Day 6: Gerekiz to the city of Bilbao

We loved last night's albergue.   It was clean and modern and the owner was a really nice lady.  We also liked the fact that there were only three other guests and two of them were in another room. 

We were the only ones to order dinner, so we had a little private affair.

A big salad  (with roughage) followed by a lean chicken breast with sauce.  I feel like an athlete in training. 

We decided to start using our sleeping bags in conjunction with what we're given by the hostel.  For example,  last night they gave us a clean pillow and fitted bottom sheet plus a blanket.  (Maybe we should have figured this out sooner.)

Anyway, our wrist alarms went off at 5:30 AM, and we moved our stuff out of the bunkroom to pack and get ready in the hallway.  Tina bought these little cans of Starbucks espresso, which we downed before leaving about 6:10.

Before I tell you what a glorious day it was, and what a wonderful walk we had, let me share some of the hard parts.

Sometimes,  the path is muddy and you need to figure out how to get past the impediments. 

Sometimes, there are blackberry brambles and thorns along the path, ready to punish you for going around a puddle the wrong way. 

Sometimes, the road's just one long scramble over loose rocks...

And then you get to views like this..

And this.  You walk through pine forests and the only sounds are songbirds.  No distant traffic. No planes.  Just nature and the sound of your footsteps.  It's magical.

Until you get to this.  We came across more logging roads and clear cut forests.

At 9:15, we got to the town of Larrabetztu,  where we had delicious coffee and tortilla for me.

Larrabetztu is famous for being a hotbed of Basque nationalism.   

They did not disappoint. 

From there, the road took us through two larger towns walking largely downhill on pavement.   What a treat!  From the second town, Zamudio, the path headed uphill, onto forest pathways, and over Mount Avril Park,  the last thing between us and Bilbao.

It was a 5+ kilometer slog, but it was beautiful.   Bilbao sits on a river that flows to the sea. It's surrounded by mountains, and we had to climb over one to get there.

And see this...

And eventually this.  Funny story: planes approaching the Bilbao airport had been flying overhead for a while.  At one point  on the mountain, we were at someone's back fence admiring their view, and the plane that passed us was below us!  (Missed that photo opportunity.)

We walked into town and got our pilgrim credentials stamped at the basilica.   

This photo is City Hall. It's on the river that bisects the city.

Hey, Bilbao means we've walked 150 kilometers. 

Remember when I said I made us a reservation here? It was at a hotel  across from the Guggenheim museum.

Clean sheets,  air conditioning.  This is the life...  We showered and headed into the old Town for lunch.  Of course,  this being the Basque Country,  everything was delicious. 

Aftwards, wandering the streets, we ran into albergue friends that we'd made from Germany,  Italy, and the Czech Republic.  That's what the Camino's like.  People from all over are trudging through the countryside at approximately the same speed.  You see the same faces in small towns and large cities.  It's very cool.

Tomorrow,  the plan is a long but less hilly walk to a town named Pobeña. The challenge is that supposedly a landslide has taken out the Camino.  Pshaw!

It's Tina's turn to report on how things turn out. Happy fourth of July!