Portugalete to Castro-Urdiales
Distance: 18.3 miles; 29.4 kilometers
Total Ascent: 230 meters
Difficulty: 3
Calories Burned: 3,577
We woke up this morning in Portugalete, well rested and ready to take on the day. Andrew set an intention to push himself physically again, and I set mine to find my pace. The morning was relatively difficult, with our first rainy day and a lot of road hiking (there was literally no burm, and we were nearly hit by semi-trailers two or three times), but we made a great new German friend named Lisa, and then we began to see the ocean again!
While hiking with Lisa, we had a philosophical debate that I’d love your thoughts on. Andrew was discussing how a famous yogi was caught having sex with his adult students. He thinks that this is wrong. I thought that it was fine. We then went on to discuss a college professor having relations with a student that wasn’t technically in any class that the professor taught. Again, I think it is fine. Andrew does not. I’d love your thoughts….
I digress…
We came across a beach with a horse dressage arena, and walked along the beautiful coastline and through a deep tunnel to a mineral mine. Once we cleared the tunnel, we walked through untouched fields of high grass and wheat along the coast, stopped for a picnic lunch and a little make-out sesh, and then found a cove where Andrew could take his shoes off and swim.
18 miles didn’t feel so bad today. My shoulder still hurt a bit, and I could certainly use a foot massage, but I’m getting the hang of this, and it feels so good!
We made great time, arriving at our Albergue de Peregrinos by 4pm, but I had some stomach problems (perhaps due to heat), so I crashed and slept for 2 hours while Andrew explored the beautiful coast town of Castro-Urdiales. We are living like 22-year olds tonight in our Albergue, eating a communal meal and learning what everyone around us is studying, but we are looking forward to tenting tonight (so we can share a bed;).
