One thing that struck me was the group style seating in the squares outside some cafes. These are gathering areas for the locals - they bring their kids in strollers, school age children with soccer balls, and their conversations. They have a long leisurely meal with wine or beer drank slowly. I tried to capture a group in my first picture.

My next picture is of the Guggenheim which we will explore more on Sunday before we meet up with the rest of our hiking group at 3pm.

Time is so short and I dont think we can do the Guggenheim justice in a short duration. I half want to do a city bus tour (cringes face, but the city is so pretty and I can't manage it all on foot).

We will see what tomorrow brings.

Hola Espana

We have been in Spain for a little less than 12 hours...I am in my room at Silken Indautxu in Bilbao. It is 7:45p and I am having a glass of Rioja and fighting with technology while the others sleep. My Netbook is 3 years old and sorely out of date...so I have to blog from my iPhone. This means that I have to wait to post pictures taken from my digital SLR until I return home. First off, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that our driver to the airport was the current Chewbacka (sp)...made for an interesting transport. The flight from San Diego to Dallas was nice. I sat next to a woman who was also travelling to Spain on business. She was in HR and was studying the Spanish labor laws and we had a lively discussion about socialism. The flight from Dallas to Madrid had all the makings of a good flight until we got over the Blue Ridge Mountain Range. This coincided with dinner service and we were seated in the back of the plane. A full 5 terrifying minutes later, it was safe to eat. The flight continued to do side to side rocking and the some fun dips and dives over the atlantic. So much for sleeping. The flight from Madrid to Bilbao was 50 minutes and no problem. From there we took the bus to the end of the line and wandered to find our hotel. Toms dad was waiting in the lobby with his buddy Hank (Hank is quite the pistol and I have a feeling you will hear quite a bit about Hank). After a quick freshening up we hit the town....

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Wonder where we'll wander

Here is an approximation of our trip. We start in Bilbao and head west to Santiago de Compostela, averaging 8-12 miles of walking per day.

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View Spain - The northern Camino in a larger map

santillana

Friday, June 1, 2012

About our trip - the mysteries of the unknown

I really don't know what to expect. I've read some guide books, and watched the movie "The Way" (currently available on NetFlix). Few details are provided about this trip. Still, I will write about what I've read and been told. The story will change as we live it.

Firstly, we leave from San Diego, arrive in Dallas, proceed to Madrid and then take a 1 hour hop to Bilbao. Bilbao is in Basque Country up at the northern part of Spain.

We arrive Bilbao mid-day. From there we get ourselves acquainted with the area - check into our hotel and locate Tom's father and the rest of our comrades. Fingers crossed we will get some time at the Guggenheim.

Next day, we meet up with our walking group at the Bilbao train station. From there we head to what sounds like a very nice town called Santillana del Mar. This is in the Cantabria region. The guide book says that Santillana del Mar is known as the town of three lies for (1) it is neither holy (santi) and (2) nor flat (llana) and (3) nor on the ocean (del Mar). My guide book tells me that Santillana consists of 3 cobbled streets and a collection of squares. Here we get to spend 2 nights. The first night we orient ourselves with the journey ahead and get to know one another. The next day, we go to a place called the Altamira Caves. Interesting history. It was discovered in 1879 by the daughter of a local archaeologist; the limestone caves exhibited 14,000-year-old paintings. Of course, nothing good can go unspoiled and so it became an extremely popular tourist destination in the 1960s and 1970s. This lead to the cave being closed to tourists in 1979. But alas - a replica cave and museum was opened in 2001 very near the original site. It is here that we will tour and learn about the art created in the original caves.

After we leave Santillana, we continue toward Picos de Europa - one of Spain's most popular national parks. It is here that I believe we will meet our biggest vertical challenge of our hike. I hope we get to do some fun things here like the Fuente De' Cable Car - a single-span cable car that takes you 2600 feet in 4 minutes. The altitude at the top is a mere 6000 feet but promises breathtaking panoramic views.

After this, who the heck knows. We are meant to walk 8-12 miles per day...ending up at Santiago de Compostela, in the province of Galicia. We stay in small country inns, manor houses, and restored turn-of-the-century mansions during our nomadic days. Compostella is situated in the Atlantic north-west of Spain and its climate is likened to the Pacific Northwest of United States. The cathedral here is believed to be where the remains of St. James reside. Here we finish our journey. We get to spend a night here before heading out.

We head out on a two-day driving journey to Madrid. Our first stop will be Salamanca. We spend a day there before heading to Segovia. From Segovia we arrive in Madrid and take our flight back Dallas...Dallas to San Diego.

We will returned exhausted but with many stories. I hope to tell some of the stories during our trip, so stay check back on this blog and see how I do!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Final Countdown

It's hard to believe that in less than 4 weeks, I'll be in Spain trekking along the northern coast on my way from Santillana Del Mar to Santiago de Compostela. There is so much to get ready before I go - which camera to take, how can I blog while I am there, how will I tolerate the long flight there, am I doing the right thing by dragging my kids along?