Archive for month: August, 2012

Today was another day with two possible routes, so Dave and I walked separately most of the day. The majority of the day was merely cloudy, but a few short showers managed to soak us. My route was basically entirely on a paved walking path next to a two-lane bike path. I was a little jealous of the speedy bikes whizzing past me. The scenery was an improvement over the industrial areas yesterday, but still not very inspiring especially with the grey weather.

We arrived to Pobeña around 11:30. We are back on the coast and walked along a nice wild-looking beach. The albergue didn’t open until 3pm, so we went to a café to warm up and use wifi to catch up with what’s going on outside of northern Spain. After several very short days along paved roads, we are looking forward to getting back to more rural areas and putting in some longer days.

The weather is clearing up and we are hoping for sunny skies tomorrow morning as we walk a dirt path along the coast.

 

We woke up early this morning, after a night of enduring a jet-engine of a snorer in our room. We have been lucky with quiet rooms so far, but last night even my earplugs could not drown out the racket. The albergue provided cake and fruit and we made some instant coffee in the microwave to get us moving. The weather was very cloudy and threatening to rain. The walk to Bilbao was first along the road for several kilometers, before we left the industrial area and climbed up and over Mt Avril, about 300 meters of elevation gain.

The mountain would have afforded great views if it were not so foggy. It felt like we were walking up into a cloud, and we were soaked with sweat and condensation in spite of the cool temperatures. Bilbao is a massive sprawling city with about 1,000,000 people in the total area and over 300,000 in the city itself, the biggest city we’ve seen on our Camino walking.

The approach into the city was beautiful, as we followed the historic road down Calle Mallona and into a colorful main plaza lined tall, narrow buildings of every color. The weather was drizzly as we walked around to see the sites. We ducked into a little cafe for a cafe con leche and to dry off. We visited Decathlon, the Spanish version of REI. Dave was interested in possibly getting a poncho that would cover him and his backpack to keep his electronics dry more easily. Dave tried on a complicated rain coat with a big hump on the back to cover the big bag and ended up getting rather stuck in it. He was quite a graceful sight in the middle of the store trying to wriggle out of a giant poncho with a 70 liter pack on his back. We also looked for camping gas for our stove, but they were sold out of every kind and size!

By afternoon we were ready to seek out the albergue, which opens at 3pm. We knew it was located a little outside of time, but when we started climbing through a grassy hill with horses running free, we became worried that we were a bit too far out of the city… We continued and eventually found the albergue, a former school in a small neighborhood a few kilometers from Bilbao. We checked in, got our not-very-private hot showers in the school shower rooms and washed our clothes by hand. There are not many washers and dryers along the Camino del Norte, but a lot of albergues have a “centrifugadora” which is essentially a glorified salad spinner. You put in your clothes, turn it on, and the machine spins and spins your clothes while the rinse water drains out the bottom. The clothes actually emerge almost dry and a few hours on the line usually has them good to go.

Once we were settled in, we hopped on bus 58 and went back to the city to do some more exploring and to get dinner. Tomorrow there are two alternate routes to Portugalete, the next town, so Dave will take the high route which is about 50% longer but less on roads. I will return to downtown and hope there is better weather for taking photos to get some shots of the sites, and also I plan to visit the famous Guggenheim Museum down on the water front. Then I will take the shorter road route to Portugalete. If the weather holds (and our feet!) we may continue on to Pobeña.

We’ve been walking at about the same pace as a couple from California, a pediatrician and social worker, so we have enjoyed getting to know them better. Other faces have come and gone as we take shorter and longer days according to our research needs. It’s always fun to arrive to an albergue and see a familiar face of someone we have walked with before. Most hikers seem to be Spanish, followed by German and French. Some are stopping here in Bilbao and heading back to school, while many seem to have the goal, like us, of reaching Santiago de Compostela.

We had another beautiful day of walking, with clear sunny skies and warm temperatures. The walking was very rural with a lot of sweeping mountain views. We slept very well at the monastery last night and enjoyed coffee and bread with our bunkmates in the morning while watching the sunrise over the mountains. We walked through many idyllic hamlets, with huge colorful traditional Basque houses surrounded by perfect little gardens. The peas and hot peppers seemed to be ripe, but we resisted the temptation to swipe any.

Our plan today was to walk to Gernika (as in Pablo Picassa’s Guernica— Gernika is the Basque name). It is a city that was bombed very heavily and mostly destroyed in by German bombers in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. While it has been rebuilt and is a lively city of 16,000, many of the town’s monuments and historic buildings are related to the painful history.

We are noticing that the Basque language (Euskara) is very dominant here, many signs being only in Basque and not Spanish. Signs for the Camino through town said “Donijakue bidea” (Saint James Path)—not very helpful for the many pilgrims who do not speak Basque!

We had read that Gernika was housing pilgrims in their polideportivo (rec center), but when we got there, it turned out they did not offer that service this year. The only option was a youth hostel that was over €20 per person and did not open until 4pm (we got there around noon). So since we didn’t feel like waiting 4 hours in the heat, we decided to keep walking after visiting the main sites of Gernika, eating lunch and taking a nap in the park. The next albergue was 22 km away, and we didn’t want to walk that far, so we decided to look for a good camping spot in the forest. And here we are, typing away and using our 3G Internet on a flat spot in the forest where we set up our tent.”

We’re looking forward to two more short days until Bilbao, where we can explore the big city and visit the Guggenheim Museum.

 

 

 

Another short day, as the next town after Deba is 22 kilometers away and the weather report was calling for rain. The ran began right on schedule at 7am. We waited in the albergue for the rain to let up, and left in drizzles around 8:15. The walk was a combination of small country roads and dirt paths. There were only two intermediary villages. The views of the rocky coast in the foggy weather were beautiful. We didn’t see very many other hikers as we were kind of between the more popular stages.

The beach town of Deba hidden in a steep valley, so our last few kilometers were very steep downhill and a bit slippery from the rain. Luckily there are two public elevators down to the sea level main area of Deba. We had read that we should go to Tourist Info in order to register for the albergue here. We paid our fee and got a key to the building, but then realized we had to backtrack back up the steep road we had just come down to get back to our lodging!

The albergue is housed in an old school, costs €5 and has 28 beds. It’s a little musty but fairly spacious. No kitchen, so we went to the grocery store and made up a nice taco salad and ate down by the beach while watching the surfers.

Tomorrow we’re planning on a long day to Zenarruza, where there is a small albergue (9 beds) in a monastery. We’re hoping we get there in time to get a bed! We will also be walking through Bolibar, the hometown of Simón Bolívar. We are hoping to get to Gernika (Guernica) on Monday to see their weekly traditional outdoor market, the largest in this area.

It has been interesting to see a lot of Basque separatist graffiti, and signs asking that ETA members who are in prison be returned to Basque Country. Other signs say “Basque Country: Independent and Socialist” and still others “Spain is our ruin.” I remember walking the Camino Francés in 2009 there was graffiti saying, “Tourist, you are NOT in Spain!”

We are feeling pretty good, though our legs and joints are rather sore. The first 20 kilometers tomorrow are supposed to be challenging, with a lot of elevation gain and loss, so we hope our bodies are up to the task.

Today was a great day, after a very tiring day yesterday. The first few hours of the day, we explored San Sebastián, visiting the cathedral and the Old City. We left on the trail around 10am. There was a lot of walking through rural areas, with beautiful small farms and views of the ocean, along with traditional Basque architecture. There were some ups and downs, but nothing very intense. We are sore, but feeling stronger as we go. The sun came out to join us and it was fun to finally have some blue skies.

We had a picnic feast for lunch in Orio, a sweet little town along the water which was famous for whale hunting back in the 19th century. We continued along the shore and up and over a green hill for a beautiful descent into the town of Zarautz, known as the “Hawaii of Spain” for its great surfing. The long stretch of beach was ideal, and surfers of all levels were enjoying the water.

The albergue here is donation-based, and housed in a school during July and August (many albergues are only open in summer on the Norte route). It is very clean with very hot showers and a nice big yard for relaxing and hanging laundry. We walked along the sea promenade and visited the historic buildings and ate dinner downtown. Now we are ready to get a good night’s sleep. We are excited to see that his albergue has plenty of windows for ventilation. The albergue last night did not have windows and became very hot and stuffy with over 50 bodies in it!

Tomorrow we plan to walk 23 kilometers to Deba.