Balmeseda, and beyond.

The day we were to walk to Balmeseda turned out to be pretty hot.  After cold old Stirling / Adelaide  we were feeling it.  We suspected that we wouldn't quite make it, and we were right.  We decided to leap on a train to Balmeseda, have a good look around and then we would be ready to leave as soon as we arrived the next morning.

In the church at Balmeseda I was able to have a 10 minute sing, but nowhere else as other churches have been firmly locked.

Saint Roche / Roque, patron saint of pilgrims and dogs among other things.  One of two statues in the church in Balmeseda. 

A pilgrim sculpture on the way out of Balmeseda.

The path that day was mixture of tarmac and wooded paths, with just one hill of note - but giving us our first view of the mountains.  We did see a surprising amount, but could tell that we would run out of time if we didn't keep an eye on things.

Donkey's enjoying their lunch.

On the way to Balmeseda.

The view leaving Balmeseda.

This old bridge is a symbol of Balmeseda, thought to have origins with the Romans because of its wooden plinths, but is mostly medieval. 

Tree roots / trunks  at the side of the road.

Returning to Bilbao we went for a walk to have a look at the "puppy" in front  of the Guggenheim. 

The puppy, with the Guggenheim behind. You can see the size compared  to the people standing around.

The steps leading to the puppy 

Leaving Bilbao, with our packs adjusted and loaded, was an interesting exercise.  The previous afternoon we had stopped and had  a lovely late lunch at the bakery in Balmeseda.  We learnt that it would be open at 8 am so a decision was made to forgo breakfast at the bus station and catch the first train out to Balmeseda.  We boarded the train with a large group of local lads who were returning from a night on the town.  The escalator worked for us, but anyone following the first two lads had to walk down as they decided to turn them off - actually a surprisingly easy thing to do!  It was lovely and cool leaving Bilbao - in the dark - the sun doesn't rise till close to 8.00am at present.  However the cool morning air didn't last much after mid morning, and we started to struggle with the heat.  The path itself was easy,  but the 38degree heat made us make the decision to catch a ride the last few kilometres into Vilasana de Mena.  The views of the mountains were spectacular.

Our first views of the mountains.

It was here that the fun began!  We had a code to get into the building, and then another code to get into our room. Simple,  we thought, but not so!  After several attempts we managed to get into the building, but then the fun started.  We had instructions to quickly turn the keypad twice and a bit more.  Simple, but not so!  After 10 minutes with us both trying we rang the owner who had to come and rescue us.  The one thing that he had neglected to tell us was to turn the keypad in an anti clockwise direction, the opposite to what we Aussies would do when opening doors!

An early morning photo of one of the five churches in Vilasana.

Our last day of walking, from Vilasana de Mena to our present abode, has been both lovely, and tough due to the heat and in particular the humidity.   It has made what should have been a fairly easy day, a tough one indeed.  We were both feeling "off" as we hit the road after lunch, and after an hour or so, with the sun beating down, and the liqids we had consumed just dripping off us we made the decision to catch a taxi to Espinosa de los Monteros.  Interestingly this is the first time we had time, and energy, to go out and look at the town.

Shaded paths for some of the day and mountain views.

As we ascended the path towards Espinosa we were treated to the first sight of crocus poking through the hard dry ground.  

We also passed what was described as a magical waterfall - but it was bone dry.

This chapel is now actually a fairly basic donativo albergue.

As I sit under the verandah of a bar here in Espinosa de los Monteros, we are watching rain fall.  The temperature has dropped, and it feels less humid, though who knows what tomorrow  will bring!