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June 19th
Monday Bilbao to Castro Urdiales. I don't want to say I hate riding our bikes through the big cities in Spain but I really dislike it with the constant car traffic.
We rode the bike trail all the way to Portulaguese along La Ria when possible, from there it was one stage. But it was so unpleasant, many times fighting traffic or having to figure yourself out with all the constant construction. Found out earlier in the day that La Ria is not El Rio, La Ria is a salt water river where salt water comes in from the sea and El Rio is when the river flows out into the Sea or Ocean. The lady at last night’s albergue gave us pilgrims a pin with a yellow arrow signaling the Camino, she was very informative to all the pilgrims After finally arriving to the end of the stage we took the Puente colgante from Las Arenas to Portugalete and had a pastry and café prior to boarding and taking the Puente. We were impressed with the bridge, it was our first time to see such a bridge, instead of you driving across the bridge you mount a cart which I believe held up to 8 cars and many people including us, then the cables glide you above the water to the other side, it was a smooth ride across the river. |
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From Portugalelte we rode to Pobeza and went to the beach for about an hour and had lunch of cheese pate and bread we had bought the night before. A couple of hard climbs here and there today At the beach , which was very cold we got in for a while and enjoyed the rest from the riding.
All and all we did 3 stages today totaling 56 km, not very difficult stages with a couple being under 20k
After spending over an hour at the beach we headed to Castro Urdiales at about 2:45 pm. By the time we got into the albergue it still had not opened up, but for the first time ever there were more pilgrims than beds at this small albergue
We barely missed out having a bed at the very small 16 bed Albergue behind the bull fighting ring. But quick in thinking we knew the small albergue full with people would be hot and loud with snoring.
I saw that there where only 2 tents of about 8 that were for 2 people while the rest were single men tent, so I sneaked in line and assured people that I did not want an inside bed that we wanted a tent, assured us that we got a 2 men tent with lots of space and it also meant that we were one of the first to register and could now take a shower way before all the people and not have to wait around.
We were given a tent outside and we were happy to have a tent where it was cooler and quieter. After showering and organizing our stuff we walked down to the boardwalk and found a restaurant to have a few pintxos and dinner with our new favorite Amstel with limon. It’s like drinking a very light lemonade and lighter than a shandy. We had patatas bravas, sardines and a few more tasty pintxos, we ended up spending a couple of hours at the restaurant relaxing and trying different foods.
All and all we did 3 stages today totaling 56 km, not very difficult stages with a couple being under 20k
After spending over an hour at the beach we headed to Castro Urdiales at about 2:45 pm. By the time we got into the albergue it still had not opened up, but for the first time ever there were more pilgrims than beds at this small albergue
We barely missed out having a bed at the very small 16 bed Albergue behind the bull fighting ring. But quick in thinking we knew the small albergue full with people would be hot and loud with snoring.
I saw that there where only 2 tents of about 8 that were for 2 people while the rest were single men tent, so I sneaked in line and assured people that I did not want an inside bed that we wanted a tent, assured us that we got a 2 men tent with lots of space and it also meant that we were one of the first to register and could now take a shower way before all the people and not have to wait around.
We were given a tent outside and we were happy to have a tent where it was cooler and quieter. After showering and organizing our stuff we walked down to the boardwalk and found a restaurant to have a few pintxos and dinner with our new favorite Amstel with limon. It’s like drinking a very light lemonade and lighter than a shandy. We had patatas bravas, sardines and a few more tasty pintxos, we ended up spending a couple of hours at the restaurant relaxing and trying different foods.
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Carmen
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