Guriezo

Yesterday was a tough one. I walked way more than I thought I was going to. Ten more kms than I wanted to and my feet were not happy.
I left Bilbao after a sleepless night in the hostel owing to fellas coming in to set up at 11.30pm then going out on the town to return at 5.30 am. Anyway, walking out of Bilbao on a quiet Sunday morning was good. Not so nice along the river, but it is bring revitalized. The next part of the walk was lovely. Country life like it had been for centuries. It looked like people were at their alojamientos, harvesting and grilling the veg.
I thought at 26 kms or so, I would stop, but there was no place. A passing walker told me 10 km more and that was not what I wanted to hear. I put on my flip flops, with socks Woonsocket style, and kept going. I can do this saysI, it is only like two laps in Lincoln Woods. Well, no, because it was a lot of big hills on a busy road, so Says I to myself "look you, it is OK to stop" and since it was 4 pm and I started at 7.15am I did stop! I put on a few band aids, put the shoes back on and hobbled along. I was not doing any positive self talk, that is for sure.
Then..
. Along comes Pablo! A recently retired Basque French fella who spoke French, Euaskadi and Spanish and who also had sore feet and just wanted to get to the town. So we went hobbling along together, he was charming company and made the last 5 km go by fast. We consulted our guide books on a bench on the lovely promenade when we got there and he made the phone call so we could go straight to a place and not have to roam around looking for somewhere .
It was heaven to have my own room and shower and no snoring or smelly feet to deal with.
Pablo and I went out for Pinxtos. We talked kids and work and football. He played on a lower division in France and he said it was the first time in his life that he had a conversation with a woman about the physical attributes of football players. Of course CR7 was top of the list, well my list. He was very interesting andy Spanish was flowing freely. It was such a lovely end to what was an up and down day, both physically and mentally.
Thee is something about this Camino. You read about it and I am sure it is different for everyone. The Spanish people are so ready to help out and also wish you well. The people who are walking are friendly and interesting.. Maybe every one's defenses are down. It is hard to not get involved when there are 14 of you in bunk beds in a small room, sharing food and one bathroom. Great as long as I can escape to my own room after 5 or 6 nights of it!
I fed up being ignored, despite my cooing and clicking and psh, psh kitty, horses and sheep and cows and goats and sheep, with really long legs, just keep on eating. But victory this after noon., "here chicken, here chicken" I plead from the gate, and it came over!! Made my day.Read more