Two days for the price of One

Yesterday, which seems ages ago, was a trek across town with full pack to the Guggenheim in Bilbao. (Brief stop, by chance, at the Inglesia de San Francisco de Asis). Richard Serra with his free standing 12 foot torqued steel plates were worth the price of admission. Toulouse, Claude, and their pals were also okay.

Massive Steel Installation by Richard Serra

Morning Fog and Del Norte Arrows

A hot walk across the city got me to a semi-local bus that delivered me to the coastal town Castro-Urdiales where I somewhat successfully managed to pick up the Camino Del Norte - another road that leads to Santiago but along the northern coast of Spain. The ankle seems to be doing better and it needed a test drive. Supposedly accommodations are somewhat sparser on the Del Norte and this was certainly true my first night - I ended up sleeping on my air mattress / pool raft / sciatica relief cushion in the garden. It was a nice night, so it was all fine except the occasional bug and some light fog that required me to cover myself with the poncho in the middle of the night.

The day was spectacular with shortcuts supplied by locals and seaside vistas. I did take one wrong turn near my destination and ended up walking about an extra hour - backtracking on the good advice of a friendly Spaniard who was particularly intrigued with Lombard Street in San Francisco.

I bypassed the massive beach town of Laredo to stay a little further down the road in Santoña - another resort town that has probably seen better days.

Several people I've met are walking the Del Norte backwards, and they've all mentioned tomorrow's destination of Guemes as a special place.