Day 10 - Bilbao to Pobeña

Date: Monday June 24

Start: Bilbao, Biscay, Basque Country

End: Pobeña, Biscay, Basque Country

Daily Mileage: ~17mi (27.4km)

Total Mileage: ~115mi (185km)

Today we woke to blue bird skies. Yesterday, the weather had forecast rain for today. No use looking at the weather here. 

This was quite fortunate though, Bilbao was an entirely new city in the sunshine. After a breakfast of egg, tomato, and cream cheese sandwiches (we knew not what we ordered – upon a quick glance we had thought the tomato was bacon, and the cream cheese was a complete surprise – but the whole combination was quite tasty), we strolled down the Nervión River along the same route we had taken to the museum yesterday. 

The sun glinted off buildings, birds sang, even the clouds put on their brightest whites. The river perfectly mirrored buildings and sky. It was a gorgeous day to be on a hike. 

We took our time along this section, taking pictures of the river, bridges, and the beautiful angles and glint of sunlight off the Museo Guggenheim, its design a bit reminiscent of the sail shapes of the Sydney Opera House.  

Several blocks beyond the Guggenheim, we turned right, following the east bank of the Nervión as it made its way to the coast. 

This route along the river to Portugalete was a little over eight miles from Bilbao’s old quarter, much of it along a wide riverside promenade where many were out for their morning walk or run. The scenery along this stretch, other than the river, was a mix of businesses, construction zones, and industrial land. Not all beautiful, but it was mostly a nice walk. 

In some of the construction areas, we weaved back and forth between the river and the opposite side of the road that paralleled the east bank, sometimes along the graffitied backstreets, which I found actually very cheerful in their color. 

Eventually the route returned to riverside promenade and bike trail in time for views of the Vizcaya Bridge, an Industrial Revolution era iron bridge that was the world’s first bridge to transport passengers using a mechanical hanging transporter, carrying both passengers and vehicles across on a high suspended gondola between Portugalete and Getxo. Opened in 1883, the bridge is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and still serves the same function that it did back in 1883. We took advantage. 

Arriving in Getxo, we picked up €.55/pp tickets and took the quick ride across the river on the gondola. There is also an option to walk a path along the 55m high beam of the bridge, however it is quite a bit more costly (€10/pp); there likely would have been some great views up there, though. 

Portugalete

As it was, it was a quick jaunt to the other side on a piece of history, and now it was time for coffee. Again. 

Winding our way up through the streets of Portugalete, we took advantage of the many moving escalators along the steep sidewalks. This was something we could get used to. 

Portugalete Cultural Center

In no particular hurry, we plopped down at a sidewalk cafe for ham sandwiches, coffee, and ice cold fizzy waters. When I hear ‘ham sandwich’ in the U.S., I generally think of some sad drab affair of a sandwich. However in Spain, a sandwich (or bocadillo) de jamón typically has what I would consider fancy ham back home - usually thinly sliced jamón serrano or jamón ibérico. Delicious ham. The variety of mini sandwiches at every bar, cafe, and restaurant in town always makes for a nice little snack along our hike.

Second breakfastes for hobbitses. 

Finishing up with second breakfast, we made our way back to the trail, which – after a quick jaunt through town – would take us along nice wide pedestrian and bicycle paths and bridges that wound their way above and around the highways passing through the area. 

Several walkers and cyclists wished us a ‘buen Camino’ today as we passed, far more than we’d heard in all the previous days on the trail (especially from those that weren’t pilgrims themselves). It was nice. 

We actually only saw two other pilgrims the entire day – an older French couple that we had passed along our way into Bilbao. They are carrying big packs with full camping gear, so must be camping when they have the chance. We wished each other buen camino as we passed by. 

After about five miles along the pedestrian paths, the route turned down a small backroad as it made its way toward the coast. Homes along this stretch hid behind stone walls and small garden plots. The road itself had a red bricked sidewalk for pedestrians. You know how that old tune goes - follow the red brick road. 

As it was, we had missed the signs attempting to route us a different direction - which we soon found out was because there was a section of the road we were on that was undergoing construction. Luckily we were passing through while the workers were on lunch/siesta, so we were able to walk through the construction area without trouble. Had they been at work, we likely would have had to backtrack at least a couple miles to take a different path. No bueno. 

As it was, we had arrived back to the coast. The tide was out, leaving La Arena Beach wide past the sand dunes. We walked along the boardwalk protecting the dunes which eventually deposited us at the far end of the beach. 

La Arena Beach in the early afternoon.

From here, it was a short walk down the beach and over one more bridge to head into Pobeña, a small town that seemed to be hiding behind the marshy reeds just a stone’s throw from the beach. Later, when the tide came in, the area nearby would be completely covered in water and the beach would be half of its current size. 

The town of Pobeña, hiding in the weeds.

Entering Pobeña, we head straight for the pilgrim hostel. Yep, that’s right, we’re rolling the dice on this again. Wish us luck. 

Several hikers were posted up in the shade, waiting for the hostel to open. Megan, a hiker from Virginia, quickly pulled us into her orb, telling us what time the hostel was opening, how long she had been there, how she had hiked the Camino Frances last year and all of the differences between this Camino and that Camino. We were reminded of this accomplishment several times, actually. 

The first bit of information she provided though was all about the laundry – how there was a sink and clothes lines out back for us to do our laundry. She seemed to think this was the most important piece of information anyone would want to know immediately upon arrival. She had not done laundry in Bilbao and was very excited that there was plenty of sun so hopefully her things would dry. The implication was that we would also want to run and take advantage of this right away. 

Guess what. Not only am I not going to run and take care of any laundry right now, I’m not going to do any laundry here at all. And I’m going to wear the same stinky clothes tomorrow. All week, probably. I kept this to myself. “Good to know,” I said. 

We also learned about her issues with plantar fasciitis, her ditty bag organization system, and her Camino Frances hike. Again. Oh really, I had not heard about this yet!

She was surprised we were doing the Camino del Norte as our ‘first Camino’, since It was so tough. Compared to many of our other hikes, including our misery along the CDT, we’ve actually felt like this has basically been a happy jaunt from restaurant to restaurant, coffee break to coffee break. We did not mention this.

At some point, I text Shawn. “This was a mistake,” I wrote, in reference to sitting down next to Megan.

“I just booked a hotel for tomorrow night,” he replied. 🤣🤣🤣

Soon we discovered that we had already met her friend, Julia, from England. We had met her early on – one of the first few days of the trail. She was hiking with broomsticks as poles, which was probably the most interesting story we heard from this duo. I’m not sure how she can put up with the amount of information spilling out of Megan, but I wish them well together. 

Once the hostel opened, everyone got in line in the order in which they arrived. After checking in, stamping our pilgrim credentials, and paying a donation, we claimed our bunks. 

There are two rooms of 20 bunks each at this hostel, each room arranged in groups of two sets of bunk beds, with a a narrow space between each set of beds. Shawn and I claimed the top/bottom of the same bed, somewhere away from our new acquaintance. The older French couple we ran into along the trail earlier would end up taking the set of bunks next to our own. 

Having set up our things, we decided to avoid the initial line for showers and head into town for a late lunch (/early dinner) first. There are only about five restaurants in Pobeña, four of which are arranged around a small central plaza. We went to one that had a set menu del dia, a great value. For only €12 for pilgrims, we got a first course, main course, bread, beverage, and dessert. We each had a second beverage, as well as coffee with our dessert, naturally, because we are dinosaurs. All for under €30.

La Arena Beach later in the evening.

Back at the hostel, we showered, organized ourselves a bit more, and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening relaxing in the patio chairs outside the hostel. For a small town, there was a lot of activity around Pobeña. Everyone was outside enjoying the beach, playing in the park, walking the trails, cycling the roads, or enjoying drinks or a meal at the outdoor tables of the cafes and restaurants. It was a good vibe.

Hopefully the vibe in the dorm room tonight will also be good. More on that tomorrow…