My watch claims I walked 22.64 miles today but a mile of that was on a ferry from Santoña to 

Oh, and this is the signage at the ferry in Santoña:

The transport vessel was more substantial than yesterday´s:

And it had a toilet, which I badly needed!

But I am going backwards, since the ferry was at the end!  But does it matter?  It was a brutal day.  Not terribly hilly, just way too much highway and road walking and there are way too many route choices with none of them being adequately described, and it was very very long. Then, just to add to the mix, I must have gotten some sunscreen in my eye because it burned and teared like the dickens all day long. When I arrived in Santander I was so happy to see a FARMACIA sign, only they were on vacay.  Then, I saw another near my hotel but they were at lunch until 4:30.  You better believe I was back there at 4:35 and the pharmacist produced a bottle of drops from a drawer which are helping.  

I was very hungry by this time, so I bought an ice cream that made me feel sick.  

Speaking of Santander, let me tell you that it is a BIG city.  The walk from the pier to my hotel was 45 minutes part of which was through an awful tunnel  almost 1/2 mile long (675 meters).  The hotel is near a large beach and it has a pool of which, apparently, I have an unobstructed view.  This was what greeted me when I walked into my room:

OY!

Back to the walk: there were a few enjoyable stretches like through this field, for example:

What was growing, I have no icea.

I would have picked some of those lemons if I could have reached:

No doubt there is some clever thing to say about life´s journey´s being relative and all, but I cannot think of anything clever at the moment.  Something like a smail´s slithering from one end of a stem to the other is like my 24 1/2 mile day  minus the ferry.

Breakfast time:

Noja, June 03

 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. 

Laredo June 02

 Before getting to the account of the day, I want to mention another option for getting the €€ back:  challenge the charge on my card. How is it possible that a store that sells computers and has techies on hand cannot effect a return on a credit card unless the holder of the card is physically present?  We'll see what happens!

I did not sleep well last night, up at 1:30 and never really went back to sleep.  It is a good thing I chose the short route because it is only 20 miles as opposed to the official, inland route, which is 32 miles, NOT kilometers.  A tall, lanky young man who hikes in socks and tevas and wears a yellow plastic poncho passed me just at the junction where the route choice kicks in.  He was headed up a frightfully steep hill, while I chose to hug the highway. I wonder how much of Spain I will be crossing on the N 634.

I left my hotel at 6:30:

But those grey clouds took over and it rained.  It rained and then it didn´t and then it did again, and then it rained really hard, and finally stopped.

Horse figuring out which route to take or waiting for the bus:

You know when they REALLY want you to go that way:

Sometimes there was a little pedestrian corridor beside the highway:

Ready to pounce and scared stiff:

There was an all too short and very pleasant stretch of cliff walking:

The hotel is located at the far end of town, so by the time I arrived, about 2:15, I was plum tuckered out and happy to know that tuna, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado (quite past its prime) were packed away in my suitcase because hunting and gathering was the last thing I wanted to do.  Though grocery stores are closed on Sunday in most places, this being one of them, panaderias tend to be open.  There is nothing like a fresh loaf!

It really was an exhausting day: boring, long, very long, elevation, asphalt, rain, cars, motorcycles,  yeah. Not related to this at all, but something I just have to tell is a bit of the Daf today (Bava Metzia 94a).  It goes like this:  if you are going lend something to someone with a condition attached, say, Igor wants to borrow your car and you are OK with that so long as he returns it with a full tank of gas, you state the condition first: Yes, Igor, if you return my car with a full tank of gas, you may borrow it.  Of course, the discussion does not end there, but oh, one other bit that is noteworthy is that the condition has to be reasonable.  You cannot, for example, say, Igor, if you have my car detailed and install a new sound system, you may borrow it. Uhuh!  

Castro Urdiales June 01

 There was much e-mailing in bad English (his) and bad Spanish (mine) between el gerente (the manager) of the Apple concern about my refund for Apple Care.  Here is what I can do:  When I am in Santander en un par de días (in a couple of days) I can go to a branch store and get the refund.  The store is at some distance from my hotel. If it is not a nice walk, the taxi fare back and forth will be at least €50, so I have to decide if it is worth it or if I want to spend my time otherwise and just say screw it!  Anyone who wants to offer an opinion, please do so before June 04.

What is with all the road walking on this route!  I swear I do not remember it this way.  I guess I am already nostalgic for the mud and rocks. Back to the matters at hand.  Left the nice hotel in Portugalete at 6:30 and leaned into the uphill.  There is an escalator, but only one section was operating:

Near the end of the route, not the escalator, the highway walking gave way to this lovely boardwalk, whose length took about five minutes to complete:

There was a peek at the water before being turned back inland:

 I almost shrieked with joy at this lovely little passage:

You are walking along a long section of cement by some cliffs.  There are iron gates.  If there is a possibility that you might be hit on the head by falling rocks, you will be confronted by locked gates and this sign, for which you do not need to know Basque to understand:  

I swear, that looks like a pyramid in Egypt:

Note that the highway along which you are walking has no shoulder.  In addition to cars, many motorcycles whiz and roar by as only motorcycles can do.

After 18+ miles of walking, I was in sore need of provisions, and, this being Saturday, I had to be mindful of nothing-available-on-Sunday and lay in extras.  Some of the better shops closed at 2:00, and I was a bit late for that, so I headed off to a trusted Eroski.  My heart sank when I approached and saw that it was a 7/11 type of affair:

 

until I realized that across a large parking lot, the REAL superstore.

Inter alia I bought a pastry with what I thought was a slice of apple inside only it was a slice of ham!  

Bilbao May 30 + Portugalete May 31

 I had been looking forward to a lovely recreational walking tour of the city for this rest day, but a few things interfered.  First, there was the matter of the weather.  It was rainy and windy.  Who among you has had success using a navigational device in the rain? It is impossible!  Even if you put it in one of those rain cases.  After several aborted attempts trying to figure out the directions through the roundabouts and stairs and what not, and after muttering a few choice words, I decided to go to the Museum of Fine Arts.

Doggums sheltered from the rain:

A number of rooms held traditional\religious works, but there were some contemporary pieces, as well. 

These big plastic blobs that reminded me of Richard Serra´s stuff:

They also came in black:

I cannot even comment on the hideousness of  these hanging men.  Well, one comment: they reminded me of a scene in Night.

Passed the Guggenheim on the way back to the hotel:

Yup, this is it:

I had remembered this piece as an ant, but, no!  It is a spider!

Back at the hotel I spent about two hours on the next day`s plan: which of four routes to take out of the city.  I worked diligently (map wise) on getting myself to the start of the (very) challenging but pretty option figuring that the lazy day today would give me extra energy for this exit, but whilst thus labouring, I tripped over the computer cord and destroyed the monitor.  All there was were stripes in motion, and not of the artistic variety. 

The phone really had to perform now!  I found a store about a mile away that dealt in Apple products.  They said they could repair the computer in about two and a half weeks and that it would cost €450  WHAT? I could not go two and a half weeks without a computer!  There had two computers for sale...OK, one in two different colors.  I chose without thinking.  It took forever to do the paperwork.  Then they sent me back to the hotel to get my actual passòrt; the facsimile would not suffice.  When I returned the entire world was in the store, but I was not going to leave until I had set up the new device. I cannot even describe the drama.  To add to it all, this is a Spanish\French computer with a different keyboard, so just try entering an email address and you will get " when you want @ because now the number 2 key has three functions. Wait, and it is a 2022, so not even the latest and greatest. I won´t go into more detail except to say that like a complete idiot I bought Apple Care for an additional €200.  Now I am in the process of trying the cancel that purchase but the guy told me I would have to come into the store to effect the transaction, only I am no longer in Bilbao but in Portugalete.  Oh, and the old computer?  The first guy said I could get €40 for it but he disappeared and so I just left it there gratis.  This whole caper was utterly exhausting so that was the end of the fancy walk for the following day.  

I was so exhausted from the computer ordeal, of which reported here is only a fraction, that I did not set out at 6:30 as is my custom, but at 7:45.  It was a short, flat, walk, all urban, most of it industrial, every step on some sort of pavement.

   Bilbao boasts a lot of street art:                      

A building, shiny and tall (Torre Iberdrola):

Along the river en route to Portugalete, no, not porto-potties, but seats for viewing...

this:

 The famous Puente Colgante

Cars go across in this gondola

And there is a little shuttle boat for people who don´t want to deal with the bridge, which is a production.

The hotel in Portugalete is quite nice, especially if you have a water view.  This, however, is my view: