Day 8 – Lezama – Bilbao

Our hotel last night was a little gem. Just off the camino, peaceful and comfortable but within easy reach of all facilities.

We did our laundry and decided as there was a kettle and a kitchen of sorts we would find a supermarket and eat in. We bought some cured ham and cheese, bread and yoghurts, a very nice avocado, some pears and beer and coke! We ended up with enough for dinner and breakfast and a picnic lunch today… We do like a bargain!

We had a little meander around the neighborhood before one or two more cups of tea and bed. It had been a good day… And even Gerry’s cold seems a little easier!

After a great nights sleep and breakfast and more tea! We set off for our short walk into Bilbao. We imagined an easy stroll in… But ha… nope! We were wrong! Someone put a great big hill in the way so we had to go up and down in equal measure… It wasn’t a small hill either! Gerry was delighted when we’d walked high enough to be above the planes heading towards Bilbao airport… We waved but I’m not sure they waved back.

Finally at the top we knew it would be a big down but as we walked out of a nice out of town park area we could see the city unfold below us… I was disappointed that we only caught a glimpse of the sea. I can’t wait to get back to the coast.  (The elevation map below is Magwood’s again… We only (haha only) did the last hill!)

Gerry was in a silly mood today… Obviously feeling better… First with the stop sign and then with the bus stop sign… I’m not sure if you can make out the name, but the Bilbao buses are called Bilbobus… I’ll let you figure out how childish Mr S was being!

(Ps I forgot to mention that since day one we’ve been taking a 12:00 selfie… Today’s view was graffiti)

On we wandered into town. It feels like a cross between Pamplona and Lisbon and we’re glad we have two half days here… We have time to explore. Our hotel is in the old town close to the cathedral. We checked in and dropped our bags before going for a quick wander. We found ourselves in Nueva Plaza and decided a quick pinxos would be ok after our hill climb, Gerry also tried the local Sidre. We’ve wandered back to the hotel now but we’ll head back out later… I think a pinxos crawl is being planned by the birthday boy!

It’s a beautiful day here in Bilbao… I hope the sun is shining for you too.