Monday 27^th May

Alf and I jumped out of the van this morning into a damp mist. By the time we had completed a circuit of the car park it was a steady drizzle, and not long after we shut the door, heavy drops were resonating on the roof. There was no doubt about it; it was raining! That scuppered our plan to walk back into Llanes for breakfast.

Now, we are 45 minutes inland from Llanes, camping at campsite Naranjo des Bulnes, at the feet of the Picos de Europa. To get here (the village of Arenas des Cabrales) we drove along the AS114, which is now my new favourite road. Even in the rain it is impressive as it winds along a narrow gorge between impossibly steep hills whose tops are lost in the dark grey clouds.

It is still raining!

In years to come a stranger will strike up conversation with you in a pub by saying something like; “Where were you when Derby lost the Championship Playoff Final to Aston Villa?” Some will say they were at Wembley (a lot more would have said that if Derby had won!), some will say they were in the Jonty Farmer, but Andy and I will be able to say we were in El Horreo – the bar next door to the campsite, watching on my laptop via their ropey WiFi. 

We had not bargained for the 20 minutes it would take for my Sky Player to update itself and so we were well into the first half by the time we had sound and vision rather than text. We had finished our first bottle of sidre before Villa scored their first goal. Our bottle of sidre was fitted into an automatic pouring machine that delivered the optimum aeration at the push of a button.

El Horreo is a great bar and is probably full to bursting for two months of the year, however there are not many County or Villa fans in the Picos and so Andy and I were on our own. The woman behind the bar recognised our falling spirits and brought us chorizo tapas to sustain us through the second half. Despite the Derby’s last gasp attempt to take the match into extra time it was to be a consolatory rather than a celebratory curry tonight and then back to El Horreo for a game of crib.

Today is our first wet day out of 32 on tour.

It’s still raining!