Camino Norte, day 10, Pobeno to Castro Urdiales

The section of trail between Bilbao and Pobeno is all in the industrial part of Bilbao, and parallel to the freeway, so we took the bus to Pobeno. At Pobeno we headed along a nice coastal pedestrian trail toward Castro Urdiales. The beaches seemed pristine and deserted, and a few surfers were out.

The pedestrian trail lasted 5 km or so, then went under the freeway, and joined streets in a small valley of homes. Then it joined a hiway on-ramp, and we walked on the hiway for a while. There was no shoulder, and this was a bit scary. We stayed in the old town in Castro Urdiales.

How we found bus stations and taxis: We used an app called Rome to Rio, to find bus schedules, taxi phone numbers, and train schedules. You enter your starting point (present location), your destination, and select walking, taxi, train or bus. It would list the trains or buses that went there, their times, and would guide you to the bus/train station using GPS.

Pintxos (Peen-choose); Pintxos is the Basque version of the Spanish Pinchos. Its a high art in Basque country, and basically is a piece of bread to which is attacked via a skewer or toothpick a delicacy:of some type: ham, cheese, fish, olives, etc. The variety of combination is endless, and bars have contests for the most tasty pintxos. Tapas are generally a Madrid thing, and we a bit larger than Pintxos They are kind of like 1/4 of a main dish, and aren’t necessarily on bread, and might be called appetizers. Pintxos are always on bread, and are generally a Basque thing.

Costs for the day: Bilbao to Castro Urdiales
€8 cafe, juice at bus stop
€3 bus to pobena, walked to Onton, taxi 5 to castro
€4 beer nestea, pincxto at pobeno
€13 beer nestea, pinchxto at Miono
€10 taxi
€ 94 airbb, frig, washer, 3 bedrooms, nice neighborhood,
€18 dinner
€5 nestea