Pagans on a Pilgrimage

Kim wakes at 3:45am but manages to fall back asleep until 6:30am. Hooray! Fantastic sunrise.    Breakfast at 7:30am of coffee, bread and jam and cookies.  Enough to line the stomach - just. Strangers become acquaintances or potential friends over breakfast. We are nearly the last ones to leave the albergue and it’s nice see the line of pelegrino’s walking up the country road ahead.  Daz walks with Will the other Aussie for a while and Kim walks alone. She likes her own pace, taking in the countryside. The cows are huge and a beautiful golden brown colour. She sees two together, one eating while another is licking it from nose to forehead. Above them a dozen swallows dart around enjoying the morning sunshine.  There are a few kilometres along a busy road, but we soon turn onto another country road. Before long it turns into track and we walk with corn fields to the left and the ocean to our r...

Kim’s awake at 4am again. Albergue doors don’t unlock until 6:30am. Bed yoga and stretches for her and a patient wait. I slept on the top bunk, and woke to find her staring at me, willing me awake.  Nothing open so no coffee or breakfast. Walk the 6km to the ferry from El Puntal to Santoña which is a 600m crossing. We are first to arrive and wait in line for the ferry in an hour. Pretty much everyone from the Albergue shows up for the ferry. It beaches its nose on the sand and some stairs are lowered for us to board. €2 each. Find a cafe for "Desayuno Español" (Spanish  Breakfast) of coffee and a tortilla. Buy some fruit at a small mercardo. Fill up our water at the fountain, put on sunscreen and we head off to.  As we leave the town of Berria we need to decide whether to take the difficult and longer coastal route to Helgueras or the shorter inland road direct to San Miguel de Meruel.  A local on a motorbike sees us we...

Cold night last night. Kim slept in her puffer jacket. She was in 2 minds whether to pack it and last night was enough to convince her it was a good choice. First ones to bed, first ones up in the campground. Put on our slightly damp clothes and put the rest of the damp gear back our laundry bags. Watched the sunrise over the water while we eat our breakfast of croissants, jamon, red pepper and goats cheese. Kim having cheese for breakfast = happy.  Walk through "El Pontarron de Guuiezo" to our first stop Orinon for coffee and second breakfast €2.50 each. Bumped into a family we saw walking yesterday and they convinced us not to take the route over the mountain goat tracks as it is pretty sketchy. Instead we walked back to the N-634 and along that to Liendo. Still a tough climb up and down with the heat bouncing off the baking road. From there it was through the bush and back on the coastal track.  Hills, goats tracks, r...

Good sleep except our neighbours in the next bunk our were up at 4am and one of their many alarms went off loudly after they were up and so woke up the whole room. After nearly killing ourselves on day 1 to get to our pre booked albergue we agreed to take the day easy and have more stops. Santullan to Castro Urdiales was meant to be 2km but took 4.4km so by then coffee and a breakfast tortilla was well overdue, lucky it was a pretty walk through fields. Castro Urdiales got our tick of approval. Very pretty coastal town with cute harbour, old town inviting beaches and the church (which is actually a temple) of Santa María built circa 13-15th century so it’s old! perched on the hill of the old town. It was closed so had to admire it from the outside which we both actually prefer being pagans.  By 9am it was getting hot. We made a friend Harvey on his daily walk who we think was in his 60s. No English so put our ...