Spent the day resting, running errands (mostly unsuccessfully), and doing some sightseeing. Gernika is another beautiful town. I enjoyed walking around the center - picture more narrow, cobblestone lanes - and visiting the Basque Museum.
As for tomorrow, scratch all those plans I communicated in yesterday’s post. Yesterday’s Terri’s confidence in her plans was so cute! It turns out, I’m not going to send my bags ahead. The Correos (post office) do it, but I don’t want to pay the price. I searched and found another company that offers the service, but bags can only be sent from hotel to hotel, not to a private home, and I am planning to stay with friends of Mark’s in Bilbao. Anyway, I did look and accommodations in Bilbao are more than I want to pay.
Plan B is to complete the walk to Bilbao in two stages and carry my pack. Tomorrow I will walk 20 km to Lezama. I had a message from Javi today saying that while there are ascents, they aren’t as steep as the other days and he thinks I can do it. (He was also unable to send his pack). That will leave just 10 km more to get into Bilbao the next day.
Accommodations have been hard to find in the past few days. It was not easy in Lezama, either. There is a public hostel, but those beds are first come, first served, and I’m not willing to take the chance. The hotels listed on the Buen Camino and Wise Pilgrim apps are completely full. After searching for almost an hour, I found a two-bedroom apartment available for 99 euro. Pricy, but the second bedroom has three beds. I decided to take a chance that I’m not the only pilgrim struggling to find accommodations, and will be able to find others to share the night with me. While planning this trip, I had read that finding accommodations takes a bit more work on the Northern Camino than the Camino Frances, especially in this first week. I can’t imagine what it will be like in high season. If you are planning your Camino now, take note.
The daily responsibilities of the full-time position of Camino Walker include:
Walk about 6-8 hours per day, regardless of weather or trail condition
Navigate from point A to point B
Source food and water
Plan accommodations
Make back-up plans for accommodations
Shower
Wash clothes - by hand or machine
Document the journey with photos and/or writings
Be grateful
The job takes the whole day and leaves you dead tired, but I highly recommend it.
Finally, the highlight of the day: I did not wake up with bedbug bites! After several of us booked at Hotel Bolina yesterday (due to the albergue bed crunch) we were warned of bedbugs. We spent the whole day making chinche (bedbug) jokes and sharing or receiving tips on how to prevent infestation of our bags. But it was perfectly fine. The hotel was clean, super well located, and the staff couldn’t have been nicer.
A few photos of Gernika:
Yesterday's Terri may have funny ideas but Tomorrow's Terri is such a go-getter...!