Day 11 - Pobeña to Castro Urdiales
Date: Tuesday June 25
Start: Pobeña, Biscay, Basque Country
End: Castro Urdiales, Cantabria
Daily Mileage: ~9.3mi (~15km)
Total Mileage: ~123mi (~198km)
Well we survived another night in an albergue. There were the typical snores, coughs, squeaky bed springs, and the like – but for a room with twenty bunks, I can’t complain too much. At least not about the nighttime noises.
The morning, on the other hand, was a different scenario.
Today would be a short hiking day for us, so we were really in no hurry. In fact, many would do a short hiking day today, just over nine miles (~15km) to the next major town of Castro Urdiales, a beautiful seaside city with wonderful beaches and a beautiful old quarter. We had a room booked at a pensión (basic hotel) there for the night, so there was also no rush to secure a bed. In fact, we wouldn’t even be able to check in until 3pm. So no rush at all, really.
It’s not that we were delusional enough to think that we could have a nice lie in at an albergue. In fact, you were required to be out by 8am. On a hiking day, we are typically up and out of our hotel by that time anyway. So there was no expectation that we could sleep in – in fact, I didn’t set an alarm at all because I knew we would easily be woken up by others getting ready to go in the morning.
And that was definitely the case.
It would be nice to think that, if you’re staying in a communal sleeping space and you are going to get up earlier than most other people, you would try to be a little quiet and respectful of others when you get up. Quietly pack your things and tip toe out... save your conversations and loud organization for outside the room.
No. No way.
It was hardly 6:30am when a few very quiet rustles turned into a French group getting up, turning on the lights for the whole room, and loudly packing their things. It’s really not that tough to do these things quietly. Some people just don’t care.
I’m not saying that all French people are loud and don’t care about other people. There was a very nice, respectful French couple in the bunk next to us. They moved around and packed up as quietly as possible.
But what I will say is, every time there is a group in our albergues that is loud and doesn’t care about other people – they are French. My sample size on this particular trip is still low. 2/2. But our experience extends beyond the Camino. There do happen to be a good number of French people hiking the Camino del Norte, so that increases the chances of having rude French bunkmates in general.
Also, in case any French people out there are getting offended (which I doubt – because they don’t care what I think) or feel like we are singling them out, in our first albergue the offending group also included a number of Italians. It wasn’t until visiting Italy for the first time many years ago that I really understood why New Yorkers were so loud. And then I got it... many of them come from other very loud stock. Italian heritage. Lol.
We’ve also noticed that the loudest people in the morning tend to come from an older generational cohort. Young people often get a bad wrap for being disrespectful, but I’ve noticed that the older generations are equal offenders. At least in hostel etiquette.
Anyway, none of this is really to point fingers. There are annoying people from every country and culture, and we know there are plenty of very lovely French and Italian people. It would just be nice if people would stop acting like asshats in the hostels, that’s all.
I suppose that’s the tradeoff for cheap lodging. Evening social time = fun. Hostel sleeping quarters = not fun.
Preview of great day to come…
But on with the rest of our day, which was really quite great.
Since everyone was awake well before 7am, whether or not they needed or wanted to be, we figured we may as well get up, too.
After washing up, getting dressed, and packing up our things, we walked to a cafe just down the road, back in the plaza where we’d eaten our fine menu del dia yesterday.
There was exactly ONE cafe open this early, and I’m pretty sure they were only open this early for pilgrims. They certainly didn’t advertise these hours on Google.
Unlike a Mexican tortilla, a Spanish tortilla is shaped and served a bit like quiche, in slices like a pie, and is made with eggs and potato. Very tasty. I’m not sure why they stab everything they serve with forks like this. The Japanese would be appalled.
As mentioned earlier, we had no rush for the day. We ordered coffees and Spanish tortillas and sat to read the news for a bit. We also listened to the news and weather report on the TV in the cafe, and I’m pretty sure the meteorologist used the Spanish word for ‘boiling’ to describe the temperatures throughout most of Spain. While the majority of the country is very hot right now, the northern coast is the one place that is enjoying more pleasantly warm temperatures. Lucky us.
Before we had left the albergue, Shawn had chatted with the hospitalero – the volunteer that runs the hostel – asking if the first section of the coastal route was still closed. There had been a landslide in the area some time ago and the route had been closed, but was set to open sometime this year. As luck would have it, it had reopened just five days ago.
This was great news since it meant a little less road walking – and also more great seaside views.
Playa de La Arena
After a long set of stairs up the hillside, a nice flat recreational path contoured along the coastline high above the sea. It was a beautiful morning, the waves rolling into Playa La Arena below.
The coastal path wound us westward along the coast, with views stretching all the way to Castro Urdiales, our destination for the day. It’s great when you’ve gone less than a mile and can already see where you’re stopping for the day.
Ontón
After an hour of hiking, we left the coastal path and descended into the small village of Ontón. Climbing steeply up its sleepy streets, at the south end of town we had two options. A longer inland route that was mostly along a low traffic road, but lacked good views; or, a shorter coastal route, which would walk us along a slightly busier road for a bit, but include coastal views. A shorter route AND better views? This was a no brainer.
The route did include a walk along the shoulder of a highway for a bit, but at this hour of the morning (before 10am), there was little traffic. The traffic that we did see included a little caravan of those cute Seat 600s. Look up these cars, they are adorable.
The highway included some descent ascent and descent, but our timing had been perfect. We were approaching a restaurant/cafe with beautiful views over the Bay of Biscay just as they opened. Time for midmorning coffee.
And so – with no rush to Castro Urdiales – we posted up in the red plastic Coca-Cola chairs along the outdoor terrace of Restaurante Saltacaballo Espacio Mirador, which translates to something like ‘Horse Jumper Lookout Space Restaurant’. The lone worker at opening hour looked and sounded like he had just come off a bit of an all night bender. Nevertheless, we soon had refreshments, and it was the perfect place for a coffee break with a view.
I mean, to think we could still be on the CDT.
Eventually, several other hikers trickled onto the patio for a break, the view too hard to pass up. After a bit, Megan and Julia strolled in. We had chatted with them a bit earlier on the trail, Megan wishing us a ‘buen Camino’ as we walked up and again after we chatted with them for a bit and continued on. After potentially being a bit harsh yesterday, I do want to say that she seems very nice, even if a bit much for us.
After a nice break, we continued on. As we grabbed our packs to leave, Megan called out to us from the other end of the terrace – “Buen Camino!” She is a bit overzealous with this phrase. The first couple of times she said it were nice. Now it was just getting out of control.
While the Buen Camino mapping app showed the route continuing along the road all the way into Castro Urdiales, Shawn found that the FarOut Guides app showed an alternate that would take us down a more natural trail along the coastline for a more spectacular and scenic entrance to Castro Urdiales. Certainly more enjoyable than walking the road. We chose this option.
After a couple more switchbacks along the road, we cut down an unmarked rocky rutted dirt path to a small beach where several people were already posted up on this resplendent Tuesday morning, sunbathing and swimming. Winding our way along coastline, we climbed steeply up a hill and past a restaurant, the paved path slowly devolving into a natural track through high weeds and purple thistles before topping out with views out to the sea.
The westernmost point of the hilltop offered sweeping views of Castro Urdiales, which was much bigger than I’d originally expected. I suppose when blogs and guidebooks use words like “lovely”, I often think “quaint”, which makes me think I am heading to a small hamlet or village. Castro Urdiales, while hosting an old quarter – like most European cities, was mostly not “quaint”. It looked mostly big and modern and certainly bustling on this sunny fair weather day.
We descended through a park and climbed over a rocky prominence before descending once again, this time to views over Playa de Brazomar, the largest of the beaches in Castro Urdiales, positively packed with beachgoers today.
Walking along the beach promenade and the harborfront, we noticed that there were suddenly far more Spanish flags on the landscape. Today we left Basque Country and entered the province of Cantabria. A quick Google search reveals that Cantabria is known for its beautiful beaches, Roman settlements, various prehistoric caves, and a number of other “archeological gems”. It is also supposed to be cheaper than the Basque Country.
We shall see what this region of the Camino holds in store for us.
Church of Santa Santa María de la Asunción & Santa Ana Castle/Lighthouse
We rested along a bench on the promenade for a bit until 1pm, when most restaurants in Spain begin serving from their menus or offering a menu del dia. Before 1pm, some restaurants and cafes are open, but many are only serving small tapas and snack foods.
After a bit of searching around, we found a well-rated restaurant with a menu del dia and, after partaking in another lovely (and reasonably priced) three course meal – this time with paella, grilled sole (beef for Shawn), wine, bread, and a delicious chocolate cake for dessert – I was ready for a siesta. (Shawn, by the way, ordered cheesecake for dessert, which we’ve had pretty good luck with here, but this one was a sad state of affairs. I took pity and offered him a nice bite of my wonderful chocolate cake).
One thing we love about getting the menu del dia is that it’s enough food that we don’t need dinner. A nice big lunch and we’re pretty much done eating for the day. This also means we don’t have to deal with the ultra late Spanish dinner times. It also means that I’m sometimes miserable after lunch.
We had eaten lunch only a couple doors down from our pensión and luckily we were able to check in early. Showers, relaxation, and naps were the order of the afternoon.
Bridge to the castle grounds.
Later in the evening, we went back out to walk around town. Now that the sun had sank a bit in the sky, the temperature was perfect for strolling. We walked along the beach promenade toward the Casco Antiguo (old quarter) and rocky promontory at the north end of the port, which housed the Santa Ana Castle and the Church of Santa Santa María de la Asunción.
Santa Ana Castle/Lighthouse
The focal point of the port and city, the Santa Ana Castle sits high on the hill with a lighthouse built atop one of its towers. One of the best preserved castles in northern Spain, it dates to the 12th century and served as a fortress for the town. Today the grounds are free to roam, with park benches and a great view over the city, coastline, and port. Several men were fishing from the back wall of the castle courtyard.
View from the castle grounds.
The lighthouse was built into the structure in 1883 and adds a little something. I’m not sure I’ve seen a castle with a lighthouse atop one of the towers, so that’s a first.
Gothic style Church of Santa Santa María de la Asunción
We walked around a bit before heading back down the promenade, where there was a small outdoor concert with The Billy Boom Band. With catchy family friendly tunes, Shawn is sure to be singing “Mi familia es loco!” the rest of the week as we hike down the trail.
Shawn’s new favorite band! Their biggest hit on Apple Music is a version of Cumpleaños Feliz (Happy Birthday).
Tomorrow’s hike will be a bit longer – at least twice as long as our hike today – so we didn’t want to rock out at the kid’s concert for too long (though we were getting in some decent Spanish language practice). We’re also a bit overtired from less than ideal albergue sleep and looking forward to producing some quality Zzzz’s.
Tomorrow it’s on to Laredo.