Bilbao

This isn't true, I do know where I am and I digress back to July22.

Here goes

I left Gernika via train.  OMG is this possible or allowable, yep I did it anyway knowing that I would not be going to Santi this time to get a compostella.  Off to Bilbao.  I am very glad I did this.  Bilbao is a lovely city, unfortunately very much under construction for some reason, but the Guggenheimm is here so there you go.  We leaqrned tht one must choose between 2 Albergues.  To get to both one must take the number 58 bus from the main square just below the train station.  The first Albergue you reach is a hotel sized building and it is a private albergue costing over 15 euros.  If you are in Bilbao before June 1 and after school opens you must stay here.  The second albergue is in a location above the first one, you are driving up a big hill, and it is great.  Try to find more info on line about this place so that you can be more specific if you go, I should have taken notes.  If I was to do it again I would find a reasonably priced hostel or Pension as stay in the city.

The issue with either place is that they are 30 minutes by bus outside the main city.  It is worth the trip back into the city once you get settled there is much to see there.

We left by train or bus (can't remember) the next afternoon after we spent the day looking around.  I have had too much experience walking through the suburbs and industrial sections of large cities of the Camino to know that I wanted to do it again.  So I became a bus pilgrim two days in a row.

The hospitaliaro in Portuglete, the next stop on the Camino was wise to us Bus Pilgrims.  When he opened the albergue he asked first to place those who walked.  Then he placed those of us who bussed our way here.  Smart guy!  Anyway Portugelete has a nice beach and great big rocks that one can have a picnic on which we did.  We met  family there who had a dog named Doggie which I thought was cute.  Spanish people giving the dog an english name of its species.  The next dog I get will be named Perreo( Spanish word for dog)

Hello from Gernika - July 21

It has been a while since I have accessed a computer so this is a catch up post.

The sun has been out for 3.days  This is pretty special because when I left Irun the rain started and persisted for 10 days.  The way is difficult with the mud and rain.  The highest climb from Irun to San Sebastian was about 525 m but it was straight up and straight down.  Not nice on bad knees.  Since it was raining in San Sebastian we just walked through.  The city is beautiful, very much a tourist stop and the beach is to die for.  Too bad I couldn't enjoy the water.

I am walking with a woman from Ireland.  She has a guide book which is great.  The one I bought from the St. James group in London England was useless.  It had no maps and the layout was very confusing.  I threw it away!

Our next stop was Zarautz just 23K from San Sebastian.  The climb was slow but steady this time and only 375 m.  We saw the sun break through the clouds in Zararutz as we waited for the Albergue to open at 5.  So off we went to the beach for a swim.  It was great.

Deba, the next stop was a real treat.  Again a beach town but for some reason I never got to the sand.  Can't remember why.  This is an interesting town full of steep streets with the centre of the city at ground level.  The streets are so steep that they actually have elevators bult into the rock.  The day was up and down big time even through the elevation reached just over 200m.  There were five climbs and then the decent into Deba.

The next day ended in Markina after another series of ups and downs.  As high as 500m this time.

 

Today is Gernika.  What a story this town has.  It was destroyed, at least 2/3s of it was, by Hitlar and Franco in 1937.  Yes before the WWII was really booming.  The two miserable men made an agreement that the Germans could use this city as target practice for the German war ships.  (The U.S. did the same thing with one of the Hawiian islands called Molokai except no people were killed as far as I know)  Franco did not alert the people of Gernika about the raid and 2700 people and two-thirds of the city were distroyed.  Picasso has a famous painting of the horror that I will try to attach to this post.

Gernika is now a lovely city but all of the historic buildings from before the raid are gone of course.  My pain of the walk obviously left my body when I read this story on the city hall building.

The image says it all.  You can google the image and or the histry of the bombing.  More later on my next computer stop.