Today was 16 miles bringing the total to 109 miles in seven days. In the guidebook, this stage looked like a 12-mile day. That afforded us the opportunity to play tourist in Bilbao. We figured that walking around 1 or 2 miles wouldn’t hurt. Well, by the time we found our hotel we were at 16.7 miles. So, never count your chickens until the fat lady sings.

Last night in Zamudio Diane and I searched in vain for a local restaurant that would offer a meal before 8:30 at night. We gave up and settled on a salad and hamburger at our hotel. Diane had the salad, and I had the burger. It was probably the biggest hamburger I ever ate! Over a half a pound of hamburger, loads of bacon, two fried eggs, goat cheese and all the vegetables you could imagine. I gave up trying to pick it up and settled on cutting it to shreds with my knife and fork. Without question, I was satisfied by this 7 Euro Burger!

Today’s walk took us out of the sleepy villages and into the mega city of Bilbao. Bilbao is a beautiful city. We managed to be tourists and saw the local church, where we stopped to reflect on the thousand-year plus history of pilgrims and then to offer our prayers, too.

We walked through the old Town and took in many of the classic sites. Here is a picture of the Guggenheim Museum.

Our map showed a bridge crossing the river to where our hotel was. As we got to the bridge, it was clear it was not a bridge but one of the most unique ferries we have ever seen. Here’s a picture.

We are now in our hotel with laundry done and bodies cleaned. We are resting up for the next week where many of our stages will be between 17 and 21 miles. The good news is that we return to the ocean on tomorrow’s stage. There is something amazing walking along the coast on this pilgrimage we have chosen to do.