Best Bus Ever

I used to be such a train snob but not anymore. The ALSA bus from A Coruna to Oviedo was an extraordinary experience. how do I describe this bus?  It looks like a regular bus from the outside but inside it's like business class on a wide body. One seat on the left, two on the right. Shaq would be comfortable in one of those seats. The route was pretty special to me as well. It passed through a good chunk of the Camino deal Norte that I did last year, including crossing the bridge from Ribadeo in Galicia to Asturias. That bus had the cleanest windows I've ever experienced in mass transit. There's a 'help yourself' water fridge with excellent free snacks (dried unsalted nut / dried fruit mix) and an on-board engineer who helped a lady with her balky in-flight entertainment center. Need to use the rest room?  Best to wait until the driver turns off the fasten seatbelt sign (I shit you not).

I was so wrapped up in this luxurious experience that I came thisclose to utter disaster. I had put my wallet and phone on the side tray between my seat and the window. About 50 yards into the bus terminal I did my usual instinctive phone/wallet/keys check (no keys of course) and crap!  No wallet! I go running back to the gate wearing my backpack and frantically waved down the bus driver, who had already backed out to continue his trip to Gijon. He wasn't happy about it but sttill let me back on. No luck. Couldn't find it so I got off the bus only to wave him down one more time so I could have a second look. There were only a couple of passengers left on the bus and they were fantastic. My wallet is really small and it had fallen from the tray and wedged between it and the seat. I really appreciate that driver and those people. I had 40€ in my pocket. Credit cards, debit cards - all in that wallet. ALSA rocks!

Stage one of the Camino Primativo is behind me. It's only been a year but I forgot how much I love Asturias. I wish I could bottle the smell of Asturias. Trees, grass, rain and even a little bit of clean smelling manure all seem to work well together. I remember having my first bottle of serious Asturian cider in Llanes last year and noticing that the cider smelled exactly like Asturias.

This route is going to be very hilly, although day one was just a warm-up. About 30km and the iPhone equivalent of 103 floors climbed. The route is really nice. Half of it was foot paths - not farm tracks or dirt roads. Foot paths make the distances seem much shorter for some reason. It rained all day. All day. It's going to rain all day every day for the next 11 days. I think the Picos de Europa are out there somewhere!  I'm sure I'll get a glimpse.

I'm at a really nice place called El Lacayo de Sestiello just outside the town of Grado. From what I've seen, Grado is a dump. El Lacayo is one of those places worth knowing. At 40€ it better be nice, right?