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| Ryanair is another budget airline that operates in Europe from Dublin, Ireland. The fare to Barcelona from Santiago de Compostela cost me around 60 euros. |
The following two days were relatively uneventful. It takes me one day to travel by bus from Muxia to Santiago de Compostella. The relentless rain continues from Sunday until Monday when I leave Santiago de Compostella. My journey to Andorra is more complicated than I anticipated. Barcelona has three airports, El Prat, Gironda, and Reus. Gironda is the most important airport in Barcelona and the one I am flying into. However, my bus to Andorra leaves from El Prat, a one-hour bus ride from Gironda. Fortunately, I have lots of layover time between buses.
My Monday started at 530 am and ended at 930 pm when I finally reached the hotel in Andorra. After arriving in Andorra I walked 2 km (1.2 mi) from the bus stop to the hotel. I enjoyed the walk as it had been > 2 months since I had sat for this long. I am safely in Andorra now and have officially spent 44 days in Spain. Unfortunately, there weren't many photo opportunities due to the weather and me being on a bus. So I decided to do something similar to what I did for France and Ireland and use this post to share some stories behind the forgotten photos of the Camino.
First up, I wanted to post the entire length of the Camino Del Norte, Irun, to Finisterra, officially 917 km (570 mi). The walk to Muxia adds an additional 28 km (17 mi). The reality is I walked much further than this in total. Most of the distances only count town to town and do not account for all the extra km I walked getting to and from Albergues, but who's counting. It is a long damn way! Below you can see the topography for the route, which is far from flat.
The Finisterra-Muxia option is the only route that starts and does not finish in Santiago. The 117-km (73-mi) journey concludes in either Finisterra or Muxia (shorter if only walking to one city). Both have cairns designating them as 0 KM (0 mi). Finisterra is the most westerly point in Spain and was historically known as the End of the World. However, Muxia is the most westerly point measured from mainland Europe and is officially the End of the World.
This photo was taken in the town of Irun. The little green pedestrian is animated and begins to walk when it is time to cross. As the timer on the crosswalk winds down, the little green man begins to run. I have not seen this anywhere else. I find it to be pretty comical. A solid man stands facing the pedestrians waiting to cross when the light is red. The red man is not animated at all and is much less entertaining.
This old road is one of the reasons so many people had blisters the first few days on the Camino. The constant shifting created by stepping on these uneven surfaces causes swollen feet to rub where they would not usually rub. I was fortunate to avoid blisters, except for one on the end of my pinky toe. This occurred after a steep descent 5 days into the Camino. Even though I didn't get any blisters from walking these roads, I never enjoyed walking on them when I encountered them.
One of my "Go-To" snacks while on the Camino. This Spanish version of the popular Corn Nuts snack has a lightly smoky and salty flavor. Carbohydrates and salt are what I needed early in the Camino. However, as the weather cooled later into the journey, I needed much less salt. So I stopped eating this tasty snack.
Bilbao has some beautiful colors and architecture. I took this photo downtown near the Cathedral when I arrived. I love how the buildings have colors, vary in height, and depths, making for a beautiful scene.
I took this picture in Bilbao the night I arrived while wandering through the streets looking for a place to eat. I wasn't accustomed to restaurants not serving food before 8 pm. Even now, I find that my body wants to eat much earlier in the evening. The Spanish dinner schedule was a bit of a struggle for me.
On the morning I left Bilbao, I took several photos of the Guggenheim Museum. There was a massive bronze spider sculpture just south of the museum. The sculpture was challenging to capture by itself. However, it is a fantastic sight to see with the museum in the background. It feels like Bilbao is being invaded by some strange alien creature. Unfortunately, I rushed the original photo and accidentally left my finger in the frame. Since I couldn't crop the picture at the time, I chose to leave it out.
This map was displayed in the Albergue in Ontón. It depicts all the Camino variants. The thickness of the line is proportional to the number of Peregrinos that complete the pilgrimage annually. The numbers are dated to 2017 and have increased drastically. The thick dark green line is the Camino Frances ~190,000 people walk this route annually. By comparison, the blue coastal line is the Camino Del Norte. Only 19,000 Peregrinos walked this route in 2019. The Camino Del Norte is the 5th most popular Camino behind Frances, Portuguese, Finnisterra, and Portuguese Coastal. Approximately 51% of all Peregrinos walk the Camino Frances versus only 5% for the Del Norte.
I didn't stay in Castro Urdiales, but I recall loving the harbor and beachfront. I left this out of the post, as I had others that were more stunning close-ups. However, I like this photo because it shows more of the city. Unfortunately, other Peregrinos who stayed here found the town lacking restaurants and amenities.
This was the tiny beach town of Oriñón, where I received my only yellow stamp and had the entire Albergue to myself. I chose to leave this picture out of the post as I was not happy with how it turned out. However, now looking at it, I admire it for capturing the rural feel of this tiny beach community. Only 175 people inhabit this village.
This is one of the few scenic places I passed in the Cantabria region. The region is heavily managed for timber and paper products. In the distance, after leaving Noja, I could see the mountains on this overcast day.
I posted this stunning sunrise from Guëmes as a close-up. However, I like this photo as it shows the surrounding landscape. Guëmes is a small, poor rural community comprised mostly of farmers and ranchers. I really enjoyed the couple of days on either side of Guemes.
The port town of Santander had a very colorful and unique waterfront. Unfortunately, the pictures were hard to take as I was on a Ferry Boat. Due to wind and waves I had a difficult time to framing the shots I wanted.
Santander was also the only place I saw these small sailing boats. When the boat turns, the pilot climbs up on the wings as the boat tilts high on its side. They looked pretty fun to pilot.
Santander has one of the most beautiful harbors in the world. The strange horizontal building on the left is the
Centro Botin, an art museum. If you follow the link, you will see how stunning the building is. Initially, I liked this photo, but when I posted to the blog, I changed my mind. So it never made it in. However, I like the picture and feel it belongs here.
I'll continue with a similar post in the coming days after I get settled in Andorra. My plan is to recover and relax. My body needs it.
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