Into Bilbao

Today was another lesson in how dramatically different reality is from ones expectations. But I will get to that when I get to the end of the post when I describe the end of the day today.

After a great nights sleep in the hotel in Ampuero last night I had a leisurely departure since I expected to have a relatively easy day to Bilbao. 

This is the first climb. I start iin the little village below.

This was the 2 nd climb

After these ascents I figured I would have a nice long decent to the ocean and then about a 30 mile ride up the coast from Castro Urdiales to Bilbao. I had heard a lot about Bilbao and thought it would be a good place to spend the night, and I was tilde there were many hostels and several alberges. 

These pictures are of Castro-Urdiales.

Well the short ride up the coast as I am learning, anywhere in this part so Spain involves big hills. After another few moderate to big climbs I finally descended into what I trout would be Bilbao. When I got near what I thought was the city I found a really great bike path and thought I has home free.

Only to have the bike path dump me onto some pretty urban roads. When the roads started to get dangerous and at one point I went through a tunnel through a mountain, I understood that I had become accustom to rural life and now I was in a BIG city. So much for expectations! Wisely I got off the road and stopped for a coffee and sweet. I have found that my Spanish is pretty good when I talk and I can express myself pretty well and people seem to understand me. But when they talk, it is all a blurr and no compare do nada. They woulall point ant it was always to a busy road that I would get killed on. Until one really nice man saw my desperation and told me to take the subtierra. The underground, metro. Brilliant!! With all the commuters and the help of s really great metro employee I hopped on a train the treturous last few miles to downtown.

For a place to stay I found the very helpful Informacion de touristica where they alr always very helpful and always help me find a hostel or albergue for a shower and a bed.

Well now came big surprise #2. The city was in the middle of a HUGE music festival, and every room in town was booked. But upon looking like the entirely desperate piligramo that I was they sent me to where the el Camino pilgrims could stay. Mostly the alberges are in an annex to a very old church, but this one was a huge hotel/dorm on a sort of college campus.

But they too were filled, and the sent me of cours further up a huge very steep hill to another dorm like building. All the while the sort of park area on the side of this mountain overlooking the city was getting mobbed with kids. They were everywhere arriving in by the bus loads, in cabs and on foot. I was being directed toward the center of a Woodstock festival!! There were police directing traffic, and since I had wisely gotten the last place with no rooms to write down where I was supposed to go, they ere able to send me to a sort of school where indeed there were el Camino hikers and bikers and I got an upper bunk bed and a shower. I was very happy an in spite of being in a bunk house setting with about 25 people and noise all night long from the music and partying I slept like a log. 

Quit a night for for the night before my birthday.