STAGE SEVEN: Bilbao to Mioño

What a wonderful day of walking!!!!

I feel so much stronger, and am back where I enjoy longer stages.

Mendi was outside of my hostel at 8:30....at 8:38 I was packed and ready to go!

We would along the river, on the otherside of the Guggenheim museum, I enjoyed this stroll and enjoyed the city one last time. We walked to the outskirts of Bilbao and he stayed with me to a town called Portugalete,super cute town with an amazing cable system to get you from one side of the river to the other. Our route enabled us to make this system as I. Had to cross the river to get to the town.

Mendi and I ate a quick lunch, he had to return back to work and I couldn't have felt more blessed to have had his company for the morning walk.

I would venture out again by myself....for a whole ten minutes and beside me would appear a young German fella, age 22 who looked Spanish and reminded me so much of Mason from last year. Just a precious yiung man, in super shape and he made me step up my pace which honetly felt pretty darn good. My new friend has walked the Camino I think two times....he is fresh off a break up with a gal who he has been with since the age of 14, broken hearted and walking with a ring he planson leaving in Santiago, a " promise ring" he said. This kiddo has the World at his feet, works in the airline business, travels aound the World for free and I jst wish he saw what I saw for his future, it is bright and happy!!!! He just started his Camino in Bilbao and stoppedsooner than I did at a beach town where he hoped to get some surfing in.

I would continue thru Pobena for a lovely lunch and attempt to go another stage to Castro-Urdiales.

The walk after Pobena was someof the most beautiful views of my life....it was a lengthy walk literally among the coast....I stopped and fed a horse some saved bread...he seemed so out of bis norm, on a cliff with no flat spot to graze, I loved on him for awhile.

I sought any chance to sit and watch the Ocean.

This is what makes the Norte the Norte!!!!!! And draws pilgrims such as myself for this long journey to Santiago.

My attempt to Castro would fall short the sun would go down, and a bridge out post storm added to my kilometers today so I had to retreat from the hill between Miono and Castro and ring a door bell to a beautiful pension that could have been a Bed and Breakfast in wine country Virginia .

The owner greeted me at the door, I had poor WIFI , was the only one there and slept like a Queen....

35 Euros for a wonderful bed , hot shower beautiful breakfast and lengthy conversation where. Neither of shared a word in common but used all sources including my IPAD to translate and converse. This in itself was very draining....but wonderful...and as I left he put on his raincoat and walked me down the driveway asking me a million questions making sure I was packed right, dressed right etc....

Carlos was his name...and I would be forever grateful that I didn't make it over the hill the night before that I got to meet him and his wonderful Pension!

REST DAY: Beautiful Bilbao

Today was a wonderful day! We had plans to mett Mendi, from our Camino forum for coffee but at the last minute he (or she) had emailed to say that they had something come up but lets meet at nine thirty tonight for a  drink. I along thought Mendi was a guy despite the name, and was always impressed with the knowledge that person shared about the Camino that we all love. I described their information as deep information...way beyond just scratching the surface with opinion  which is all many of us can only offer if we don't live here and if our experience is constantly moving from town to town.

Prior to going out to enjoy the day Gerr reminded me that he had to go thru the map, his schedule his calendar and come upmwith game plan for completing the Camino and securing himself the Compestela, the document that has been presented to pilgrims for a thousand years. It's the same document no matter how far you have traveled...BUT you must travel the last one hundred kilometers to the cathedral on foot ( different criteria for those on bikes), somas mentioned earlier it was best for Gerr to skip ahead now rather than later and this way he was getting to join a Camino familynthat might get him into Santiago vs a group he might love and having to say good- bye.  We walked to the trendy New Square and while Gerr ran into a store to get something I ran over to a pinxos place and attempted to inhale a pinxos just based on its beauty. I didn't want to make the executive decision on where we were going to eat but I did know I wanted that pinxos!!!! it was bread warmed with melted brie and carpaccio  then there at the window was Gerr and I had to confess I jst had to have that pinxos, good thing he was up for stopping here for food and a cafe con leche, so we sat out in the square and watched people as they went by. Gerr was going to catch the early afternoon bus on to Santander that I think would put him six days ahead of me. I felt like our paths might cross again but realistically it would be almost impossible. My hope is that Steve and I can entertain him and his wife one day on US soil, or maybe even see themin Ireland one day.  A few hours later I walked Gerr up the street, thru the center of town steps from the bus station to send him on his way for what would be a hour and a half bus ride.  It's always hard to say bye to a friend on the Camino, I knew from my last how difficult it was... I also knew something that he might not, that this will be far from the first good bye that he will be saying this trip. Unless we all have the exact schedule and the exact days flight out it is impossible not to repeat this over and over....what gets you thru it? Another door opens, another friend comes into your life, while they certainly don't ever replace what you have....new adventures constantly present the,selves on the Camino....

I would go for a big tour of the town...I walked along the river, I walked around the Guggenheim Museum, I enjoyed the mist spray that came up under the famous spider sculpture there and I ventured in stores thrilled that my backpack " kept me behaving" for one has little room in their pack to add anything, let alone the weight of the object to consider.

Once back at the hostel I got to socialize with several of the kids from around the world staying there... Good kids, however I was really suprised at hoe few of them seemed to venture out...for example our only bunk mate in our room was a 22 year old girl from Australia and in the two days I was there I don't think I saw her remover herself fromher technology in the lower bunk except once to venture out for food in the kitchen. I always appreciate a place to put my head but can't wait to get out on the town.

A highlight of my day was getting to meet Mendi from the forum! He came around after a class he taught and he was a he!!!! Amazing that he grew up probably less than 12 miles from me....though several years would seperate us. He and his w ife appear to live a wonderful life here in Bilbao...and he showed me pictures of them trekking thru Morocco and Turkey!!!! He called the mountains, " my mountains", I loved it when he said this!  He said once a party pooper questioned why he calls them " his", and all I could think of was what miserable soul would question anyones love or connection with nature. If only we all called them " ours" wouldn't we all take so much better care of them. Mendi and I went around the corner and had two glasses of wine before he had to run home....I stuck around finishing my second and had a great nights sleep in my hostel.

Mendi said he woukd meet me at 8:30 in the morning to walk with me to the perimeter of Bilbao, to help me out of town and to guide me on a variant that he prefers....tomorrows stretch out of Bilbao is described as not the best so I am eagar for his input.

STAGE SIX: Gernika to Bilbao

Gerr and I had a great walk into Bilbao...poor guy I felt like I had four days worth of conversation built up in me and have no doubt I talked his ear off. Gerr and I met on a Camino forum and realized that we were both going to be doing the Camino Norte about the same time. He would be arriving into Bilbao about five days into my trip, and by coincidence , if at a very good pace, I would be walking into Bilbao the day he landed. I over estimated what I could do out here on the Norte so I was actually shy of my arrival into Bilbao by one day. I ran the scenerio by Gerr, for we had chatted for about four weeks before departure via emails, and concluded that if we were to meet he would have to backtrack awhole stage to Gernica, meet me there and then we would walk to Bilbao together. He had never done the Frances and the whole time we chatted via emails I felt like I should encorage him to do it over the Norte for the pilgrim framework and socialization was something I thought everyone should experience. He had shared that he really wanted to experience the Basque country and its people ( which is good that he backtracked I think). At the time I only had the Frances to compare it to and was not convinced that he would get this Basque local resident experience that he was wishing for, I happily was incorrect with this, I have found the Norte and many of my connections to be with the local Spanish people as opposed to the Frances where my strong connections were with fellow pilgrims from around the World. Both experiences excellent !!!! Just very different in my eyes.

I think I mentioned that Gerr was supposed to meet me at the famous Picasso in Gernica, it was while waiting for me a couple told him that the hostel was full and directed him to the pension we ended up staying at.... Out of this large town it ends up this couple were my friends....the engaged couple from New Zealand and England.  he told them he was meeting a friend here and I shared with them I was meeting a friend here but it does not appear a connection was made....I would never see them again as they were ending in Bilbao!

I felt really good in my walk today, Gerr did great for his day out and his day walking with his pack...he was a real trooper! We stopped and ate a fabulous lunch, I have a picture of the proud owner/chef with his wife , I will have to recollect where this restaurant might be. 

We got a little lost today, not really certain why but I do remember stopping to take a picture of a church and looking up and just kind of following Gerr instead of sniffing out the true trail of the Camin, which is yellow arrows formthe most part vs the scallop shells of the Frances. For future pilgrims make note as I could see others making this mistake. In our guide book leaving Zamudio it says, " turn left at the end of town, proceeding uphill". Unless I am mistaken this left turn is at the church that I took the picture of and in my humble opinion was clearly not the end of town. it might have been the end of the quaint part of town but the town clearly went on into more of an industrial working class section. We walked during rush hour thru this part before feeling like something was wrong. I stopped and asked two men working on cars who pointed us in the right direction....I think we had gone about a mike out of our way which instantly exhausted us. Getting lost can put a huge hamper on spirits. This made us tired, anxious and nervous we woukd not make it into Bilbao before night fall, we had no secured place to stay for the evening and the threat of rain was strong. With Bilbao in our sight it started to sprinkle, light enough where we might have been able to not "suit up", but it was best to take the time to do so. this involves securing your backpack and of course yourself with waterproof covering.

We entered Bilbao and while we were both pooped I was clearly less pooped than I had been on this whole trip. Gerr was just wanting to find a place to settle for the night while I was willing to sniff out the best place. We would directions to go own a large group of stairs, which hurt with each step...a sign pointed us to a hostel and we each had a gut instinct as to where to go when there was a fork in the road, had I gone with his we would have been checked in a good twenty minutes sooner. My instinct did lead us incorrectly , but I got a nice sample of the Moroccan shops and have to say I did enjoy the stroll, or brisk walk down it. Future pilgrims make note....I loved the hostel we stayed at, it is called Ganbara, super open, clean ...kitchen nice crows heart of city...pilgrim rate is less than my book mentions and is actually 14 euros.

It is important for meet to meet a fellow forum member who lives her in Bilbao...we have been intouch to mett and from the user name I honestly did not know if I would be meeting a man or a woman, but this pilgrim was a big encouragment to me when I decided to the Norte route instead of returning to the Frances that I loved so much. I would never forget their advice, " don't let anyone change yiur mind". It is forever scribbled into the front pages of my guide book with notes of encouragment from others as well.

Tonight I felt restless...I have not had a chance to blog, or to catch up with family, I felt this same way last year when I hit Eunate. I could not post to my blog, I've had choppy wifi...and one of my kengthy post disappeared and another appeared to be cut in half.  Itwas in the shower I decided as if a note handed to me from above that I needed a " rest day", a day of not walking a stage, a day to relax, a day to exhale...and where on Earth would it better than in Bilbao? I originally all along planned a test day here BUT when I got behind on my plans I put that plan put the window.

Once I decided I was going to do this alot of stress cameoff my shoulders, I approached Gerr to say this was my plan knowing he might chose to go on...he agreed to an extra day in Bilbao BUT it was obvious he was going to have to plan to skip ahead to make the full Camino to Santiago to recieve his Compestela the skipping ahead would have to take place sooner rather than later as the only commitment to get the Compestela ( the diploma of sorts) is to complete the last 100 km.

When it was time to go out this evening I was honestly just to plain tired to do so...I was happy I'd have another day to get to see and explore Bilbao, I emailed my forum connection, a wise pilgrim whomshares wonderful advice, Mendi, and we hoped to all three get together for coffee in the morning and finally meet.

STAGE FIVE: Markina- Xemein to Gernika

WOW what a good nights sleep can do for you!

I woke eager to walk, highly refreshed...and deoarted Augustos' at exactly eleven heading to Gernica.

Tonight if all worked as planned I would meet Gerr, an Irish gentleman, from my Camino forum. We had exchanged many emails over the past month and while being here I had little or no energy to do a good job at communicating where we would meet and when. Thank goodness Gerr well understood my situation and when I sent a quick email to say, " lets meet infront of Picasso , Gernica, art on street between six and seven" .... He understood....

Today I was on!!!!

I had my groove...and honestly this walk seemed like a walk in the park compared to my first four.

Today I would get to think...I would look at clouds and think of what they lloked like, I saw images in them and while I have enjoyed every animal that has crossed my path I have not found myself thinking deep into things that I typically like to think about on my Camino. Until today I was in survival mode....

I liken it as when. I gave birth to my daughter who decided to come at home twenty minutes after I woke from a very deep sleep.  Everone asks, "what were you thinking" and I can only reply I had no thoughts....each contraction stunted any rhought thus producing no thoughts. These past four days have been just that, I wonder if the US flight and the two days of travel to get here plays into that some...

Today I exhaled...

I hugged Augustos and thanked him for his precious hospitality.

I started out of town , along a beautiful stream....I've yet to get my shoes wet...and here was the most innocent path I have walked this trip and my feet sank in mud.....I felt the wetness thru my shoes and feared it would cause me problems but it did not.

I stopped to take a picture of my shoes and inches away was the only frog I have seen on the Camino to date. Last year I saw a dead frog in the road but have not seen one other than that.

I walked into Bolibar at lunch time, maybe an hour after starting and ate ate the bar at the top there (possibly the only one), I ordered a pasta salad and it was so perfect!

I carried on theu the monestary where I had hoped to stay last night...sad that I didn't make it, but glad that I didn't make it as well if that makes any sense. Not a person in site but a beautiful building...."next time", I thought.

Today was thru beautiful woods....tons of mud, it has not rained since my arrival and I wondered how anyone could handle much more mud then I was experiencing.

I had a cute experience happen in I think Muntibar. I passed a bar ( keep in mind that means restaurant) on my left with three outside tables, two were taken and I just decided to keep going. I started down the path and an old man ( guessing 75 plus) called to to turn left. He wad at the restaurant and something about him calling me put the bar back on my radar and convinced mevI needed a coke. By the time I turned around he was gone leaving me a comfortable table to sit at. I ordered my drink and took a spot at the table. My " hero" who just mi utes before wanted to make sure I knew where to go came from nowhere and sat at the same table. It was interesting because everyone strikesup a conversation with you here, but he dud not. Hecdrank his coffee with little to no attention my way. The bar owner came out and started joking with him...I could tell he was joking, " ahhhhh looks like you found yourself a pegrina ( female pilgrim).... The bar owner winked at me to show he was having fun with this fella who I suspect sits there probably ten hours a day and does not miss a happening. The bar owner then said to me, "companion...." As he pointed to my table date.... Then joked with the man about " going to Santiago". This was all fun and humerous, but my hero had a poker face.... he ain't chasing no girls, his facial expression showed.... I chimed in in fun, " si, companion".... Still not much of a face from my new friend BUT there was little doubt in my mind he was enjoying the attention. I then got up and headed out of town following the red/ white marks that I thought meant a toughr trail. Two gals thankfully corrected me and I turned to spot yellow arrows...there was my town boyfriend who must have seen my mistake and took the necessary steps to catch my attention to show me the right way. I thought, " see there you do love me!!!!" After acting all cool and smug... As I walked I remembered this Camino has been around over a thousand years and a good 50 or 60 years ago this gentleman probably did have a few pegrina relationships from this exact spot in tjis town :)

At one point I was approaching a home, dogs were barking, farm animals bells were ringing and I felt a huge desire to start videoing, I even backed up a few feet to capture what one experiences when approaching a home in this manner. You are always greeted by barking dogs....there is always the big one who is all talk....followed by the little who is really the one doing asll the talking and clearly calls the shots! Within seconds of videoing horses appear in my path, ungated coming towards me....just amazing how the calling to video this scene that I have experienced 100 times treats me with this!

I worked my way thru the woods and saw Gernika off in the distance, in view for about an hour I found myself walking down a city street having no idea where this famous Picasso was. I asked a mom strolling her baby, " Qui Picasso?" , she smiled and pointed straight ahead but said prior to the, " No Picasso!!!", yet she told me where to go, I thought she might have been joking.

It was I think 7:45... I didn't know if Gerr would even be there, I forgot what I had emailed him and really wished at this moment that I had put more energy into a game plan here.

I arrived at the top of a hill to the Gernika Picasso in tile form. I stood there not knowing what to do a minutes went by and clear,y Gerr was not there, I thought I would go to a bar that had wifi and get in touch that way. I looked at " the Picasso" and it had a marking showing it was a tile replica of the famous Picasso...so I wondered where is the real one? Is Gerr there....and then it all made sense when the lady told me, " no Picasso" yet proceeded to give me directions there.

I decided to go look for wifi...and within two minutes of arriving I hear my name and Gerr comes up the hill to catch me. Seems he had been there for about 45 minutes, met a couple of pilgrims who advised on where to stay and he thought he should go and possibly secure a bed, he took a wrong turn, went to correct himself and at that instant saw me.

Meeting Gerr was like running into one of my oldest frienships, poor fella I've had four days of little conversation and I felt I just threw up conversation all over him. We checked into a pension within minutes, 15 euros a person, with attached bar....and had a super dinner!!!!

We both felt we had to get in contact with family and struggled some to get WIFI as you can move in a bar ( restaurants are called bars here, no disco ball etc...), and lose your connection.

Tomorrow we will walk to Bilbao, I think the biggest town/ city of this Camino....I had planned to take a rest day here but have concluded I will not....

Gerr does not think he has the time to complete his Camino, and all of this time has known he must skip ahead for some stages we just don't know what part yet.....