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  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 47

    Bye Bye Bilbao

    September 27, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Photos - Bilbao's incredible transporter bridge. You might have to magnify the image but the suspended, white carriage is carrying cars and passengers across the river!

    A subway in Bilbao...waiting to cross the road...a statue in honour of the German Cornelia Fischer who lost her arm while saving Jews from the Nazis and who had to flee to Spain...the very pretty harbour at Castro Urdiales which is where I am staying tonight.Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 46

    Bilbao

    September 26, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    Narrow streets with elaborate iron balconies or broad, sunny avenues, fast walking suits or sitting on apartment steps in t-shirt and shorts, green grocers or supermarkets, stand up bars or plush restaurants, the Guggenheim or street art... I could go on. Bilbao has it all for me. I loved it and would go back but I need a good sleep!

    The local government are very astute by investing in art. It's boosted the economy and the population have access to many different works of art, a lot of which is in the street.

    Photos - the Guggenheim (you really have to walk around this amazing building to appreciate it), Maman by Louise Bourgeois, Jeff Koons' Puppy, surrounded by art in Bilbao, one of the many bars that enjoyed my custom.    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 45

    The walk to Bilbao

    September 25, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    A few days ago a lady acted as my ears when I was having hearing problems whilst registering at a hostel. It was so kind of her and, today, I got to repay a little bit of the favour when she was struggling on the walk to Bilbao. This was her last day on the Camino because she can't get more time off work. It was 32 degrees with little shade, hilly, and she had various aches and pains from walking day after day. I offered to carry her stuff but she was determined to see it through. So we just walked together and talked, for about ten hours, until we reached her accommodation. Ten hours is a long time to talk to anyone but she was such an educated and considerate person that the favour from me turned into a privilege for me.

    The Swedish guy I met a couple of days ago, and got on with like a house on fire, also leaves the Camino tomorrow so I'm a little bit down.

    I'll spend a day in Bilbao and regroup for the rest of the journey.

    Photos - First peek of Bilbao, a Swedish bloke and a French Canadian walking the wrong way after the first beers of the day, this area is staunchly Basque separatist and they don't hide it!    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 44

    Guernica/Gernika

    September 24, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    One of the first three questions you ask when you meet another pilgrim is "Where are you from?" Imagine my surprise when the guy I had breakfast with said "Wigan." I thought he didn't sound like he was from Wigan but thank god he didn't give me a chance to say anything because it was only when he said he'd flown from Stockholm that I realised he had said Sweden! By chance we ended up walking together and it turns out he is a professional storyteller! He basically entertained me (including buying me a beer!) until we had to part in Gernika.

    The second surprise I had today was when I was talking to a guy from Dublin. He had met a couple from Manchester the previous day and they told him about this nutter they'd seen who had walked from Wolverhampton!

    Photos - this mural in the town is the only reference we could find to the Fascist bombing of Gernika, a cool pilgrim statue in Gernika... yet another picture of the countryside here... the village of Bolibar (Simon Bolivar's family, who successfully fought for South American independence and who has Bolivia named after him) were from near here and he has a museum dedicated to him in the town...this donkey was just so cute, and very noisy, I had to take his photo...where I am staying tonight and the view from here.    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 43

    Markina-Xemein

    September 23, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    "I would've shouted if I knew you were British!" she gasped as she walked through the gate that I was holding open, her husband close behind. "I wouldn't have heard you anyway" I replied.

    I'd noticed her as I turned to close the gate. She was running, or making an effort to run, up the steep hill while waving three quarters of a stick of bread. I realised immediately the bread was mine and I guess I should've walked down to meet her but I'd just climbed that hill and I wasn't going to repeat the feat for seventy cents worth of bread.

    I had passed the two of them moments earlier. I said something in Spanish and they smiled at me blankly so I guessed, wrongly, they were German. Then I must have caught the bread, which was attached to the outside of my pack, on a branch and the bread broke off but the lady very kindly returned it to me. It was then I discovered they were British, from Manchester. We had a chat and went our separate ways. That was the first face to face chat in English I had had for over a month and it was great!

    I'm staying in a hostel run by Carmelite nuns tonight. The town where it is sited, Xemein, was the scene of a battle in 1936 during the Civil War. Reading the various notice boards really brings home the bravery of the people of this small town against the Spanish and German fascists.

    Photos - today's wonderful path through the hills, a chapel for sailors with a suspended boat, outside the chapel with a great dog, Deba is so steep it has escalators, the Roman road into Deba    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 42

    Zumaia

    September 22, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    I felt cold last night but I was sweating. My legs were weak. I was nauseous but not sick. I feared I was going to be stuck in the super chic San Sebastian while looking like a tramp and not having the energy to converse. I hardly slept a wink. I don't know how but thankfully I had the energy to pack my stuff, dress in my still damp clothes and head out into the dark morning. And walking alone, at my pace, was the perfect medicine. Predawn San Sebastian was beautiful and empty.

    I did soon meet another pilgrim though. I don't know where Dominic learned his English but every other word was swearing. We caught up with a Cordoban after a short while but Dominic takes no prisoners when it comes to walking so it was just the two of us after a few kilometres. Not a bad thing because I think the Spanish chap was struggling with either Dominic's heavy French accent or his liberal sprinkling of swear words. Dominic is a freelance photographer from Annecy who has walked all over the world (including six years in India) and is full of anecdotes but also very inclusive when he's talking. I wished he was English so that we could have talked for longer. I think I had exhausted his will to converse in English when we met with a couple of French pilgrims and so I left the three of them.

    The day was getting better. I wasn't feeling feverish now, I'd met and left Dominic, and now I was free to enjoy the Basque coast alone. It's like Devon and Cornwall without caravans but, perhaps, with more rain. Every turn in the path reveals a photoworthy view and each town proudly promotes the Basque (Euskara) culture. And the Basques are proud! When I checked in today, I thought the lady had written the date incorrectly, the 23rd instead of the 22nd. She told me 23 is the year and it goes at the front because that is the Basque way, English and Spanish do it their way. I wasn't going to argue. I have to have a witness sign my pilgrim pass each day. She signed in green and red on a white background, these being the colours of the Basque flag, and made sure I was aware of the significance!

    Photos - my view tonight, a Basque language sign for 763km to go, it's so hilly here the streets have escalators, San Sebastian this morning.    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 41

    San Sebastian - Donostia

    September 21, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    I'm shattered. I set out from Irún with my German companion, Yannis, at around 7am. We hadn't been walking long when the road started ramping up and Yannis has legs like stilts so I was having to push to keep up. We stopped briefly for photos and then the rain hit. The hill we were climbing was only 650 metres high but the wind and rain made it feel very remote. I was so glad I wasn't alone. We caught up with a Spanish guy, Alfonso, who tagged along with us as Yannis led the way. It was tough. So tough that at the first bar we saw, after the hills, Alfonso bought us all a drink. There was still plenty of walking ahead but it was so good to be sitting and chatting (as best you can with three nationalities) and not out on the hills.

    The rain continued until we reached San Sebastian and I was ready to drop. We had to leave Alfonso as he hadn't booked into our hostel. It was hugs all round.

    Yannis, who is a chef, is cooking tonight. I guess we should be out eating in San Sebastian but the hostel is warm and dry and bed isn't too far away. And, anyway, we haven't really got the right clothing to be in the town. You can smell the money here whereas we just smell.

    Photos - The rain restricted photo opportunities so there's only San Sebastian cathedral, sunrise, Yannis and Alfonso on the hills.    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 40

    España

    September 20, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    I was a little bit disappointed there is no sign to say you're entering Spain. You walk across a bridge, over a river, and then posters and signs are in a different language. And that's it. I was expecting a bit more but hey ho.

    Tomorrow I start on the final path to Santiago and I was starting to get pains in my tendons so I've invested in a new pair of shoes. I've also got my hair cut which is a bit of a trauma for me in the UK nevermind abroad. I tried to get it cut in France but they wanted me to make an appointment and I'm more of a cheap and cheerful walk in guy. I found a place in Irún with prices on the window and zero pretence so I went for that. I told a German guy I was talking to about it and he joined me and we're both out unscathed. It was really no big deal. I just need to wear a hat for a few weeks.

    Finally, I had a very special moment this morning. A young French boy asked me if I was walking to Santiago. I said yes, his face lit up, and he ran to tell his mates. A really small thing but it made my day.

    Photos - Irún was obliterated during the Civil War so it's not photogenic hence I took a photo of the main square. Yesterday was my last night in France so I drank my first and last bottle of wine there. Unfortunately a slug marred the occasion slightly by crawling up the bottle. The fifteenth century Chateau D'Urtubie is the last chateau I'll see for a while and the last photo is St Jean de Luz this morning. It's a charming town.    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 39

    Saint Jean de Luz

    September 19, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    The nationalities at breakfast were French, German, Spanish, South Korean, and British of course. Then, soon into my walk, I got talking to a guy who was born in Morocco, nationalised in Italy but who now lives in France. I felt like I'd visited six countries in the space of one mile! I have spent a miniscule proportion of my time talking to people but they have definitely been the best moments, like diamonds in a gold ring.

    It was dark and damp when I started walking and the rush hour(s) was just ramping up. It wasn't the prettiest walk through the conurbation but I still delight in seeing posters in another language or the queues at the boulangeries and stuff like that. I passed through Biarritz, which was not as pretty as I'd imagined, and then BOOM! I was in Switzerland-On-Sea. There were hills (very steep to walk up), green pastures, timbered houses, a mountain backdrop, but also this amazing ocean. This area is drop dead gorgeous! OK there is a reason the pastures are green and I am seeing it in full blue sky bloom but I can imagine it looking equally beautiful in a storm. I'll probably feel different after a few days of walking up and down those conversation killing, knee buckling hills while the rain is running down my back, but at the moment this area is highly recommended. Or maybe I should recommend the Basque country on the Spanish side because a French guy agreed with me today that France is very expensive.

    Photos - I really had to edit these with an axe because I took too many...the coast, Bidart (most houses here look like that (timbered, white and maroon), man jumps off cliff, the old laundry, a beautiful lake in the middle of the conurbation.    Read more

  • TravelerEl Camino
    Day 38

    Bayonne

    September 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Being back in a town is quite a shock, after walking through forest for a week, and I'm already wanting to be back with the trees, which is a bit of a scary reaction.

    I'm staying in a pilgrim hostel with a German, a South Korean, and three French. I was disappointed the South Korean guy hadn't walked but I hid it well.

    The French lady who volunteers at the hostel speaks a little English and Spanish so we've been talking in all three, often in the same sentence, and it works really well. She's trying to get me to walk through Portugal next!

    Bayonne is surprisingly small but the centre is very vibrant and pretty. It is the capital of the Basque region in France so it has a bit of a Spanish vibe. They have bullfighting here, there's tapas in the bars, and there's an Irish pub so you could think you were in Spain.

    I found out today that as well as being famous for its ham, it is also famous for its chocolate. After Spain started to eradicate Judaism in 1492, many Jews hopped across the border to Bayonne. The Bayonnaise limited the trading options available to the Jews so they became experts in making drinking chocolate and today's fame grew from there.

    Photos - Bayonne is impossible to photograph as the rivers are too wide and the streets too narrow but I've tried.    Read more

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