Tuesday – April 29, 2025
- Start: Rome, Italy
- End: Oviedo, Spain
- Distance flown: 1,508 km (937 miles)
- Lodging: Hotel Clarin
With my trek on the Via Francigena complete, it was time to shift my focus to my next pilgrimage: the Camino Primitivo. Yet another unexpected chaotic situation arose to deal with. I was in Italy when Pope Francis died. And now I was heading to Spain, where a massive power outage hit the Iberian Peninsula yesterday, knocking out the power through Portugal, Spain, and southern France!
When I went to bed last night, I had no idea whether my flight from Rome to Oviedo would be cancelled. A power loss of this magnitude was rare. And it was bound to have a ripple effect on travel, even if power was restored within 24 hours. Yesterday’s outage shut down airports and trains, and I kept my fingers crossed that the distruption would be minimal.
I ate one last breakfast with Andreas and Catherine in Rome this morning, and then we said our final goodbyes and I was off to Spain. A metro ride to the Termini Station, followed by the Leonardo Express train to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, and a very full 2.5-hour RyanAir flight to Oviedo.
As we flew over Northern Spain, I was surprised to see how much snow still lingered on the Pyrenees and the Picos de Europa. I wasn’t expecting to see snow at the end of April.
Near the end of our flight, the pilot turned the plane over the Bay of Biscay and began his descent. I could see nothing but ocean out the airplane window, and we seemed to be getting closer and closer to the water, which didn’t feel safe. I knew from my trek on the Camino del Norte that the Oviedo airport was near the ocean, but it felt like I was landing on an island where the land didn’t appear until the very last moment before touchdown.
The pilot seemed to gun the engine, and we cruised directly over a beach and toward solid ground at the very last moment. Our landing felt like a forceful smack against the runway, and then we were taxiing way too fast. I wasn’t the only passenger clutching the seat in front of me to brace myself.
After deplaning, it appeared that everything was completely back to normal in Spain. The airport had power. And I found my way outside to the bus stop where the ALSA bus to Oviedo was waiting. I’d made it.
