Category Archives: El Camino del Norte

Recovering in Bilbao

I’m now sitting on the terrace in La Herradura, back in the south – safe from the physical challenges of the trail and from the lure of more strenuous tourism.  Safe in my lounge chair watching the sun set over the Mediterranean and behind the Cerro Gordo, comfortably acknowledging that the twins have settled quietly for the night.  Phewf.

After five, six days on the trail – I’m not even sure how many since it was a blur – Bilbao presented itself as a refuge for recovery after the immediate but short-lived respite San Sebastian had offered us.  We are extremely grateful to our new friend, Amaya, who offered us her flat in the very heart of the city.  While we weren’t able to get out and about as much as we would have liked, the apartment became home and a safe place for Willow and Theo to explore and recuperate.

Unfortunately, the twins both came down with colds; Willow first sported the fever but Theo quickly followed.  Their little heads held more snot than we imagined possible.  One morning, I ran across the house to the sound of sixteen miniature sneezes, which came in quick succession one after the other.  Willow had practically blown herself backwards the length of the rather long hallway. Of course, she found it funny.

Despite the colds we were able to get out and see a little of the city.  For the first time in their lives, our little people were authentic tourists as much as we were.  They enjoyed the unexpected pleasure and excitement of stumbling across a hidden gem – a children’s park – in the downtown of an old European city.  Willow and Theo held onto our fingers and staggered drunkenly – or so it seemed — from attraction to attraction.  We tried to make sure that they didn’t get run over by the swarm of children.  Next, a long walk along the water after which we settled into an evening aperativo outside the Guggenheim where another few hundred tourists and a jazz trio accompanied us.   Willow and Theo, however, had their best adventures in the apartment – from their fifth storey window they watched the residents and their pets go by down on the street and they each bravely took their first steps.

After a week, we left Bilbao anxious to get home – back to the coast on the south.  (Of course we did make time for a quick visit to the new Decathlon outside San Sebastian, a store much like MEC which offered us the opportunity to shop and the twins a chance to challenge themselves on a bouldering wall and a textured shoe-testing ramp.) We were, however, so psyched to get back and to get our kids back to their own environment that we did the fifteen hours of driving in one stretch.  And, now, here I sit after the exhausting push of travelling with twins, finally ready to contemplate what was an exciting adventure in the north.   Next time I shall write about the camino itself where I finally was able to walk again with my father.

Tourists in San Sebastián

We have stories from the trail we would like to share —  stories about the places we visited,  the people we walked with, the Mexican surprise, the twins on the trail. Lots of stories. Unfortunately, we are lacking the requisite energy to share these stories in appropriate detail at the moment. Instead we are posting a few photos from our days in San Sebastián as regular tourists.  Willow and Theo discovered sand and fish, and the joys of hotel. They ended each day zonked.

Beauty, injuries and a beer

Our walk’s start date signalled an auspicious beginning to our camino. May 1 St is the Day of the Worker, a labour day,  except that here it is truly a celebration of people and not a day of shopping. The state of the economy this year has seen many protests gathering,  asking the governments for greater aid. The owner of our excellent hotel in Hendaye, the Bellevue, explained that the day is also hoped to bring luck for the rest of the year.  We hoped it would at least bring luck for our walk.

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Starting out, all nine of us!

Our rather large collection of pilgrims encompassed individuals at both ends of a spectrum of experience — Roger and my dad both having oodles of experience while Willow and Theo were clearly setting out for the first time.  The rest of the group offered in enthusiasm what the first two brought with their many kilometers underfoot. Suzanne has decided that walking will be a regular component of the PG health regimen, of our lives.

The day was great, despite my sprained ankle, John Ricketts damaged toes (from the terribly steep and relentless downhill), clouds which accompanied us but barely rained down on us, and our forgotten lunches. The twins seemed oblivious to all these small hindrances; they were happy with their singalongs, their new friends, their food breaks and their close-ups of the forests and the trail.

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Lunchtime

After a beautiful walk at a high level we descended — too quickly — into Pasaia where we enjoyed our celebratory drink.
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