A grey day, in Pobena

A grey day, of walking out of Bilbao ( we happily caught the metro out 10km, to avoid some of the suburbia) along paths by the motorway, in a humid and muggy day, where it really needed to rain. It never quite got there.  Luckily there were a number of Buen Caminos along the way, which were welcome reminders that the trudging along does actually have a point. 

Life's better now, we have our beds for the night sorted, we're at a bar with wifi, and there are two beers on the table ! The bar even serves dinner early for peregrinos, as we have to be back at our accomodation by 9:30pm. As for accomodation;

There are a number of types of accomodation on the Camino, 

- donativo (donation) albergues, run by volunteers. These are extremely basic, with normally one large dormitory with a pile of bunk beds, and no food provided. This is what we're staying in tonight, due to utter lack of choice

- private albergues, costing a bit more, with food often provided if you want it, smaller dorms, and luxuries like power points, everything just a bit more comfortable

- the usual range of cheap to expensive hotels, what you get is what you pay for. Certainly by Australian standards, these are very good value

Lisa and I are realising that we really aren't into the donativo albergues, just a bit basic ! And a horde of noisy Germans arriving and taking over .... so from now on, it's first choice private albergue, followed closely by simple hotel. The donativos are a fantastic facility, but we're happy to leave them to those for whom they are intended. Also, I think we may be suffering from leaving our Bilbao paradise of comfortable beds, clean sheets, own shower, breakfast buffet ...

Speaking of Bilbao, we managed to meet up with Roz & Ian, a couple of friends from Perth ! Didn't think the timing would line up, but in the end, it's amazing what can be arranged with a few emails.