Camino Pilgrim

My legs felt just perfect in the morning, the weather promised no rain and motivation was high. I started off just a little before sunrise. Most of today was on asphalt and concrete, so the going was fast, but also stressful for feet.

I went over the first mountain like lightning and decided to use the bicycle route to make sure my Achilles would stay in good shape. I kept going non-stop until Larrabezu. There I had a proper breakfast, but had to leave right after. Time was of the essence.

I had less than 12 hours to reach my albergue in Portugalete. A second mountain was still waiting ahead before I reached Bilbao. Doing the second mountain, I had already started to slow down and needed small five-minute breaks every few kilometers.

Once in Bilbao, I finally had time for another food break. Again, as soon as the food was finished, I had to keep going. Although this non-stop hiking is somewhat stressful, I was very excited about the things that would follow: riverside promenade views in Bilbao and later a gondola bridge ride to Portugalete.

The Riverside walk from Bilbao to Portugalete was really smooth and easy. Without any elevation challenges, the road goes much faster. There were benches constantly to sit on. Every two kilometers I spared myself five minutes to sit down and take off my shoes.

Life was in constant motion. Later on, the riverside became quite noisy from car traffic and for the first time in this Camino, I had to use music to drown out the environment.

Gondola bridge into Portugalete was super fun. My legs were still feeling quite alive, just tired. The Gondola was crossing every five minutes, so I made it to the albergue with still an hour to spare.

Portugalete had a super fun attraction – street escalators up the hill. After having walked 40+ kilometers, I welcomed the opportunity.

I will definitely walk a few shorter distance days now to properly recover, but I am certain this will not be my last 40+ day on this Camino.