Day 13 (del Norte): Guernica to Morga

Guernica. 
It was the seat of power for a long time since the middle ages.
Now it represents the symbolic center of Basque people.
To the rest of the world, it likely means the title of Picasso's monumental painting, the subject of which being the infamous bombing and leveling of the city by the Nazis in 1937 at the behest of Franco.

A small town on the Camino has such history. With the expert help from the lady at the TI, we were able to fit all major sights into the 4 - 7 pm window yesterday. First, the Assembly House and the Gernika Tree. Then Peace Museum. Then Basque Country Museum. Then the Park of European Nations with sculptures by Henry Moore and Chillida. Then the copy of Gernika by Picasso. (This Basque spelling is what I will use from now on).

Gernika: a short introductory video at Casa de Junta (Assembly House) starts with acorn germination. It is all about oak trees!

Gernika: Casa de Junta has hosted important meetings for the the Biscay region since 11th century, which resumed in 1979 after a century-long interruption.

Gernika: the stained glass at Casa de Junta depicts an oak tree, under which important meetings were held, as well as towns in Biscay surrounding the tree.

Tree of Gernika (Gernikako Arbola): a living oak tree, under which the original meetings were held, is revered as the uniting symbol of all territories in the Basque Country. Once it dies, another living tree is planted here. Sort of like the Dalai Lama system, although in this case, it is a hereditary succession.

Gernika: "Old Trunk" - the retired (and deceased) tree, a grandfather to the current reigning tree

Gernika: Peace Museum

Gernika: Part of Peace Museum is devoted to the Picasso master piece that bears the town's name. Here is a chronology of where the painting has been located throughout its life. The last three locations are exactly as I remember - I saw it at NYC MOMA in the late 1970's, at Cason del Buen Retiro in 1989, and at Reina Sofia in 2010.

Gernika: Euskal Herria (Basque Country) Museum. Among the famous people of Basque origin are composers Sarasate and Ravel.

Gernika: the Basque Country Museum of course has to have a gastronomy section. Featured are some of the renowned chefs, including Arzak and Berasategui, who we luckily met on this trip. Hopefully, Subijana and Arbelaitz next time.

Gernika: Park of European Nations. A Henry Moore.

Gernika: A Chillida sculpture at Park of European Nations

Gernika: Picasso's famous mural titled, well, Gernika. Even though this is a modest copy and I am fortunate to have seen the real thing at three different museums, this is a special experience for me because of the location - on a street in a city where the bombing occurred.

Gernika: the restaurant hours for dinner are late like in the rest of Spain, but a simpler meal is always easy to get. We went for pintxos right next to our hotel.

The next stage on the Camino is Gernika to Lezama, which is again too long for us. During my preparation, the small town of Morga (Andra Mari in Basque) seemed to be an ideal stopping point. But there was no room available at the only hotel, and furthermore Morga was probably not directly on the Camino, which could present a problem. So we are going to "commute" from Gernika. Somehow I need to get from the Camino to this town, which was not clear on any of the maps. The person at the TI came to the rescue yesterday. The map she gave us shows a clear relationship between the Camino and Morga, and walking off the Camino two kilometers to Morga seemed reasonable. The receptionist at our pension helped arrange a taxi to pick us up at Restaurant Katxi in Morga, and we are all set.

We say good bye to Sunjin over breakfast - she is taking the train to Bilbao and from there to Madrid and back to Korea. As we leave town, we again run into the Korean school group. They are staying an extra day here and able to see the sights in this town today.

Gernika: runners in a half marathon from Bermeo to Gernika are arriving at the main square as we set out to walk on the Camino.

The first 4 km out of Gernika is straight uphill, reaching close to 300m in elevation. The trail condition is excellent, however, and the weather perfect for walking. We arrive at the spot where we have to deviate from the Camino and walk along highway 20 minutes toward Morga. Soon we find the restaurant and we are almost an hour earlier than scheduled. After a leisurely lunch, we get on the taxi back to Gernika, and the driver rounds off the fare and we end up paying less than the meter. So who is giving a tip to whom here? Glad he is going to give us a ride to Morga tomorrow morning.

The first part of today's walk is a continuous climb. I feel sorry for the occasional cyclist who pedals up a steep rocky hill.

But these kids are doing really well.

Near Gerekiz: Reaching the confluence of the two highways and the Camino, exactly as depicted in the wonderful map provided by the TI (in front). We get off the Camino here and walk along the highway toward Morga.  

Morga: this plate is called the Lezama style salad? Maybe this is a preview as Lezama is our next stop. These taste so good that even I, not a lover of tomatoes, finished my portion.

Morga: squid in black ink (txipirones en su tinta)

Morga: although this has been a pretty short leg, my legs feel a little tired today. The wife says she tried to include in this shot a few sheep which were lying down way in the back. We finished lunch here early and are now waiting for our taxi to take us back to Gernika.

Back in Gernika: rising over the church, it is not just the full moon. And it is more than the harvest moon. It is the super moon but not quite the blood moon.

Day 12 (del Norte): Munitibar to Guernica

Today is the second leg of the Markina to Guernica stage. We take a taxi to Munitibar, where we stopped yesterday and walk from there to Guernica. We plan to leave earlier than usual, as I want to make sure we get to Guernica in time to see its important sights. Guernica is a destination in its own right, probably the first such place since San Sebastian.

Since the hotel does not serve breakfast until 9 am (it seems 9 in Spain is like 7 in the rest of the world), we skip it. This hotel has been sort of schizophrenic. There are some great things about it but also some not-so-great things, the worst of which happened last night. The restaurant was busy well into the night, and the noise from there comes straight up through the atrium to the rooms above the ground level. It is critical for people walking the Camino to have a good night's sleep, but we didn't. What's worse, when we complained, the person at the restaurant said to the effect that this is Spain and she can do whatever she wants with her restaurant until midnight. (It's about the only negative encounter we have had on this trip which otherwise has been marked with such hospitality.) I don't know the exact arrangement between the hotel and the restaurant, but they seem to be under separate management. Hmm, where have I seen that before...

Our hotel just outside Markina: we want to remember this place by this nice decorative piece at the reception. It has been a hit or miss.

We offered to take the Korean boy with an injured foot in a taxi with us, since he should not be walking. We drop him off at Txori Taberna in Munitibar and hope that his party, who has started walking, will find him there without difficulty. At this point, I regret not having done a better job to make it more fool-proof, but we need to get going ourselves.

Buen Camino from dahlias, as we leave Munitibar on foot.

Figs along the way provided fresh snacks. We of course make sure these trees are not on private land.

And add blackberries to the list of snacks. And chestnuts and walnuts also. Today is a day of abundance.

Fuchsia along the way

Walking along a pumpkin patch, which doesn't seem ready for Halloween.

Olabe: this house takes the prize for the best flower decoration so far.

Olabe: notice the tiny pumpkin (lower right)

Olabe: nice peppers to look at (and eat!)

Most days the route has included a walk along the roadway. There are some advantages such as lack of mud but a major downside is the traffic hazard, especially when a bunch of cars from a club come zipping downhill as a group.

A nice spot for a break. A good place to crack walnuts as well.

Elexalde: Just down from the church, there is a notable waymark, written in Basque: Donejakue Bidea. An old oak tree in the background. (More on oak trees later.)

As we start downhill from Elexalde, there is a sign for a detour. It looks like we are not going through Marmiz but directed toward Loiola. The simple sign apologizes for inconvenience but provides no further information such as the length of this detour. I guess the pilgrims just keep following the yellow arrows and don't ask questions. One step at a time. Or one arrow at a time, linearly. It turns out that we avoid the hills on the Marmiz route as the detour is entirely flat, although we probably added a few kilometers.

Loiola coming into view beyond a kiwi orchard.

Loiola: maybe the first bar on the Camino today. And to think this is a detour... This Loiola is not where Ignatius of Loyola was born.

Getting close to Guernica

A nice and wide pedestrian path leading into Guernica

We arrive in Guernica shortely before 4pm, which is the target time (it is when all the sights are open). We stop at the albergue first as Sunjin needs a place to stay and the hotels are booked up. After a short walk into the town center, we check in at our hotel, a very modest place, whose designation as a pension seems appropriate. But it has a fantastic location, being almost next door to the Tourist Information Office and very close to everything else. The person at the TI is beyond helpful. About the best I have ever seen. She provides critical info on the sights in Guernica, how to arrange for a taxi for tomorrow's walk, and Sunjin's trip to Bilbao tomorrow. With all the sights now open between 4pm and 7pm, we are ready to hit them.

Guernica: the albergue is near the entrance to town. We have not seen many peregrinos today. Most of them probably started from Markina and are still walking.

Guernica: the board at the albergue lists the main attractions: the museums, the Picasso painting, and the oak tree...

Guernica: our modest hotel is one of those places not staffed in mid-afternoon. This self-check-in feels like a clandestine operation: first get the passcode by e-mail, punch that in, get the key that drops in the slot, note the 4-digit number written on the key, enter that number to open the main entrance, take the elevator, and use the key to open the door to the room 

Day 11 (del Norte): Markina to Munitibar

This next stage, Markina to Guernica, is again broken into two sections: Munitibar will serve as the intermediate stop. I arrange to have a taxi pick us up in Munitibar at 2pm at first but decide to give ourselves an extra hour, which allows a seemingly ridiculous pace of 2 km per hour. The location is also changed from the only hotel in Munitibar (which I could not get a room in advance) to the only restaurant I could find on the Camino that seems open. This way, we will have a place to hang out in case we get there too early. We will see if the information I glean from the googlemap and other websites is correct.

Even though Hotel Antsotegi outside Markina is a well-bulit lodge, the service is sparse and the breakfast set-up rough around the edges as two brothers, sons of the owner, busily run around to take care of the guests. But their hospitality is undeniable. One of them offers to take us to the town center when we ask him to call a taxi. It is only a mile away but again we are trying to save energy whenever we have to deviate from the Camino. We gladly take him up on his offer. He wants to drive us beyond Markina to Iruzubieta which is where he says the scenery improves, he says. I explain that I need to walk every kilometer on the Camino and we get off in the center of Markina to join Sunjin. We also see the Korean school group again who had to check out of the municipal albergue even though they plan to stay another day there (it's just the albergue rules). The good news is the two backpacks that were stolen in Itiziar a few days ago have been returned (albeit without valuable content) - the local police had worked hard on tracking the owners down after what is surely an embarrassing event to them. The boy with a foot injury, however, has not seen a doctor, and I tell them about a podologia klinika near the city hall.

Prayer flags? Are we in Tibet? No, the owner of this hotel just outside Markina is an avid mountain climber and lover of Nepal (and has helped recent earthquake victims).

The first hour or so out of Markina is relatively flat and the scenery on the way to Iruzubieta is actually not bad, despite the misgivings of the hotel person, as we walk mostly along a stream. Rest stops in cities can be a problem if there are no bars or restaurants. Fortunately when we join the main road in Iruzubieta, there is a bar right there on the Camino.

Leaving Markina: the first part of the route to Iruzubieta is nice enough.

If you are going to be in someone's doghouse, let it be a Basque one.

Iruzubieta: petunia in full bloom. We find a bar right on the Camino, which is always convenient.

Beyond the next town Bolivar, the trail starts uphill in earnest until we reach Ziortza. Along the way, we encounter a couple of very pleasant surprises. First, the Museum of Simon Bolivar, in the town of, well, Bolivar. What is the connection? What does Bolivar, a South American hero, have to do with this small Basque village? Well, it turns out that this town is his ancestral home. Even though he was born in Venezuela and fought against the Spanish monarchy for liberation and independence of many South American countries, his family is of Basque origin and obviously he is honored in this town.

Bored or hungary, or both...

These solidly built and well-decorated Basque houses never cease to impress me. 

 Bolivar: the scallop shell design at the entrance of this brightly colored town shows respect for the pilgrims. 

Kiwi fruit galore

Bolivar: noticing a museum sign (left) above a message for pilgrims

Bolivar: Museum honoring Simon Bolivar (right)

Simon Bolivar, a South American hero who embraced Enlightenment and equality of man

Bolivar: locals chat on the main drag.

Bolivar: looking back at the town after a steep climb

The second delightful visit is at Monasterio de Zenarruza near the top of the hill in Ziortza. It is simple but serene. The Peruvian woman we saw yesterday was going to walk all the way to an albergue nearby. It takes at least a couple of hours to walk from Markina so she would have arrived here in the evening and probably has moved on. Given that both Bolivar Museum and this monastery are open only for a few hours in the morning, she is likely to have missed the interiors of both. We do not see a single other pilgrim today and I expected it since most of them probably left Markina or points further ahead and most of them are faster than us.

Ziortza: Monasterio de Zenarruza

Ziortza: Monasterio de Zenarruza. St. James is depicted in the left lower corner of the reredos.

Ziortza: Monasterio de Zenarruza. The tranquil cloister in a remote mountain monastery

The last portion of today's walk is a 3 km downhill, which contains rocky slippery segments. Even when it's not raining, one misstep could mean serious injury. We finally arrive at Munitibar, and Txori Taberna, our rendezvous point, is open and in fact bustling. We just have time for a drink before the driver shows up on time. Obviously I did not overestimate the time it would take us to walk today's portion.

The dry portion coming up is always welcome. But is that redwood trees ahead? I had been lulled into thinking that I am hiking in California anyway.

Grass covering the trail - good, rocks - bad.

Pears galore

Noticing a bunch of walnuts we picked up from the ground, a passing local advises us to let the walnut dry for some time before eating.

Finally arriving in Munitibar

Munitibar: A collection of hats from Mus Tournaments at Txori Taberna where we wait for a taxi to take us back to Markina. (Mus is a card game of probable Basque origin.)  

Back in Markina: ordering a peregrino menu again, aided by a booklet of ingredients in eight languages that the serving lady proudly displays. Almost as accurate as google-translate!

Markina: ordering Marmitako again. For the main course, I try Saltxitxa (a type of sausage). The three-course meal, costing 10 euros, can probably feed three people.