Portugalete to Castro Urdiales, Spain

What a beautiful day!! We did 27.5km (17 miles) and made it to this charming little city. I’m sitting at the port writing and the temperature is perfect right now. It was blazing hot today, walking in 85 degrees is dang hot to walk in. But it’s pretty amazing, we are practically dead when we arrive to our destination. Then shower, no make up, no fixing hair, no perfume, no nuthin but clean clothes and wet heads that dry naturally. Ya I never do that. Maybe that’s why I like it here. Such a freedom. I’ll admit, I did put on a little tinted moisturizer to tone down my sun drenched face! Then we hit the town, find a town square and go over what is for tomorrow’s walk. And of course a €1,90 glass of vino blanco is in order to relax the muscles. We never get drunk. It’s one or two then rest and wait for that damn 8pm dinner. That’s the most challenging part to the evening, waiting for a good meal so we can go to bed. Everything is cheap. I ate breakfast for €3 this morning that included a tortilla (it’s like a frittata in a way, but no crust, just egg, potato, cheese and ham in a pie shape) and cafe Americano. I can’t get a croissant for that price at home, let alone a coffee. That part is nice. I spend so much less here. I’m not filling up my truck for $150 a week, not shopping, not buying expensive lunches and dinners. Full on 3 course dinners here are €10. It’s nuts. I actually save money by coming here. That’s what I tell myself anyways 😉
Tomorrow is a bigger day, today was a big day, but we will go a little further so we have a short 15km day to Santander day after tomorrow, where Nathalie will go back to Belgium.
I talked to a lady from California last night and she reminded me of an app that I have downloaded. It’s an interactive map that works without WiFi. I’ll never get lost again or go too far. This route is not like the Frances. I didn’t have to even think much on the other routes. Locals helped more, it was so much easier. I feel like I’m always needing to pay attention on this route. I don’t like that, it doesn’t allow me to just walk and let go of concerns and let things unfold. I’m hoping that gets better now with this app. I used it all day and it worked so well for us. What a relief. It’s absolutely too hot to mess up.
Still no bites have surfaced. I’m praying that continues. I’m not freaked out anymore because if I would’ve reacted terribly to it, I would’ve by now. If I find a couple bites in the coming days, ohh well. Nothing yet though and it was an act of god I didn’t. I can’t believe I didn’t get bit. They were surrounding me. I woke up for the bathroom at the perfect time. I should’ve been feasted on. Last night at about 2am my eyes popped open, I grabbed my phone, turned on the flashlight in my sleep sac and nothing. I’ll probably do that every single night. The trauma is real.
We’ve already done about 200km!! Woo Hoo!! Only 640K to go! What an experience so far, I can’t imagine what is to come. I’m feeling stronger. Fitter. My legs and butt are damn strong. I’m taking hills better and my endurance is way better. It’s amazing what walking, day in and day out does in hot weather!! Plus the food here is healthy. It’s not shit food with tons of condiments. Simple, but sufficient. I rarely see overweight people here. The old people walk all over the place. The portion size is just what you need, not like home when you go to dinner and have enough for lunch the next day.
I think that’s it for now, we will walk around this beautiful town (what’s a few more kilometers?!) and then find dinner. I see a cool church in the distance I’d like to check out. Love you, miss you, peace be with you.Read more