Camino del Norte 8 – Long

It was 30km from Castro Urdiales to Laredo.

Jennifer had a meeting from 6 am to 7 am; and then we had to find coffee, of course. So we officially set off at about 7:40 am with the sun casting long shadows as we walked.

There were some lovely parts of the first 20km – along cliffs by the sea and through rocky paths. The Atlantic was flat as a pancake and there was only a gentle breeze. However, when we turned inland we were too close to the motorway for too long for it to be truly enjoyable. We stopped for coffee a couple of times and then had a tortilla for lunch before hitting the major hill of the day.

The stretch after lunch was over a hill on the shoulder of a major road for over 5km. Road shoulders just make for uncomfortable walking, there’s no way past it. So we were hot and somewhat footsore when we arrived in Laredo a bit after 3 pm. Laredo is a beachside town with an enormous stretch of sand.

Our hotel in Laredo is good, it comes with dinner, and our room has a balcony. On long walks, balconies become very important on a sunny day because they provide the opportunity to do a washing and get it dry before the next day. So washing done, we recorded a video for Skye’s 21st and then did a quick bit of logistics for tomorrow. We changed our destination, hotel, and the length of the walk. We just pushed tomorrow up to be another 30km day because it means we end up in a nicer place. We’ll see how that goes.