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Camino de Santiago del Norte
Day 12 of our Adventure: WALK!!
CAMINO Day 6
Wednesday September 13, 2017

30km / 16 miles / 7 hours
Total Ascent: 410m
Total Descent: 410m
Difficulty Rating: Terrain 3; Waymarking 3
Scenery Rating: 3

Castro Urdiales to Laredo, and on to Santillana del Mar

Today we saw some of the greatest variety of the Norte’s first half. Gentle hills, sweeping coastal vistas; the sea was replaced by craggy hilltops and wide green valleys, ending on Laredo’s long and wide sandy beach.

I started out tired-cranky. This waking up and walking without coffee is insane. Of course, Mike wakes up dancing. Not good for someone who worships at the altar of café. Finally we came upon a bar in Islares for a café con leche before making our way to Liendo. It wasn’t a tough walk, but I actually wasn’t sure that I’d make it. Knees. Ankles. Feet. All saying “no more!!”

We stopped once more in Liendo, where Mike thought that I should take a taxi to Laredo. But the break (and Jamon de Iberico de Bellota) gave me a second wind, and we made it. Kept thinking of that song…. “The Streets of Laredo”….. (I know, this is about Laredo, Mexico, but I just had to take a musical break.)

Laredo is Cantabria’s largest resort town and an important Roman site. The beach is super wide. If you want to get to the water it’s quite a commitment! We stayed only an hour or so, because this was our 2^nd “jump ahead” town. This time we’re skipping Santander (another city) and we got a “jump ahead” ride to Santillana del Mar, a more interesting medieval town. From here we’ll walk to Comillas tomorrow.

We are staying at the historical Hotel Museo Los Infantes, a beautiful and very old Inn.

 

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Camino de Santiago del Norte
Day 11 of our Adventure: WALK!!
CAMINO Day 7
Tuesday September 12, 2017

28km / 18 miles / 7.5 hours
Total Ascent: 770 ft.
Total Descent: 770 ft.
Difficulty Rating: Terrain 3; Waymarking 4
Scenery Rating: 4

Portugalete to Castro-Urdiales

After a brisk and very early climb up from the beach in Portugalete, we walked on a pretty cool pedestrian and bicycle path that crossed over a crazy amount of freeways. The vast majority of our walk was on paved paths, which was a welcome change from the rocky, muddy terrain that we’d experienced during our first 4 days on the Camino. After climbing a very long stairway we realized that we should have spent more time doing the steps at Avenue C in Redondo!

It rained almost all day, but it was more like a light Seattle rain, When we had to use our trekking poles to brace ourselves for downhill walks through muddy paths, I channeled my Aunt Claire, who contracted polio as a child and walked with crutches all her life. My short experience with 2 good legs and poles was daunting enough. My Aunt was awesome, leaving the rest of us in the dust.

We got to Hotel Las Rocas at a decent hour and had a good meal, then went for a walk on the beach. The cold water was just what our sore feet and swollen ankles needed. Our only regret is that we typically are so tired when we arrive at each day’s destination that we don’t get out to see all of the interesting sights. Today was no different. Our hotel was clear across town from the historical sites and the other, longer beach, and we decided to get some well-needed rest. But it’s worth a return to this beautiful place!

Castro Urdiales called Flavióbriga by the Romans, is set on a cliff by the sea. The skyline is dominated by a ruined castle and the Gothic Santa Maria Church. A long-inhabited area, with remains dating to 12,000 BC., a Templar castle stood here. The Parish Church of Santa Maria de la Asuncion is a very famous sight. One of the Norte’s finest Gothic churches, its exterior is spectacular, with buttresses flying in all directions. Strange iconography on the main entrance’s frieze harkens back to Templar time, with rabbits kissing oxen, dragons eating serpents eating birds, and so on. When Mike and I were here in 2003, we had a lovely lunch at an outdoor café. And got a parking ticket.

 

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Camino de Santiago del Norte
Day 10 of our Adventure: WALK!!
CAMINO Day 6
Monday September 11, 2017

25km / 15.5 miles / 8.5 hours
Total Ascent: 440m
Total Descent: 515m
Difficulty Rating: Terrain 4; Waymarking 3
Scenery Rating: 3

Markina-Xemein to Guernica (Gernika) and on to Portugalete

On our walk in the rain to the city of Guernica,we stopped by the Monasterio de Zenarruza, a serene spot for rest and reflection, and Munitibar for a cafe con leche.

It is sheer coincidence that we are walking to Guernica on September 11^th. Guernica was brutally attacked in 1937 on a peaceful day while the townspeople were at the market, going about their business. The German Condor Legion introduced saturation bombing, pummeling the town with incendiary explosives before passing a second time to strafe the fleeing townspeople. The town was destroyed and thousands were killed.

As a result of the bombing, Guernica has very few historic buildings. However, a sapling of the old oak tree survives in the park surrounding the Casa de Juntas, the seat of the Viscayan Provincial General Assembly.

Picasso’s famous mural depicts the atrocities of that day.

A historic novel, Guernica, by Dave Boling, is a good read. It provides an interesting take on life in the Basque Country during that time, as well as the details of that horrific day.

This was one of our “jump-ahead” days. We skipped Bilbao, and went directly (15 miles by car) to Portugalete. We had been to Bilbao when Mike and I were in Spain in 2003. It’s not like we’d have any time to do the city justice during this trip. Ending at the Gran Hotel Puente in Portugalete in Portugalete, we had barely enough energy to take showers! Walking for 8 and a half hours in the rain was pretty tiring!!

 

Camino de Santiago del Norte
Day 9 of our Adventure: Stay in Markina-Xemein
CAMINO Day 5
Sunday September 11, 2017

Ermua

Another day with my family ~ this time in Ermua where my Tío Julian and 4 of his 5 sons live. The youngest, Mikel, his wife Ainara and their 2 daughters drove over from Vitoria to join the rest of the family for a spectacular feast.

Julian is the youngest of my father’s cousins, and he is the same age as my mom. He had a stroke a few years ago, but he knew who we were and asked about my mother “Dorotea”… She loves them all very much, and apparently the feeling is mutual.

Once again we had an all-day feast, with jamon, chorizos, salad, an egg-shrimp-and-mushroom appetizer, and choices of meat or fish. Mike and I chose Merluza, a delicious fish that is a specialty of the Basque region. I won’t go into how much food and wine was consumed this day. Suffice it to say, we could not have eaten another bite when the day was done!!

My cousin Ismael, his wife Inma, and their son Luken pretty much took charge of us by giving us tours, feeding us insane amounts of food, and driving us all over God’s creation. It’s hard to say what the “highlight” was, but certainly seeing Julian is on the top of the list. Seeing all 5 of the Arano sons and their families was indescribable. Being with my family makes my heart sing. Seeing Mikel, who spent an entire year in the States in 1983 and was our tour guide and translator in El Pais Vasco in 2003 was so fun. It was great to see that he’s kept up his English!!

ALL of the “next generation” Aranos are beautiful, smart, and charming. I love that so many of the “kids” speak English so well. Maybe they’ll come to visit us in California! I’m going to hold Mike to his “promise” for us to come back to The Basque Country every 2 years. This family is too precious to both of us to not have an ongoing relationship with all of them. Oh, and now that Mike has his own Basque beret, he HAS to come back!! (Thank you, Inma!!)

Until the next time, my family…..

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Camino de Santiago del Norte
Day 8 of our Adventure: Stay in Markina-Xemein
CAMINO Day 4
Saturday September 9, 2017

Berriatua

What a fun day!! The best part of any trip to Spain is seeing my family. We spent the afternoon with 24 Aranos (my cousins and their families), exchanging stories and memories, sharing photos on our mobile phones, making plans to get together again during our Camino and talking about our next trip (Mike said that we can come back every 2 years).

We saw my Tio Txomin (age 90) and my Tia Matilde (age 97!), my cousins Andone, Karmele, Marie Loli, and Marie Luisa (Marisa), their husbands, their children and significant others, and their grandchildren. Some of the younger ones speak English, and they made it a lot easier for us to communicate. Meanwhile, my Spanish, which I haven’t used in 43 years, is coming back enough for me to be understood “well enough”. And of course, Google Translate is a life saver!

I overheard a tour guide in Donostia tell a group that “Basques spend 50% of the day eating, and the other 50% of the day talking about food”. True enough, it seems that my family’s favorite pastime is indeed eating. And we did. Chorizo, olives, and croquettes at the bar. Grilled prawns, white asparagus, ham, and salad (to start) at a restaurant… choices of meats and fish, and amazing desserts. Good thing we’ve been walking so much!

Being with my family was wonderful. If I could visit every year for a month I would. I may only be 25% Basque, but I feel “at home” here where my grandmother was born. I love that Mike seems to enjoy my family (both here and back home) as much as I do.

Family members have told me that the picture of the house that I’ve posted is where my grandmother was born. Most of my cousins in the U.S. have photos or paintings of this home, and my cousins in Berriatua wanted to be sure that we had a chance to see it again.

One of my cousins also told me that the restaurant in our hotel has amazing pizza. So, we did what any Basque would do: went to the bar and (eventually) ordered one. I couldn’t believe it. It was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten. This, from a Jersey girl who is certain that the BEST pizza is from New Jersey.

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Camino de Santiago del Norte
Day 7 of our Adventure: WALK!!
CAMINO Day 3
Friday September 8, 2017

What we read: 24km / 15 miles / 7.5 hours
What we did: 20 miles / 8.5 hours
Total Ascent: 3002 ft.
Total Descent: 2723 ft.
Difficulty Rating: Terrain 5; Waymarking 2
Scenery Rating: 4

Deba to Markina-Xemein

Luckily we started out very early! The beginning of our walk was beautiful, and we were feeling pretty good about our progress. That is, until we missed a sign. We followed a very steep, very rocky path up, avoiding cow dung on the way. Then we saw lots of cows on the path. And leaping across the path. That should have been a hint that maybe we were no longer on the road to Santiago…. We continued up one route, decided that we took a wrong turn, back-tracked, and then took yet another path that was also wrong. Finally, we descended through the same wonderful (not wonderful) rocky path, avoiding the cow dung. At the bottom we saw the sign that we missed. By that time we’d lost an hour, and we knew from the guidebook that we had a tough ascent followed by a steep descent ahead. Lots of profanity on this particular walk….

After getting back on the Camino, we stopped for a café con leche in the picturesque village of Olatz. Turns out it was our only opportunity to get food before we crossed from Guipuzcoa into Vizcaya and before the tough-on-the-knees long rocky downhill that brought us into Markina-Xemein.

We asked for directions to our “casa rural” (like a B&B), which was still 1 km away. When we arrived the Innkeeper told us that our reservation had been canceled BUT that the travel agency had switched us to a different hotel for 3 nights. She was so sweet: drove us to the new location and wouldn’t even take a tip.

Before even checking into the Hotel Antsotegi Mike asked where the bar was… 2 beers later he was a much happier guy.

We’re staying in Markina-Xemein for a few nights to visit with cousins on my paternal grandmother’s side. Bernarda Arano Power was born in the little village of Berriatua. My father’s cousins’ children and grandchildren grew up near Berriatua. We first met them in 1973 when my parents, several aunts, and more of my dad’s cousins and their families traveled to Spain. We’ve managed to stay in touch (haphazardly) over the past 45 years.

2 of my cousins, Andone and Marie Luisa (“Marisa) arrived to say hello and to see if we needed anything. We didn’t even know they were here until Mike went in search for sparkling water for us. Then they approached him (he is obviously not Basque, AND they remembered him from 14 years ago), and with the help of the chef he was able to tell them that I was in the shower and that we’d see them tomorrow.

We went with another cousin Ismael, his wife Inma, their son Luken and some of their friends to a few Pintxos bars, saw a terrific band in the Plaza, and then went to my cousin’s friends’ house for a wonderful meal. After some yummy hors d’oeuvres (jamon Iberico de bellota, prawns, pate, and crab salad on toast), we had angulas sautéed in garlic, and a delicious braised meat with sauce, a traditional Basque cheesecake, and a lemon dessert. They explained that real angulas are very expensive, so they make “gulas”, an imitation baby eel made from surimi — a gel made primarily from Alaska Pollock.

By the time we got back to our hotel we literally fell into bed. Nice to sleep in until almost 8:00!!

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Camino de Santiago del Norte
Days 5 & 6 of our Adventure: WALK!!

CAMINO Day 1
Wednesday September 6, 2017
What we read: 26km / 16 miles / 7 hours
What we actually did: 20 miles / 7.5 hours
Total Ascent: 1835 ft.
Total Descent: 1806 ft.
Difficulty Rating: Terrain 5; Waymarking 2-3
Scenery Rating: 4

San Sebastian to Getaria
We walked mostly in the rain, and hardly saw anyone on the Camino. The hike was grueling at some points, but the final stage was flat, on a paved path that reminded me of The Strand back home between Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach (but much longer). We were rewarded by spectacular scenery throughout the walk. We ended the afternoon with a delicious meal of grilled turbot, a mixed salad, and a bottle of Navarra Rosé.

Stayed at Hotel Itxas Gain in Getaria – nice coastal town with cobblestone streets and plenty of Pintxos bars.

CAMINO Day 2
Thursday September 7, 2017
What we read: 18km / 12 miles / 4.5 hours
What we actually did: 16 miles / 7 hours
Total Ascent: +1532 ft.
Total Descent: -1586 ft.
Difficulty Rating: Terrain 4; Waymarking 3 (“not great”)
Scenery Rating: 4

Getaria to Deba
We walked through the town of Zumaia, which has two beaches popular with geologists because of the unique “flysch” that are located there. The Zumaia beaches are home to the largest area of this unusual rock structure in the world. It stretches 5 miles and gives this section of the Basque coast an otherworldly feeling. Of note: this is one of the settings used in Game of Thrones (where some of Dany’s forces land as they make their way across Westeros).

Most of the walk was on unpaved, rocky, muddy paths. But as one “peregrino” noted, “It’s better than walking in the sunshine”. True. Walking in mild, slightly overcast weather is comfortable. And there was no rain today!!

Arrived at Pension Zumardi in Deba at about 2:00, and found another great restaurant… had the exact same meal as yesterday, including the Rosé.

** Note ** I managed to delete my entire [initial] blog post, so this is an abbreviated one just to get the pictures posted!! Hope to do better this week-end with pics of my Arano family.

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Camino de Santiago del Norte
Day 3 of Our Adventure: San Sebastian (Donostía)
Monday September 4, 2017

San Sebastian, Monte Igueldo, and Hondarribia
** Since I can’t figure out how to transfer my other pics from my Android phone, you’ll have to see the shots of San Sebastian and Monte Igueldo on my FB page **

Anybody who knows me knows that I can project manage the heck out of anything. Soup for 100? No problem! Birthday parties? Retirement celebrations? A first-ever cousins’ reunion? Thanksgiving? Christmas? New Year’s Eve? Decorating the house for the holidays? I have a detailed project plan for each and every one. You can only imagine what the project plan was like for this epic trip: 38 days in Spain, 15 days in Italy. Flight reservations, mileage goals per day and hotels to coincide with each day’s stop, what to pack, HOW to pack, city tours for multi-day stops…. All of them taken care of. Check. Check. Check….

The Universe had different plans for us. Getting us ready for the spontaneity of the Camino no doubt. Our luggage was delayed by 24 hours. Not the worst, according to our friends who did the Camino last year… their son’s luggage was lost for SIX days! So while we were waiting for information, we moved our guided tour of San Sebastian to tomorrow, went for a walk to check out the start of what will be our Camino del Norte, and eventually decided to go to the airport in person to see what we could find out about our luggage. No wonder nobody answered the phone when we called the baggage claim office. Nobody shows up until after 4 PM!! Flights don’t even arrive until then. Of COURSE nobody is there for the entire day!

Because we had a few hours to kill, we decided to repeat a “super-fun” (insert Jersey sarcasm accent and eye-roll here) experience from our 2003 visit to Northern Spain. Picture this: We were at the start of what I’d term as our delayed honeymoon, a year and a half after our marriage. We happened to arrive in Hondarribia on September 8, a day (unbeknownst to us) of great celebration, the Hondarribia Alarde, complete with marching bands and cannons. Yes, cannons. We parked half a mile away at the airport (the same one where we arrived last night). With no way to get to our hotel (in 2003) due to the never-ending parade, we decided (okay, I decided) to “join” the parade in order to walk through the archway to the upper village. It was pouring cats and dogs, people were partying like nobody’s business, Cava was flowing freely, and I kept asking for directions to El Parador while explaining that my family is from El Pais Vasco. We were soaked to the skin, we had a month’s worth of luggage, and all we wanted to do was to get to the Parador.

Since we were at the very same airport where we had parked 14 years ago, we walked up the hill to the Parador on this rain-free day. We had a lovely bite to eat, took a few pictures, and eventually made it back to speak with the lost luggage representative at Iberia Airlines. With no further information, we took a taxi back to San Sebastian and bought some clothing and some personal items. Mike was dressed from head to toe with new clothing, and I scored a dress and a skirt-and-top outfit.

It was a fun day of reminiscing! We did finally get word that our luggage was on the way from Madrid to San Sebastian, so we schlepped back to the airport and retrieved our luggage 24 hours after our flight arrived last night. And then went to a wonderful tapas bar (La Espiga) and had a few pinchos (aka tapas) and a few glasses of Spanish wine. We are very relieved and also very grateful to all of the people who helped us to locate and retrieve our luggage. And tomorrow we’ll do our city & tapas tour! And go someplace fabulous for dinner in our new outfits.

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Camino de Santiago del Norte
Day 2 of Our Adventure: Madrid and San Sebastian
Sunday September 3, 2017

We arrived in Madrid at 9 AM (1 PM PDT). Thank God for Mike’s frequent flyer miles! Getting at least a little bit of sleep in Business Class was wonderful! Still zombie-like in spite of that, we had a 10-hour layover before our flight to San Sebastian, so we decided take a guided tour of the neighborhoods in Madrid. We hit a few tapas bars and had delicious Spanish Tortillas, Sangria, and Jamón Ibérico (“the finest ham in the world”). We visited the Plaza Oriente, the Royal Palace, Cibeles Square, San Miguel food market and toured the architecture of Gran Vía. Our 3 hours with Diego were terrific, and we managed to stay on our feet for the entire day!

Our trip to San Sebastian was an exercise in frustration. I’m curious: When you check your luggage through to its final destination, do you double check everything on your claim tickets? 2 American Airlines flights and 1 Iberian Airlines flight: luggage checked from SEA (Seattle) to DFW (Dallas), then MAD (Madrid), and finally EAS (San Sebastian). I saw “EAS” and did my happy dance. I did not double check to ensure that the flight that WE were on was the same flight as our luggage. So we arrived in beautiful San Sebastian around sunset. No luggage. Turns out that our bags were on a different flight, one that was scheduled to come in an hour and 15 minutes after ours. As luck would have it, that flight was diverted (God knows why), and our luggage is now in Pamplona. It will apparently get transferred to the San Sebastian airport tomorrow morning.

We finally got to the Hotel Londres y Inglaterra in San Sebastian after traveling for more than 30 hours. It is a beautiful evening. We can’t believe that we’re here!! After a good night’s sleep we’ll be ready to sort out our luggage situation. The wonderful people at San Sebastian Walking Tours were so wonderful. They switched our tour of the city & tapas bars to Tuesday.

Camino de Santiago del Norte
Day 1 of Our Adventure: Getting There
Saturday September 2, 2017

Seattle, WA to Madrid, Spain

We’ve been preparing for this trip for many months. Mike convinced me to walk across Spain during our first few months after his retirement last year. I finally agreed, with the stipulation that we’d walk the Northern Route (“Camino del Norte”) and that we’d spend a few days with my cousins who live in El Pais Vasco, The Basque Country.

We’ve clocked over 1000 miles of training walks in Manhattan Beach CA, Camano Island WA, Lake Tahoe, the Jersey Shore, and many more stops during our travels up and down the Pacific Coast. We’ve worn out a few pairs of sneakers and trail runners, tried out various clothing layering options, made lists and spreadsheets to the nth degree, read several inspirational books and more than a few guide books, and watched the movie “The Way” half a dozen times.

Every once in a while one of us starts humming or singing the Proclaimers’ song I Would Walk 500 Miles… happened on our 12-mile walk last week-end, and I’m sure it’ll happen a few times in the next few months. We’re planning to walk about 400 miles on our Camino, and I’ll bet we’ll clock more due to wrong turns (my specialty) and side trips to see historical, religious, and other interesting sights.

Our flight to Madrid left an hour late, but due to tail winds we’re expected to land on time (9 AM local time (midnight PDT, 3:00 AM EDT). Total flying time will be about thirteen and a half hours, via Dallas. Since I have WiFi on this flight and I’m not tired (YET!), I’m using the time to post my first official travel update. We had an AWESOME American Airlines ticket agent, Brunilda, at Sea-Tac this morning. She was able to do a baggage connect between our American flight to Madrid and our Iberia flight to San Sebastian. It will save us a lot of time when we land in Madrid. On my to-do list: send a note to AA thanking her.

As we were getting ready to leave our hotel at Sea-Tac this morning I discovered that my prescription sunglasses were nowhere to be found. I searched our Cedarbrook Lodge hotel room, our rental car, and my backpack. No luck. I called my optometrist’s office to ask them to email me my prescription. I called Seastar in Bellevue, where we had dinner last night, to ask them if a pair of sunglasses had been found. So far, no luck. I bought a pair of non-prescription sunglasses in the DFW airport…. I won’t be able to see, but at least I won’t get more lines around my eyes from squinting! I think the Universe is nudging me to be flexible, and to go with the flow. “Planning to be spontaneous” isn’t quite the same, eh? No wonder my stomach is churning!

We have a guided walking and tapas bar tour of Madrid tomorrow after we clear Customs. What else would we do during a 10-hour layover?

Time to use some of my Isagenix Sleep Spray so I can be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow.