Numbers first: 16 miles today, bringing the total to 125 miles. We are about 25% of the way to Santiago.

While the most common nationality of the Camino is Spanish, the people we seem to meet the most are French. There are about 12 – 15 French people that we run into very regularly. Some speak English and we can communicate that way. Some speak Spanish and we can use that language to communicate. And finally, there are those who speak no English or Spanish, and we are forced to use our French. Oh, if we had just practiced a bit more before coming here!

Today’s trail had several interesting features. The first was the smoothest surface we have walked on ever during a Camino walk. For the first seven miles we were on a bike path.

This was an absolute gift to our feet. Speaking of food, Diane’s feet have suffered a bit on this walk. Brace yourself for a picture of her bandage toes.

The Camino path provided other interesting choices for travel. It went across the beach.

It went through tunnels.

And it crossed grassy hills.

One of the challenges of today’s course was the number of options available. There were two major branches, giving 4 choices where a decision had to be made which direction to go. And it seems that the trail marking went from 100% marked to 50% marked, to barely marked. Thus, the political alliances. French, Spanish, and American forces joined together to try to figure out which way the path went. Through this multinational force, we were able to solve the riddle. And we arrived! Our hotel here in Castro Urdiales is absolutely wonderful with a great view of the beach. What a great place to do laundry and get ready for tomorrow.