Day 19 (del Norte): Portugalete to Pobena

I've been sick since yesterday evening. It started with a headache, malaise, and even a low-grade fever around dinner time. During the night, bouts of body aches woke me up a few times. It's hard to put a finger on it, but what I have is probably a stomach flu, although there are few major GI symptoms. So the decision I faced during the night and this morning was whether to go ahead with the walk as planned, skip this portion of the Camino, or combine the two days' worth and try to cover the entire stage from Portugalete to Castro-Urdiales in one day tomorrow (which is what most people do anyway). The first option I am not confident about and is possibly ill-advised, the second is unacceptable as I have to walk every kilometer, and the third probably not realistic especially in my current physical condition.

I can't even finish one chocolate croissant at breakfast so I switch to a plain one.

By this morning, I feel a little bit better, so we set out to complete the planned route. Fortunately it is the first part of the next stage, meaning we only walk 12 km to La Arena and the route is pretty flat. 

Portugalete: at a small produce market just outside the hotel, we pick up some figs (10 for one euro!)

Portugalete: this city springs another surprise to us - people movers! There are a series of these all the way up to the top of town. The Camino arrow seems to encourage us to take it also. Quite handy especially in my physical condition.

The walk is mostly on the well paved pedestrian walkway paralleling bike lanes. I am gradually gaining physical strength and we reach La Arena in less time than anticipated. Before our taxi arrives, we have time to walk an extra kilometer to Pobena, which will make tomorrow's walk just a little bit shorter.

If this is what's like to share the road with bikers, who would complain? Remarkably, the path today is almost entirely like this, first over the highways and then in the rural area.

A five-leaf clover to wish me a speedy recovery

La Arena: first time seeing the beach in many days. The Google Map satellite picture shows the beach filled with people, obviously taken in the summer. The rocky cropping in front of us is named Itsaslur. What was said to be called a slur?

A local man tries to help with directions and states we are in Vizkaya (part of Basque Country) and way out there is Espana, pointing to the next large town which is surely Castro-Urdiales. A passing man overhears this and, we guess, says something like, "What are you talking about? This is Spain, too!"

La Arena: or the full name is La Playa de La Arena. The city way beyond is Castro-Urdiales, our destination tomorrow.

To Pobena: going over this pedestrian bridge, we reach Pobena, which will be the starting point for tomorrow.

Back in Portugalete, the waterfront is surprisingly crowded - it is mostly townspeople enjoying a stroll on Saturday night. A group of African peddlers have their wares on the street. We buy an umbrella for 10 euros mainly because we want to help the guy in some small way. They are from Senegal and when asked why they have come all the way up north instead of settling in a place like Madrid, the guy says there is a lot more "control" in Madrid. We go up the lift to the top of the bridge. It is truly a remarkable accomplishment. There is a good set of comments in English on the walkway on top, ranging in topics from life in the late 1800's in this area, the commercial and military history in this region especially during the Spanish Civil War, and the details of engineering. I could spend hours here. I feel a lot better physically than this morning but still not 100 percent and just hope that I will fully recover by tomorrow's walk.

Portugalete: a lift takes us up to the top of the bridge (Puente Colgante, or Vizcaya Bridge), definitely worth the 7 euro admission. Built in 1897, this is the world's oldest transporter bridge.

Puente Colgante: a view from the top of the bridge, showing Portugalete on right (our hotel, Gran Hotel Puente Colgante, is the yellow building) and Getxo on left. 

Puente Colgante: turning around (now Portugalete on left and Getxo on right), we see the Cantabrian Sea into which the river drains. The blur on the bottom of the picture is from the moving suspension of the gondola.

Puente Colgante: a nice pedestrian platform was dedicated by the reigning Spanish king and queen. Oh, and the whole structure is on the UNESCO World Heritage list ("a perfect combination of beauty and functionality").

Puente Colgante: seeing the gondola in action from above. Would you believe this thing is working 24 hours a day, operated by computers?

Portugalete: locals enjoying the walk on Saturday evening and African peddlers are out. Could be any town, except there is sense of harmony and relaxation here.

Portugalete: I still can't eat much, but these pintxos at the hotel bar are tempting. Especially at one euro each!

Portugalete: another day winding down and the gondola still keeps ticking. This town has been a pleasant surprise, and it's only 20 minutes by subway from Bilbao.