Day 7: Bilbao to Ontón

 

Another fabulous day of hiking across the North of Spain!  We left our hotel at 6:00 am, having enjoyed coffee in our room, and being offered additional coffee by the front desk.  So sweet!  We walked to join the Camino route.  Lo and behold, we passed many open bars and cafes.  How refreshing!  It’s possible to have breakfast as early as 6:30 am. This photo of a neighborhood in the outskirts of Bilbao shows an ancient ermitage nestled alongside a modern housing development.  Just another common site on the Camino.

Ermita in Bilbao

 

There are multiple routes along the Camino exiting Bilbao.  We chose a route along the river that’s both shorter and less steep than the main route.  The downside is that it passes through industrial areas instead of through forest land. Well, the route was indeed radically shorter, but it was also extremely poorly marked.  There were absolutely no road markings to be found, so we walked for 2 kilometers based on the directions in the Buen Camino App we'd downloaded.  Thankfully, our route reunited with the primary (and better-marked) Camino route and we continued on our way, which included a lovely breakfast at 8:00 am!

Paco along the Camino

 

Breakfast in Sestao

The first town we passed was Portugalete.  It’s a beautiful little town which years ago rivaled Bilbao as a major seaport along the Atlantic. Bilbao won the port privileges, leaving Portugalete to its historic tourist ways. The Viscaya Bridge pictured below is the first-of-its-kind transport bridge ferrying people across the river on suspended gondolas. It’s now a UNESCO heritage site.

Viscaya Bridge in Portugalete

 

Next, we had to find our way out of town to continue along the Camino.  That was no small feat!  Camino markings were maddingly incoherent: one arrow pointing to the left and an adjacent arrow pointing straight.  Or there were no arrows apparent at all.  At one point, there were 5 or 6 of us pilgrims standing in a square discussing which way to turn.  Non-existent or misleading directions are a big problem in cities along this route.

We found our way out of town and onto a phenomenal path that ran separate from, but parallel to, the major highway.  It was peaceful and quiet, 2 bike lanes with a walking path alongside.  It was a wonderful route.  Note the cow crossing sign along the way!

Cow Crossing!

 

We passed by a sports complex that was hosting a children’s sports camp.  One of the activities involved kids donning plastic gloves and picking up trash along the walkway.  I wish camps at home did that as well!  What a great service to the community.

Campers Collecting Trash

We also passed by lots of graffiti and ubiquitous separatist propaganda.

Separatist Propaganda

 

We met some new pilgrim friends along the way, folks who just started the Camino in Bilbao. Among them were a couple from Italy; a university student from Milan, Sofia, who’s relaxing before staring her senior year in business studies; and a young couple (French and German) now living in Austria.  Interestingly, we didn’t see our friends from the prior days.  They had planned to stop in Portugalete, and probably did so.

 After 11 kilometers of walking this path, we arrived at the oceanside town of La Arena.  This was our first glimpse of the Atlantic Coast beaches and rugged coastline.  Just stunning!

Beach at La Arena

  

Ocean Views at La Arena

 

The suggested itinerary from our tour books recommended that we finish at the small town of Pobeña, about a mile further along the coast.  As it was only noontime and we still had plenty of energy remaining, we decided to walk another 6 kilometers to the tiny village of Ontón. 

What amazing scenery!  Most of the walk was along the rugged Atlantic coastline.  The views were incredible!  We even walked through a pedestrian “tunnel” through a mountainous cliff.  It was such fun!

Rugged Atlantic Coastline

View of Onton in the Distance

 

Paco Entering the Tunnel

We arrived at our albergue around 2:30 pm, and chose to forgo a further 1.2 kilometer hike to a local restaurant in lieu of a refreshing shower and needed down time. 

As of the end of today, we’ve walked a total of 187 kilometers and LOTS of elevation in 7 days.  We’re now in the province of Cantabria. 

 

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!