped for a sandwich.  A sign advertising St. Eulalia church at the other end of town caught my eye.  This is the third time I had seen a statue or church dedicated to this martyr with whom I am not very familiar.

St. Eulalia of Merida is a patroness of Oviedo.  She was a 4th century martyr who refused to renounce her Christian faith in favor of the Roman gods or emperor.  She was burned at the stake and suffocated from smoke inhalation.  The story goes that a dove flew from her mouth when she died.  Then a miraculous snow fall covered her body.  Thus she is the patron saint of snow days.  

Her parish in Valduno is built over some Roman baths, which have been partially excavated.

This parish must be serious about stewardship, because they posted the list of donors by name and amount on the bulletin board out front!

St. Eulalia pray for us!

Quiet walk

Took a lovely walk through the countryside today from Escamplero to Grado.  Today some of the quiet of the Camino started to soak in.  It is good to walk.  

These guys were waiting for someone else to come up the Way.

This gal took time out from snacking on grass to say hi.

I only saw 7 pilgrims over the course of the day.  There was a Spanish couple breaking camp outside the chapel of Our Lady of Fatima in Escamplero.  A French couple arrived at St. Eulalia when I did.  An Italian couple rode by on bicycles. And I met Bryan from Idaho.  This route is much quieter than the Camino Frances.  It is good to walk here.  I even met a snail to remind me to go slowly....

... as I make my way to Santiago....

Monte Naranco

After visiting San Julian de los Prados church, I climbed up Monte Naranco on the outskirts of Oviedo.  There are two 9th century pre- Romanesque churches there.  Santa Maria del Naranco

San Miguel de Lillo

Since these ones were closed today, I then walked on to Escamplero and called it a day.

For a while

Before leaving Oviedo this morning, I went by some of the ancient churches in town.  San Julian has been a parish church since the 9th century.  Imagine praying every Sunday in a church built 1200 years ago.  They have been active and faithful for a while.....

Relics

The Cathedral in Oviedo is the beginning of the Camino Primitivo.  It is also home to a number of relics, which helped make it a popular destination for pilgrimage.  Two relics in particular stood out to me.

One was the Holy Shroud.  It allegedly was the cloth that wrapped the face of Jesus when he was buried.  The gospel of John indicates it was folded up separate from the other burial cloth when the disciples went into the tomb on Easter Sunday.

The other relic is in the main church by a side altar.  This large stone jar is allegedly from Cana in Galilee.  It was one of the jars filled with water at the wedding, so Jesus could make wine.  Unfortunately it stands empty today.  :))

Oviedo

Made it safely to Oviedo this evening.  I went by the Cathedral, which marks the beginning of the Camino Primitivo, to pray and get my first sello.

Heading out

It is finally time to head out on pilgrimage.  This time I am walking the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo to Santiago.  The backpack (mochila) is packed.... the boots are on.... time to go for a walk....  :)))