< Norte Day 8 — Norte Day 10 > < Norte Index >
30 kilometers, 7 hours, passing through Santoña, Playa de Berria, Helgueras, Noja, Castillo Siete Villas, San Miguel de Meruelo, and Bareyo.
The previous night, Hendrik, Sheng and I had dinner in a restaurant close to the albergue. But there were many, many places to choose from. Sheng wanted the best possible seafood. After 30 minutes and Hendrik and I getting hungrier by the minute, she settled on a nice restaurant. We had a great meal. Hendrik and I picked from the Menu del Dia at €15, desert and wine included. Sheng ordered for the Carte (what we would call a menu in the states). Hers cost nearly twice as much, but she seemed happy with her meal.
Our room of five beds at the Albergue Buen Pastor was full for the night. The three of us and two older Spanish gentlemen who Hendrik had seen before. He said one of them snored loudly. He wasn’t wrong. With his warning, I used earplugs. Thank you, Hendrik.
We left the albergue, a very clean, nice place, at 8:00 and headed for the long walk along the beach to a ferry crossing to Santoña. When the first boat arrived that morning, eight or ten of us sat on the dock as it rested in the sand at low tide, patiently ready for our walking day to continue. The short, cold ride across a narrow inlet to a large bay took only a few minutes. After the crossing, and hungry yet again, we stopped in Santoña for breakfast. The small town was just waking for the day. We pilgrims—the first bunch of the day—invaded the bar cafés hungrily. Yum—egg, potato, and tuna tortilla (omelet) for Hendrik, a sweet bread thing for me.
From Santoña, we walked on to another beach, to a very rugged, muddy trail over a clifftop to another beach before Noja, where we stopped for a bite to eat and a coke.
The rest of the day we wandered inland and into higher temps and humidity before finding Heaven on Earth, Cabaña del Abuelo Peuto, a fantastic place. It’s famous too. My guidebook said it was a “don’t miss” albergue. It’s run by an older gentleman named Padre Ernesto and several volunteers. As soon as we arrived, they fed us a wonderful pasta salad, then showed us to our beds.
Ernesto, quite the adventurer back in the 70s and 80s, had roamed around Africa and South America in a Land Rover. Much of his history and many pictures adorn the albergue. They give you a bed in one of the many rooms, feed you dinner and breakfast on a donativo basis. Pay what you can. The Cabaña del Abuelo Peuto is super cozy and clean and a definite don’t miss. An added bonus—and the reason for the evening ritual of sharing his travels and life’s work—all proceeds from the albergue fund various social projects around the world. So impressed, Andy, a Swiss gentleman we had met, left €50 in the donation box.
Andy had started his Camino in Geneva, Switzerland. When we met him, Andy had already been on the trail for fifty-three days.