Beginning the Primitivo
Day Eight (Camino de San Salvador Completo) Camino Primitivo Day One - Oviedo to Paládin
“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery – air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy.’”
– Sylvia Plath
An early start for me today. I will admit I spent a bit of time going around in a circle trying to find the beginning of the Primitivo. I finally found a couple walking and quietly followed them, pretending to be starting at the same time from a different albergue. I then met a very nice Spanish man on the outskirts of town who told me this was his 20th Camino, and 6th time walking the Primitivo. After he got us lost a third time, I said a kind goodbye and went on my way!
I walked a bit with an Italian group today - five men and one woman. The woman and I were the last ones coming up a hill, and the men began chanting “I-TAL-I-A! The two of us raced (if you could call it racing) to the top. I am proud to report ”Team USA” was the champion (barely). I was awarded a bouquet of weeds picked from the side of the road and walked on, feeling I had done my country proud.
Today’s walk was mostly on the edge of country roads, but the parts that were through forest made up for the miles of asphalt. I found apples, figs, blackberries and plums in abundance, all growing wild. Many pilgrims pick fruit from the farms we pass by, but I am more comfortable taking the occasional apple from an abandoned field. I do not think it right to take from a farmer’s property - I wouldn’t walk into a restaurant, eat, and then leave without paying.
I’ve walked with pilgrims for days now where I expected to find none, so it’s good to come to a place where I expect many, but am able to walk alone. My albergue tonight is lively and full of many nationalities, as well as locals. I had a funny experience with an older German man who outpaced me today, yet loudly insisted at the albergue that he was an old man and needed the bottom bunk. The Swiss woman in the bunk above me and I have a bet regarding how loudly he snores tonight.
