Aquitaine and the Camino del Norte: Day 19 ~ Bilbao to Portugalete

Confession. I was hungover this morning. It was just a baby one. I stopped counting after 4 glasses of wine. Last night we were celebrating the fact that none of us dropped dead. It really was that hot and we were all over exerting at the hottest time of day. We met up again after a quick rest around early evening and went to see Picasso's most famous piece of work in Guernika. In an extreme case of role reversal, the guys also wanted to shop...I wanted wine. They don't shop like women. In and out... done. We found a patio and parked there for several rounds. Then came the pintxos. They made a special tortilla for me sin gluten. There were many conversations happening, many I didn't understand but the beauty of wine is, the more glasses you have the less it matters. I don't even remember the conversation we had with one Spaniard but it was funny and we did laugh alot.... and I ended up with a picture with him 🤣

Bernard joined us at one point. He is a fairly chill guy, man of few words but genuine...otherwise it was just the four of us.

The Mexican, The American/Mexican, the Columbian/American and the Canadian. We are the Americas 🤣

We stumbled around town to find a restaurant and ended up having a surprisingly great, late night dinner. Again, I was treated well and served a gf plate of veal, fries and salad.... I'm fairly certain I ate more than a little woman should 🤣🤣

Then it was taxi home to our different locations and I think I foolishly went straight into a coma without hydrating. I was up at 4.... very thirsty, and unable to sleep.

I surprised myself by remembering that a taxi was picking me up at 0830 and I was actually up and ready to go on time. At 0800, I even had a massive spread of gluten free breakfast and coffee for 6€... fresh squeezed OJ, café con leche and a spread of meats, cheeses, gf bread, tomatoes, gf cookies and fruit. Wow.

The hotel staff was militant and orderly and frankly kind of bossy 🤣 they told me where to sit and where to stand and it was kind of entertaining. Some of it was covid fueled, some of it was language barrier but I actually believe this hotel was an OCD retreat. I know a few people who should stay here 🤣🤣

I was in the taxi at 0830 exactly and drove about 10kms to pick up my guys. We then drove about 30 mins to Dragonstone.... from Game of Thrones fame. We stopped for snacks on the way and were disappointed to find out the site is now closed because assholes were stealing rocks from the place. We could still see it from afar and it was beautiful but it didn't work out as planned.

Oh well. We taxi'd to Bilbao where the guys (or should I say Princesses hahaha) have a night booked at the Carlton. I'm pretty sure they are currently parading around in fluffy robes and slippers and being fed grapes and being fanned by blonde, green eyed Spanish masseuses.

I however, upon arrival in Bilbao, realized I don't know how to relax. I need to keep walking and I don't want to rest. Maybe a short day is enough rest. So I walked around the Guggenheim Museum and along the river to get to Portugalete.

I think it was good for me to walk alone for awhile and get inside my head although in all honesty, I missed my new friends and I look forward to seeing them again tomorrow.

I did have a Camino moment today. In the crazy heat, walking along the water, a cool breeze hit me and I opened my arms put my head back and smiled while the air cooled me and then I heard a little voice say Hola! I reopened my eyes and to my right was a little girl sitting on a bench with her father. She couldn't be more than 3. So I smiled at her and waved and then her father whispered something in her ear. She smiled back at me and said Buen Camino in the sweet voice of an angel and I almost lost it. I thought of my father and what I would give to be sitting on that bench with him watching the boats go by. Then as if everybody knew, after passing hundreds of people who haven't even returned a smile or a nod, the next 2 people that looked at me in passing could see my soul. Each looked me in the eyes, smiled and wished me a Buen Camino. The second time actually gave me goosebumps. I'm not even sure I can explain what I felt. I've heard 'buen camino' a hundred times and it never touched me like it did today. And as if I needed another sign from the angels, a flawless feather fell to my feet brought to me by the breeze.

The walk today, it started out in a beautiful city and ended in a rich historical town but everything in between... well it wasn't too pretty. It was industrial, boat yards and grafitti but for me, it gave me something I needed and I was in the company of angels 😇

14kms later I was feeling pretty gross. It's so unbelievably hot and humid.

The Puente Colgante is a world heritage site. An amazing bridge that transports, vehicles, bikes and pedestrians in a pendulum like platform suspended from the bridge high above the water level allowing the ships to pass at all times. Very clever design actually and it cost me a whopping .45€ to cross.

My fancy schmancy hotel was right at the base of the bridge and easy to find. Nothing accentuates being a stinky pilgrim more than walking into a classy, refined hotel.

My room is absolutely gorgeous and this one will be hard to leave. I took a little accidental nap and felt much better than I did this morning.

I am currently in the old town of Portugalete on a patio having a glass of wine, across the street from the laundromat where my stinky pilgrim clothes are washing and getting ready for another round.

I tried to buy a round for the happy local boozers beside me for watching my stuff while I transferred my clothes to the dryer but they wouldn't have it. They greatly appreciated the gesture but they were only meeting for one bevie. The amount of people who smoke in Europe is staggering and honestly I've been gagging on the stench for 3 weeks. Even on an outdoor patio, there is no escape. As a result, I'm moving on....

Did I mention this town has outdoor escalators to move its residents and visitors up the steep neighborhood streets? It's mind blowing. It's amusing and impressive... and of course thats how I got to the top of the hill.

The Cathedrals in town are closed but I still went for a visit and enjoyed the view of the bridge from a different perspective.

I found a restaurant under the bridge and next to my hotel who were very, very accommodating and eager to feed me something gluten free.

So I'm having a glass of wine, a glass of water (because I learn from my mistakes hahaha) and I ordered a galette with marinated chicken, mushrooms and onions and cheese...