Fourth and Fifth Days: to Gernika and Larrabetzu

Hello, everyone.

The next two days were in one way similar to the third day: up and down, and especially in the morning some steep climbing.

The thing that stands out most in my memory of the fourth day was a descent that had been given some care by the local people.

 There must have been 500 steps in this long collection of descending stairs. Some of the people that walked it that day really, really hated it because their knees hurt. We didn't have any problem. We did take care to even out the stress of stepping down between our two knees. (I alternated 4 steps leading with the left and 4 steps leading with the right, over and over.) All the way down I marveled to myself about the steepness and difficulty of the trail here before they added these (new) stairs. The thought of trying to go down this slope on unimproved surfaces was enough to make me grateful for the steps.

Later that day, we came to the "green tunnel." There are walls on either side of this old road. Probably the walls are older than the surface we walked on. They were certainly buried under the greenery.

At Gernika we walked past the mural of the famous painting of the air raids and the memorial to the ancient council tree.

The next day we passed a really pretty wild iris.

If this variety hasn't made it into the gardening world yet, it's because the people who find and propagate lovely flowers haven't been looking hard enough. The lips of the blooms are fuzzy!

As Larrabetzu was discussed when we posted from the trail, I think that I will let the flower stand in for the village. We had pizza that night--a Monday, so almost no eating places were open at supper time--and called it a night.  The next morning we headed toward Bilbao.

A small programming note: I will be out of pocket for a few days. Any posts will be a digression from this series. The recap series will resume when I return to my desktop computer where the pictures reside.

Third day's walking: Deba to Markina 27 km

Hello, everyone.

We left Deba at what was turning out to be our new standard departure time: between 6:45 and 7:15. (We would have liked to leave earlier, but we kept forgetting to set our watch to 0530 to get the day started!)

This was a day of walking away from the ocean and into the mountains.

The river at Deba was beautiful in the early morning.

We crossed the dam and began the long day's climb. Y'all can just see the beginnings of the path at the right side of the picture.

Parts of the path were reasonably level. Parts of it were steep. The village of Olatz was in a little enclosed valley that doesn't drain away: a polje I think it's called. The bar had a very welcome bite of food to eat. I refilled my water bottle at the sink in the ladies' room.

A bus group came and sat around outside the bar in their couple or three dozen, eating sack lunches and buying nothing from the little business. I felt like it was tacky of them. If they ordered the sack breakfasts from the lady at the bar, she could have had them ready and the extra business might have been the difference to make it worthwhile for her to be open an extra day during the week. Instead of only at the weekend.

The trail, which was mostly on dirt lumber roads, went pretty high. We had some lovely views.

We had gotten a barra loaf and some sardines in Deba, because of the notes in the guide book about a near-total lack of facilities en route, and about 1 we sat down near a farm with a (non-potable) spring and ate. The kids at the farm had set up a table to sell drinks: sodas, Aquarius water, and maybe some beer. We bought drinks to go with our food and enjoyed a rest on the grass.

The lunch stop was about 10 kilometers from our destination, according to a sign we saw. Those were some long kilometers! There was a really long descent at one point, somewhat steep. I zigzagged my way all the way down on the concrete way. And it wasn't the end! There were still some more miles.

We got to Markina about 4 in the afternoon, and almost the first thing we saw was the famous shrine to St. Michael the Archangel. The statue is in the center of a megalithic rock construction. There are a couple of benches for a visitor to sit down for a minute inside the building.

In Markina we stayed at the convent of the Benedictinas. The building was in the classic hollow-square shape and clotheslines for the pilgrims were inside the paved courtyard at the center. (In that climate the heat reflecting off of the walls is an advantage.) They had something I'd never seen before, a little electric gizmo that would spin-out your wet laundry after you washed it in the (cold!) water at the sink. This was interesting, it almost got the clothes as wrung-out as an actual washing machine load. I needed help to figure out how to start the machine.

The Benedictinas had blankets, beds, showers, and the above discussed things--but no internet. (Not that internet is necessary, it's more of a luxury. Come to think of it, having a bed instead of a bunk is a luxury, too!) There are a number of places in the area to eat and we enjoyed a hot meal for dinner.

We made sure to get back to our sleeping place before the doors were locked and the lights turned off at 10 PM. This had been standard when we were on the Camino Frances and the Camino Portugues, but it is less so on the Camino del Norte. Some of the pilgrims, especially the ones who were more hikers than pilgrims, felt like the rule of 10 PM should be relaxed so they could keep the lights on later. This didn't work, as the sisters had established that as a strict rule that probably has been in force as long as they've been sheltering pilgrims on the Way. We were too tired to want to party all night anyway.

Second day's walking, May 18

Hello, everyone.

May 18 was chilly just like May 17 had been. In fact, the weather during the entire time we walked along the coast can be summarized as cool, with intermittent rain, and not that much sunshine. Local people said it was abnormally cool this spring.

We left Getaria around 6:30 or 7 in the morning and were grateful to have done our "get out of town" climb the night before.

At breakfast time we arrived in Zumaia--well breakfast time if you like to eat around 9:30 that is--and had a bite with cafe con leche at a bar. Then we wandered around town finding the scenic route out of town.

This scenic route is a part of the GR9 hikers' route. It is closer to the water for much of its way and the hiker who takes it gets to see some scenery that isn't visible at all from the other route.  On the other hand, we discovered, it is more strenuous.  We took this part of the GR9 and when it split off again later in the day we stayed with the main Camino trail. Others, who had skipped this part, took the GR9 later and said it was quite demanding for them. As this part turned out to be for us!

 Looking back from the start of the GR9 segment, we saw some of the famous flysh rock layers. We also noticed that the church is on a cliff that is being undercut by the waves. Presumably it will be quite a while before the top falls down.

The trail here follows the cliff top on some goat trails. It was very up-and-down, but very pretty. By the time it connected back up to the main Camino trail, we were, as it used to be said, "tuckered out."

Farther along, we noticed that the local farmers have helpers to attend to a little bit of trail maintenance. Billy, here, appears to have been assigned to weed removal. We said soothing things and walked past him, and he was a very amiable old goat so our close up visit went smoothly.

We got to the outskirts of Deba and discovered that they have paved over some of the steep rocks approaching the town. They have added a red non-slip stripe on one side to help people negotiate the descent in wet weather. At the end of the red stripe, we saw a billboard celebrating their carefully conserved piece of Roman road and a steep asphalt road going into town a different way. We followed that way and found the famous elevator! Actually, there are two elevators, installed by the town for the people to get from their homes on a very steep slope down to the main part of the town. We enjoyed the elevator ride very much!

First day's walking, May 17

Hello, everyone.

As promised, another installment on the Camino del Norte this year.

Y'all may remember, last year we started out in Irun and spent the first night in San Sebastian/Donostia. This year we started out in San Sebastian, repeating two days' walk from last year, instead of either starting where we left off--Deba--or where we had started--Irun.

We crawled out of our beds in the pension in San Sebastian and got moving about 6:30 or so. We didn't eat there, but we had gotten a couple of apples to eat on the way, because pretty much nothing is open at that time in most Spanish cities and towns.  Just call it part of the pilgrim's sacrifice to go without coffee until later in the day when cafes and bars are open and you are in the vicinity of them.

 Looking back at San Sebastian, around 0700. The weather you see here was pretty much the weather for the entire day.

 On the trail between San Sebastian and Zarautz there is this welcoming little spot. It's done by a local Camino supporter out of the goodness of his heart. There is a little sign in book, there is a stamp to put a sello on your credencial, and there is a bit of water and a chair if the pilgrim is in need. Thank you, Camino Angel!

About noon we walked through Zarautz. We didn't stop for lunch, because we were only about 5 km from Getaria and wanted to press on. And we were looking forward to the lovely promenade walk between the two towns, with its shell themed railing and water views (with chilly breezes but this time no rain) all the way from one to the next. As y'all can see, the tide was out. It rises quite a bit here if that green line is reliable.

I did get a blister that day, because I had tied my shoelaces wrong, but other than that all was fine. And there was tape and gauze in my kit already. Preparedness is good.

Recap of Camino del Norte, First of a series

Hello, everyone.

As we are recovered from our long walk, and long plane rides home, it is time to begin the recap of the journey.

We landed in San Sebastian on the 16th of May, caught the bus into the center of town, and found a place to stay. (The Oficina del Turismo is very helpful here.) Then we strolled around the city a bit and visited the Museo San Telmo, in an ancient former church, and the church of San Vicente, which is still an active church. 

The museum was a little bit of the city attic, but as often happens even with the tiniest museum, there were things to be learned. There was a neat display of medieval hats recreated on plastic heads, for one thing.

 One thing I noticed about all these medieval hats is that they cover the ears and many of them have a way to wrap the neck and face. Perhaps these were local area hats and adapted to the chilly weather of the northern coast of Spain? We were certainly chilly.

And for my SIL's enjoyment, we photographed the city's merry-go-round. It wasn't operating, but it was certainly pretty! It is right on the waterfront, so the riders will have a view of the sea as well as of their friends waving at them as they spin past.

In the Canicula, a cool memory of Bilbao

Hello, everyone.

We are indeed in the depths of the Canicula, the "dog days" of summer, with highs nearing 100F many days. Nights are often close to 80F. This too shall pass, as the old saying goes.

It's a comfort during these hot days to look back at pictures from our Camino earlier this summer. This scene in particular is cooling:

Though not as frequently photographed as Flower Puppy, it is just perfect to look at in the middle of August in Texas.

It is another of the outdoor art installations at the Guggenheim modern art museum in Bilbao.

New thread!

Hello, everyone.
I'm exploring embroidery threads for that project with the red crosses.

On the 28th I ordered some coton a broder (DMC) from lacis.com.

It came today. Very prompt service, by the way, and this is exactly the day it was expected to arrive.

After the hard lesson of last week, I think I should test my new thread. Two samples are sitting in warm water now.

There is a small reflection from the thread, but the water isn't coloring.

These threads look a whole lot like the threads that were included in the Winky Cherry learn to sew kit that DGD is learning to make stuffed animals from. It is a lovely book and kit, by the way, but I strongly recommend that the adult partner of the learning team put the thread onto some old spools to keep it from forming the world's biggest tangle.

A little kitchen trick

Hello, everyone.
DH and I like to make our coffee from freshly ground beans. We have a little grinder to do this. Over time, ground up bean dust drifts throughout the space under the cover.

The little grinder.

This morning there was a visible brown dust coat on the inside of the base. Problem: the base cannot be immersed in water. I have tried using an old toothbrush--we keep one by the sink for these kinds of jobs--and it didn't work. The bristles point the wrong way to reach into the recess the grinding cup sits in.

Enter the general purpose duster of small nooks and spaces. (A little brush for cleaning sewing machines would also work, if one had a spare that could get coffee grounds in the bristles. It probably won't be usable on the sewing equipment any more, though.)

I turned the base upside down over the kitchen sink and dusted the recess with the paintbrush.

Success!