Such plans I had for today! I was going to take the ferry, skip over to Noja, not to be confused with Nerja where I have also been but it is way south near Malaga, and then trot on to Guemes about nine miles farther on, then take a taxi back to Noja where my hotel is booked. It did not play out like that at all!
After the utterly exhausting and very terrible trek to Laredo yesterday, I was glad not to get up at the customary hour of 5:30 but luxuriate in bed until 6:15. The first ferry crossing, about 50 minutes from the hotel, was not until 9:am.
Heading along the seafront walk, I heard a man, who was walking in the other direction, whistling Malagueña! It was utterly charming.
A ladened walker also on his way to the ferry:
A picture + an arrow + the name of the place where you are headed is not redundant (IMO):
Lots of "pilgrims" were already gathered at the large bough on the beach, which someone must have assumed was the launching site, which makes total sense even though it was not there, exactly:
It was interesting to listen to people making small talk in broken varieties of several languages. BTW, young women must be a hot (!) commodity on this walk as there seem to be way more men than women.
You can just imagine what I was thinking but in case you cannot, I wondered if someone would dare to show off an IDF shirt:
9:00 a.m. and no boat in sight. Give me a break! But, ahoy, maties! Yonder comes the craft!
The fare is €2,5 (about $3.00), efficiently collected by a guy with lots of change, during the short crossing.
Safely ashore in Santoña, I saw people all dressed up going somewhere and a big fish out of water:
And Cervantes!
The pleasant, flat walking all of a sudden morphed into a treacherous climb up a very very narrow, very very steep rocky path that seemed to go up up up forever. Partly using poles, partly on hands and knees hoping not to drop said poles, partly grabbing onto the meagre foliage, slowly and carefully I pressed on. And, on this tortuous path, I had to try to move over when those twenty-somethings on the boat who had stopped in town for a coffee were able to pass me. I managed to reach the top without having broken a tooth or an ankle or having fallen down. The good thing was that it was inland so there was no danger of falling into the sea as is sometimes the case. Thank God the descent was not as difficult as the ascent. This caper was exhausting not so much because of the effort, but because of the fear.
Oh, the beach that awaited was absolutely stunning! And it was low tide. Man, this is the best! After a few minutes, I took off my boots, tied them to my pack and thoroughly enjoyed the crossing on the hard sand:
This reminded me of the spider sculpture in Bilbao. Well, at least a little bit:
Not like, but reminiscent of one of Megan´s photos. (Hers was of barnacles.)
As much as I enjoyed the walk, I was disappointed that Noja was not just around the corner the way it looks on the map! That was when I made my big decision NOT to continue on to Guemes, but to ENJOY the day in Noja!
Arrived at hotel – this being one I booked because the tour company had me a long taxi drive away, something that is truly puzzling since there are a b´zillion places to stay in this town\city– too early to check in so consulted Google for info on where there were grocery stores cerca (nearby):
Since this town is one roundabout after another, it is hard to get oriented, but I headed off, saw a local, and got directions to a supermarket about 5 minutes away.
Doggums waited patiently even when the supermarket doors opened, they did not go in!
Since this kitty was not invited to the grocery store, she was guarding her food dish with a look:
In the afternoon I took an utterly gorgeous and easy four-mile walk above the beach. Such a joy!
I wonder if these glasses work?
Nap time, little foal!
No, it was not dead!!
The one disappointment of the day was that the heladeria (ice cream shop) was closed. But I did buy a very good loaf of bread.
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