Parque Miribilla

Not everyday can be can Christmas. Today was not Christmas. 🌧️🌧️🌧️ It was rainy and hilly and cold. It did get nicer after I arrived in Bilbao. I guess that isn’t nothing.

I was that person in the hostel room that set my alarm too loud and then didn’t hear it myself. 🫣 oops. I’m new here.

We had a community breakfast this morning at the hostel. I’ve actually really enjoyed eating with people at almost all of my meals.

Today I thought often about why I am doing the Camino. I feel like the Camino and I are in a relationship and the honeymoon is over. 💔 🙄while I was infinitely climbing uphill on muddy fire roads I thought to myself… you could stop in Bilbao, Leah. Lots of the people you met this week are stopping there. There are gorgeous beaches in southern Portugal. 🏖️👙☀️

I stopped in a small town at 10:00am at a bar to have a cafe con leche and get warm. It felt so good! While I was there I ran into 2 Swiss perragrinos that were staying at the same albergue as me the night before. The older gentleman of the pair kept telling how long until the bus to Bilbao left. 😂 I was like I’m not taking the bus, Heinz. About 2 hrs later I was like…. Heinz was smarter to take the bus. There is wisdom with age!

Today I was thinking about what I thought the Camino would be like while I was planning this trip. I expected a lot more conversations about peoples lives. But I’ve noticed that once people are in the hostel or albergue we are all using our phones. At one moment last night while I was relaxing before dinner I looked around and literally everyone was on their phone sitting by themselves. It broke my heart a little bit that we do that to ourselves and one another. So I decided to ask if anyone wanted to play Rummikub with me. My friend Javier and 2 Italians played with me for an hour before dinner. It was the best part of the afternoon.
For that reason I decided to make the extra effort to go meet my friend Marta in Bilbao. She is so kind and sweet, and patient with my Spanish. 😎
While I was waiting for Marta at the Guggenheim museum I ran into Javier on the sidewalk. Marta called and said she had a bad experience with the hostel she booked and is leaving it!😳 Javier and I met up with her and she was very scared and tired, still carrying her backpack! We helped her find the metro and get her on the way to her new hostel. 💕

Then Javier and I visited the Guggenheim museum! I would not have gone had he not recommended it to me! It has such neat modern art installations! Plus the building itself is so cool!!

By the end of the day I was so tired! I have not idea how much I walked around Bilbao, but from Pozueta to here was 16.17 miles and 6hrs 20 minutes. 🌧️ In the rain!Read more