Into Spain - Bilbao!
It was another beautiful day in Bayonne, France when I left my accommodations this morning. A quick stop at an outdoor café for a good, strong java and a chocolatine was followed by leisurely enjoyment of the same while watching the Saturday morning crowds in the old city. An uneventful 3 hour bus ride was my penance for this small act of decadence.
Into Spain I went! I had planned this stop in Bilbao for two reasons - to avoid a full day of bus travel and to do a bit of sightseeing. After checking into the hotel (luxury for a pilgrim), I began to wander around the new part of Bilbao, not the old part of the city. I saw the Guggenheim Museum with Maman, the 10 meter high spider who has been cloned seven times and located around the world (including Ottawa where I live). The accompanying river walk is quite peaceful and has several parks nearby.
I decided to search out the cathedral since all pilgrims pass by each cathedral on the path to Santiago. To get to the old part of the city, I unfortunately had to go through what appeared to be the busiest shopping street in Bilbao. After a week of peace in SJPP, this was a nightmare for me. Thousands of people were on the streets, seemingly intent on rushing to the next shop to spend more money. It was consumerism gone wild. You have to understand that I've spent nearly all of the last 5 1/2 weeks in small villages or in nature so this was a shock to my system. I was unhappy and very uncomfortable surrounded by so many people.
I made my way to the old part of the city which was not quite as busy but in amongst the centuries old buildings, I felt at home. The narrow streets and cafes/bars were filled with people enjoying life with friends and family. This was very different from the previous part of the city.
I headed towards my hotel through back streets, with a wide variety of different ethnicities reflected in the small shops. I loved it. I found a small restaurant where I had my first meal in Spain - ensalada mixta and patatas bravas. My fellow pilgrims just smiled at their own personal memories of this meal. 😊 It is a staple that kept many of us filled with nourishment along the Way in this country.
As I wandered through the city, I felt uncomfortable for the first time since coming to Europe as it pertains to communication with they locals. In France, I had no reservation to speak to the locals because my French was good enough to easily carry on a conversation and after so long in the country, I have significantly improved my speaking and comprehension skills. Now in Spain, I'm at a complete disadvantage because I have very limited ability to speak Spanish. I will certainly endeavour to learn (or relearn) as much as I can but this will be very different for me. English is certainly spoken more along the Way in Spain than in France which will help but it will still be a challenge.
More bus travel tomorrow and the next real journey begins shortly.
