For the first time in our Camino del Norte, today was hot. Very hot. In contrast to the mild temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s, today started warm and got hotter. It was 88 and sunny by mid-afternoon. And humid since we’re by the ocean.
 | |
| The Day Begins |
We arose early (of course) and walked from Leandro to the popular beach town Laredo. It’s very cute, featuring a lovely Old Town and 5 kilometers of beach.
 | |
| View of Laredo |
Along the Paseo Maritimo, the walkway along the expanse of beach, Paco took a rest break to deal with blisters on each of his baby toes. Once they were lanced, disinfected, and bandaged up, we were ready to go.
 | ||||
| Paco Tending to Blisters |
We walked the length of the beach to the so-called “ferry terminal”, which was just a slip of sand where a small little boat pulls up to take on or drop off passengers. It was a short and uneventful ride across the bay to Santoña on the other side. After coffee and tortilla, we were ready for the adventures to follow!
 | |
| Laredo's Expansive Beach |
 |
| Crossing the Bay |
Our goal for today was to reach Gϋemes, the home of the acclaimed Albergue La Cabaña de Abuelo Peuto. Padre Ernesto Bustio is the founder and proprietor of this albergue. The property is reputed to be the most kind and welcoming place on the Northern Route. When Padre Ernesto is in town, he holds evening lectures the focus on his international travels and humanitarian and peace work. Everyone we met in the past two days of walking has the same goal: to be a part of this special place.
From Santoña, the walk way all along the Atlantic Coast, past lots of tourist beaches, towards the town of Noja. We never made it to Noja. The guide books listed multiple routes to that beach town. One was labeled as a steep, difficult cliff walk but worth it for the views. We opted for the safer, land route.
 |
| Walk Along the Countryside |
As we found in other towns, the Camino markings were very confusing. There are at least four (probably more like six) alternate ways to get to Noja, then Gϋemes, and the road markings are anything but clear. We followed one sign for the alternate route to Noja, which said it was 5 km away. After an hour of walking in the posted direction, we came upon another sign that said Noja was 5 km away.
At this point it was getting super hot and there were no bars or restaurants to be found. So we refilled our water bottles and set off for the next town along the way: San Miguel. We bought some provisions for lunch and headed for he last 9 km walked to Gϋemes. In the heat. It was brutal, but beautiful. There was no shade. There were few trees, just beautiful farmland. But we made it!
 |
| Views From the Outskirts of Guemes |
The albergue is cute as a button. As soon as we arrived, we started seeing people we met along the road: Jaszia and her sons from Krakow, Luca (Italian teacher), Juan Carlos (physics teacher from Madrid), folks from Dublin on this morning’s ferry ride from Laredo, and more are still arriving. This is an enormous property: 100 beds! We all gathered for a Padre Ernesto's presentation, then shared a wonderful (gluten-free) dinner. The company was fantastic, and the property is magnificent.
 | |
| The Albergue |
 |
| Back Yard at the Albergue |
 |
| Padre Ernesto at the Pilgrims' Meeting |
 |
| The Pilgrims' Dinner |
We feel so blessed!
Today’s totals: 36 km distance covered (according to the book, not counting wrong turns!) A total of 256 km covered in 9 days. 579.3 km left to Santiago!
No comments:
Post a Comment