The best smelling camino yet

The paths all along the coast are lined with linden trees, honeysuckle and mock orange -- the result is a perfumed breeze that smells heavenly and helps you forget how very ripe you, yourself might smell.

The rest in Bilbao was helpful, it´s amazing how much your feet can recover in one day. It turned out to be quite hot and the forecast called fro 5 days more of the same so I went in search of a cooler shirt. Like umbrellas on a grey day, this shirt has the power to change weather forecast and can avert a heat wave. Walking out of Bibao was very much in line with what I refer to as the Uniform Ugly Outskirts Act, complete with a 363 step staircase (up, of course), several tours through squatters camps, and many twists turns, ups downs and depressing suburbs. 24k later we arrived in Portugalete on the coast. Later we met up with some Germans who took a more direct route and arrived in 11k. The English guidebook I purchased is losing credibility daily.

The next day was 28k to the seaside town of Castro Urdiales. There were quite a few Spanish -- and a few French -- tourists there but comparatively empty compared to the high summer season. The number of closed apartments and condos is another testament to the health of the Spanish economy that so many people can afford vacation homes. Since the albergue was far out of town we decided to spring for a pension. Our late afternoon ritual involves beer at an outdoor cafe while icing our feet. It does invite stares but after 17 miles it´s irrelevant. Weekends in Spain are party time and our room was over a disco so ear plugs once again came into service.

We treated ourselves to short day (7 miles) walking to a small coastal town called Islares. It was a beautiful walk and the coast was incredible. Very rocky, green grass, bright blue skies, lots of flowers. Stayed at a restaurant/pension on the highway with a big and full parking lot -- I assumed it meant the food was good. In fact, I think I have had my peak paella experience. It was amazing. Soent the afternoon down on some bluffs by the water watching kids play with the surf pounding the shores. As much as I was loving it, my feet were back in revolt.

HAS EL CID RETURNED
The infamous huge blister of my first camino, "El Cid" has been reincarnated in a smaller but equally potent position. Son of Cid. Rest and lots of molefoam helps but I was not up to a 28k trek trhough the hills. Laurie kindly went all over the town to try to discover the bus schedule for Sunday (Mother´s day) and left early in the AM assured that we would meet in Laredo in the early afternoon. I waited. A bus came... not for Laredo. Driver said it wouldn´t come until 3:30. OK. OK. I´ll walk along the highway... it´s only 9 miles. 7 minutes later as I am trudging along, a bus forLaredo passes me. Long story short, after I returned to the bus stop thinking the maybe the schedule was simply a bit off, I had an opportunity -- for four hours -- to examine my non existent Zen practice of quieting my mind. Alternately certain I would catch a flight home from Santander, I decided that I wanted to finish this camino. I finally managed to get a taxi to Laredo... the driver even stopped to pick some herbs tyo put in a footbath to help my feet. (I guess it did.) Laredo has the second longest beach in Spain (no one could tell us the longets) that is gorgeous but the town lacks much charm. These beaches are incredibly wide, clean and with silky smooth sand, shallow waters. I think the Cantabrian coast is a much overlooked destination.

Yesterday we took a small boat across a channel to the next town and began a 25k trek along beaches and bluffs that rival Big Sur and Carmel. It was very blustery with intermittent downpours and then birgh sun that would dry us off. It was incredible to pass all these miles of pristine coast without a single soul on them. Last night we satyed in an albergeu run by a priest who has walked many caminos and has created a nice refuge. We finally met some more trekkers (German, Spanish, Belgian, Austrian) -- not a snorer in the lot!

I am writing from Santander -- and running out of time on the clock, so no editing -- the last big town we will be in for at least 10 days. I am sure I will find internet along the way and I hope to have time to post some picutures. Feet are fine -- I love your notes and comments. Thanks!