Bilbao to Loyola, by way of Eibar

Our travel to Spain proved to be exhausting, so when we finally made it to our hotel in Bilbao around 2 pm on Friday afternoon, we were eager for a nap.  Once we had a little rest, we spent a couple of hours exploring parts of Bilbao - we had heard some good things about the city, so we walked down by the river and over to see the exterior of the Museo Guggenheim de Bilbao, which was pretty cool.  We were also hoping to find a bridge where you can see through the floor to the river, but we never made it that far, or perhaps we were looking in the wrong place.  Fortunately, we did find a lovely little ice cream stand in our wanderings, which was absolutely delicious and probably a favorite memory of our few hours in Bilbao.  Exhausted again, we stopped at a supermarket for a few dinner supplies, ate our bread, jam, and lunch meats back at the hotel, and settled in for a long night´s sleep.

Around noon on Saturday, we checked out of our Bilbao hotel and set out for the bus terminal, which was easy enough to find.  The correct bus, on the other hand, was not so easy to find.  After standing in line at the bus company we thought we were supposed to use, we learned that the bus we wanted to take wasn´t available (either it wasn´t running that day, or it doesn´t really exist), so we were directed to the terminal´s general information counter.  There, we encountered some confused individuals, who thought we might be looking for the university...when Greg clarified, we were directed to take a bus to Eibar, which was in the right direction toward our destination of Loyola.  Greg asked the bus driver to Eibar if there would be a bus from there to Loyola, and he very reassuring said "we´ll see!"  While Eibar was a very lovely town - we were lucky enough to walk past a wedding party, witness some of the eating and drinking excitement that happens during siesta, and ride an outdoor excalator - this is not where we wanted to end up.  At the Eibar bus terminal, it looked like there would be a bus to Loyola in a few hours at 5 pm; after asking around, we were told to wait for the bus at a different stop, but other people were unsure if and when the bus would come by.

Enter a heavyset man in a pink polo shirt driving a Mercedes taxicab.

He was our ticket from Eibar to Loyola.  This gentleman graciously agreed to drive us the 10 miles or so to Loyola.  Now you´re probably thinking, aren´t you planning to walk that many miles and more on any given day of the camino?  Yes, we are, but we weren´t quite ready to take on that mileage starting in the middle of the afternoon and still suffering from a bit of jetlag; so, we were delighted to accept a fancy taxicab ride, since the alternative was waiting for a bus that may or may not have arrived that afternoon.

Our time in Loyola has been relaxing.  From exploring the home where Ignatius was born and grew up, to attending mass in the Chapel of the Conversion (the room where Ignatius underwent surgery, passed time during his recovery, and made the choice to follow in the footsteps of the saints before him), to walking the first couple of miles of the camino to get our bearings and find a delicious little lunch of pinchos and white wine.

Tomorrow we have our first day of hiking - the weather forecast looks manageable, so we´re excited to get started!