Stage 7: Bilbao - Castro Urdailes, 28 kms, Hot & Wonderful🌞 27!

This Is More Like It!!

Up early before the sun this morning, breakfasted and on our way through town to the train station where we caught the metro out to Portugalete to begin walking. Pretty urban and industrial on the way out of Bilbao, and as this is a no obligation walk, we figured we could miss this small section and get out into the country air that much sooner and try to beat a little of the heat. Sorry Dad, no chance to get the sunrise for you this morning as we were speeding along underground. Perhaps another day if this heat continues.

Almost from the get go we walked on this bike and walking path for over 11 kms as we made our way out to the coastal town of La Arena. Tough on the body, but far easier than the first week and look, no chocolate!

We soon began to catch glimpses of the Atlantic. We were getting pretty excited. A gorgeous morning with unlimited blue sky and colour everywhere. The challenges and adventures from the first week quickly eased into the past as we slipped easily along being greeted regularly by the locals. How nice it is to be welcomed instead of ignored as now happens more often than not on the Camino Frances. We must have been wished a Buen Camino at least 40 times today! Very refreshing. 

We stopped for a cold drink and a snack just after 10 when we reached the ocean. A small celebration if you like. It was already 21 degrees with more heat on the way.

Tide low and loads of sand for the beach walkers. We were both so tempted, but we had miles to go.

We began to meet other peregrinos was we proceeded. A whole new crop, many of whom had started in Bilbao or had taken the metro out as we had. Hopefully we will reconnect with a few of our starting group the next couple of days. The big cities tend to shake things up a bit.

As nice as things were today, it’s easy to see that it can live up to its reputation and storm here in the off season..

But the cost is what we came to walk this year and without fog or rain it was quite amazing.

We set off on a coastal walking path from headland to headland. Easy walking.

It’s always the same. You can see your destination in the distance, but it will take hours to reach there with all the weav8ng along the coast. That’s Castro Urdailes in the distance. It’s home to a young woman who helped us to book our accommodation for tomorrow night when things were looking pretty bleak. Weekends and a holiday coast add up to signs in the window saying complete or full. Many of the albergues are not just for pilgrims along this coast. Most anyone can take a bed, and our friend Mary said this led to a lot of partying last year as not everyone was thinking the same.

We stopped to take a photo of a German cyclist and he insisted in taking ours too. Yup, floppy hat time.

It was around here that we left the Basque Country and crossed into Cantabria. One last reminder. Takes me back to Ireland in the mid 1970’s and early 1980’s. Positive things have transpired there. Perhaps they will here as well, though there is no military intervention or on going killings happening here. The whole process seems more subtle, less dramatic here, or at least that’s my sense of it after a brief visit. Really enjoyed our time here.

At Mioño we deviated off the road and found a beautiful coastal trail to take us in.

I was pretty happy today.

Home for tonight.

View from our room in a small, simple pension.

And more of the same tomorrow with more headlands and a bit toastier forecaste. Time now to go wandering.

Bilbao: Sunny, 25!!

Told You So!

A day in Bilbao isn’t a bad thing to do for oneself were on Camino or not. This is a very livable city with parks everywhere, proper bike lanes (not like those goofy things at home) a healthy looking population and loads of interesting places to visit. Here are a few of the sites.

We started our day slowly and finally rolled out to find breakfast in a bar and then it was off to visit the Guggenheim. Designed by a joint Canadian American collaboration. I guess this was during a time when we weren’t considered a security threat and a good trustworthy neighbour. How times have changed in certain quarters, fortunately not in all.

Hey Ken, I found you an interesting cat! Well maybe it’s a dog? 

Maybe a cat from the rear? A Garfield? 

A very cool building to spend a few hours in. Quite a few controversial exibits taking on some of the social and political issues of our time. I can’t say that this was my favourite type of gallery, but I did enjoy wandering this very amazing building which kind of outshines the exhibits.

We took a long walk along the river which is beautifully lined with walking and cycling paths. All the while it was getting hotter in the growing humidity. 

We ended up in the old town area and when in search of the Santiago Cathedral to obtain our stamp, complete with free entry for pilgrims! 

We unnecessarily climbed up above old town, but it was worth the nice vistas. Of course we found the outdoor escalators on our way back down which would have been better appreciated when we climbed all those stairs! 

As I said the parks are everywhere and later in the day they are filled with children. These ones particularly interested in a spontaneous concert.

Then there was the unusual laundry drying lines complete with their own umbrellas to keep the rain off the dry8ng clothes. Did I mention that there is lots of rain here?

The food here has been pretty delicious. We ate out at a 2019 Michelin rated bar last night. Didn’t know they awarded bars? Food was brilliant.

Each day this past week Annemarie would say to me something about how bad the weather was and I’d tell her that the forecasters were calling for better weather. She didn’t believe me, but now I can say, “told you so”! The weather pattern has completely flipped and we have hot sunny days here and ahead. Tomorrow, in answer to Ken’s question, we will jump the metro out or Bilbao just down river to Portugalete and kick off our second week as we are back by the sea and all that brings. We will be up early tomorrow to get a jump on the heat, but that’s ok because there’s something special about walking under blue sunny skies! 

Stage 6: Gernika - Bilbao, 31 kms*, Cloud, sun 23!

“Chocolate”

Today the story remained all about the mud. Everyone was talking about it. We met a Spanish peregrino from Pamplona named Gustov who told us that the name they give to this type of mud is chocolate because it’s thick like the hot chocolate they make here. And that stuff is thick!

We were up in decent time this morning as it’s a long way into Bilbao with the mud and the climbs. Who is that guy? The sun? 

Early on the clouds were pretty low, but slowly things began to lift as we climbed. We live in hope that eventually the sun will shine, but I’ve been keeping a glass half full outlook as I know this is my only chance to really walk some distance this year. So I’m still pretty excited and I take the mud as I find it and usually just laugh as I plow on ahead, boot sucking sounds and all! The other options don’t appeal, and lots of folks are falling in the mud, so at least I haven’t done that...yet.

Deep chocolate.

And just when I start to wonder if it will get any worse, I’m quite often delighted when some small detail catches my eye and gives me a moment of pleasure. This branch of Wild Rose was just hanging out into the path. In perfect bloom.

The clouds continued to lift and with it our combined spirits. Would the sun come out? Would we finally get to wear our sunglasses? Could I pull off my sleeves? 

The yellow arrows are pretty tastefully applied to object here to keep us moving in the right direction. I guess there’s no immediate plans to move this old car.

We stopped for a late morning snack with many of our peregrino companions. I guess that generally speaking we are amount the oldies in the group, but in true Camino spirit we have been warmly received. One of the special elements of a Camino, and we have been blessed to meet some very nice folks this first week. 

This is Gustov from Pamplona.  He injured his ankle as we descending a steep and really nasty muddy slope. Honestly, there’s no excuse to let a trail get in such poor condition. His fall ended his day and he decided to stop early and hope that the injury settles down over night. The very odd thing was that he scrubbed his boots and lower legs with his boots still on! I’ve never witnessed this before and I must say, it was intriguing to watch. He then took off his boots and proceeded to wash the insides as well! I was shocked. How are his boots going to be dry in the morning was my initial thought? I hope that he recovers and that we cross patches again. Nice guy and we were each helping the other with our equally poor language skills. Mine were probably worse than his! 

Annemarie had earlier decided to make the last 8-9 km jump into Bilbao by bus and leave me free to walk in solo. However, as we approached the last point where we could catch a bus, I decided that I’d rather not risk a mud based injury at the end of a long day and I decided to join Annemarie on the local bus.we have tomorrow to explore the city, but I’ve wanted to see this town for a very long time and decided the opportunity for a few extra hours was worth missing a few kilometres. 

This is a very livable city. Annemarie found us a deal at The Bilbao Carlton on the right. Well actually we wished we’d been able to stay there, but we have a really nice little place out in a city neighbourhood within walking distance to town. Hey, what’s not within walking distance when one’s on Camino? The bed feels super comfortable, the shower is excellent and we back onto a school yard, so no night noises.

We are going to wander the town tomorrow and I’ll see if there’s something here worth blogging about. I bet there is! We also hope that in the coming days that we will be able to reconnect with the group of folks we have been with this past week as we all head out of Bilbao. 

Hey Ariel, I’m already planning where I’ll be to watch the Champions League final. Just a couple of days!! 

Stage 5: Markina-Xemein - Gernika; 27 kms, Rain, Cloud, a touch of sun, 16

A Better Day?

I wanted to repeat yesterday’s title, Part ll, but thought better of it. I think this photo says it all. This was after I cleaned them on the grass. Some of the mud is so deep it closes over the front of the boot and there’s a big sucking sound as you take your next step. Perfect.

While yesterday was a bit of a grind and my partner was not enjoying it quite so much, I think that in spite of it all that we both enjoyed the crossing today complete with a couple of really nice climbs. 

At dinner last night there were 12 of us in the albergue and we joined together for a very nice communal meal. Much talk about many things from politics to Caminos we have all walked and even to grandchildren. We sat with two very nice couples, one from Germany and the other from the UK. It made for a very nice evening and one that will be remembered for a while. We all joined up together for an early breakfast before finding our way out into the rain which had replaced the earlier spots of blue. Our albergue last night.

We had been staying just out of town and after walking through the town we connected with our new collection of Camino buddies. This being stage 5 people have quickly become quite friendly as is the custom on these wonderful walks. We intially found a mudless road, knowing that this wasn’t to last. It was a beautiful moment nonetheless. Just let the legs warm up and run for a while. Love it! 

I found these for Caitlin to enjoy. Thought of you as I took this photo. A very different looking Christmas cactus type, with a similar flower.

After a slip and a slide through the mud we found this very old stone path that led us up to the Monasterio de Zenarruza. I’m always a bit awed by the work that it must have taken to build a walk way of this type and for the length it runs. An amazing achievement which has stood the test of time. 

A simple, but in its own way quite elegant interior.

Shockingly, be still my heart, the sun made a few brief appearances. It’s been 5 days and I was beginning to wonder if the sun ever showed itself on the north coast.



With the signs around it’s easy to see that some in the Basque Region don't consider themselves a part of Spain. A reminder that history and emotions run deep here. Their own flag, language and food. 

Sometimes things looked pretty positive. Other times a large cell would pass overhead and dump lots of precipitation. 

And of course the trail then turns into this.

It really is quite beautiful here. My Camino friend John has told me that he loved every minte of this walk. I’m really liking it too, but I’d like a bit more sun. Maybe tomorrow?



We are relaxing in a local bar eating a bit and enjoying a beer or two. Annemarie took a bit of a tumble at the end of the stage having caught her toe on a small pile of dirt. And after all the slippery slopes we’ve successfully navigated on the local mountains, this had to happen at the end of the day in a very innocent way. I’ve patched her all up, but she will have a few marks on her arm and maybe a bruise or two as well. As usual, she’s taking it in stride. Another cervesa please!

Addendum:

We have been out to see the town. The name Gernika was niggling at the back of my mind, and when we went to the TI for information they explained what I should have remembered. This town was mostly destroyed during the Spanish civil war in the 1930’s. Franco’s army with air power provided by the Nazi and Italian leadership were very cruel to the people in this area and the market and town was bombed in April 1936 with a significant loss of life. Mostly just women and children were here at the time. Picasso painted his most famous work in 1937 from Paris as a protest to the Nationalists and the war. Erin I’m sure you’ve probably studied this. 

Then there is the famous Tree of Gernika. This is st the heart of Basque culture and politicals. There has been a tree for centuries which the Assembly has met around during that time. This is the current generation of a series of trees.

The assembly.

The massive ceiling.

Including the tree.