We walked from Güemes to the city of Santander on Friday. The last part of our trek was a ferry ride. Several pilgrims aboard, but mostly local people using the ferry as a water taxi from one place to another.

The ease of our walk to Santoña and looking forward to more beach walks may have contributed to the decision to walk to Güemes on Thursday – a longer and decidedly more difficult hike. We left a little later than planned – around 8 a.m. – and couldn’t resist stopping for a coffee and croissant on our way out. What followed was 9.5 hours on the Camino and a steep climb close to the start.

Each night we sit down to decide where we want to walk to the following day. There is a combination of factors that figure into this calculation: miles, elevation gain, surfaces we will walk, weather, availability of housing, how we are feeling in terms of energy level, blisters, etc. And making sure there is time to take in the beauty around us.

After several days inland, we walked to the ocean on Sunday. Our day began with a drizzle in Bilbao and ended with rain in Pobeña. But the beach!

Our hike from Albergue Gerekiz into Bilbao on Friday was long and challenging, but what a gorgeous city to enter on foot. We could see the full expanse of the city below as we exited the forest. Little did we know that we would walk miles – and see the striking beauty of Frank Gerry’s Guggenheim along the waterfront- before we arrived at our albergue. A full 9.5 hours and 15.5 miles after leaving Albergue Gerekiz in the fog at 8:30 a.m.

Our time in Gernika (Basque for Guernica) left Barry and me both with tender hearts. Most Americans know of Gernika through Pablo Picasso’s famous 1937 painting, Guernica. But we don’t necessarily connect it specifically with the events of April 26, 1937, when Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy bombed the civilian population at the request of Spanish fascists and reduced Gernika to ashes.

After a scenic hike of about seven hours on Wednesday, we settled in at Albergue Andiketxe in the village of Olabe.

The Camino del Norte is a mostly a rural walk through forest and farmland. You can walk hours in the quiet company of birds, cowbells, farm animals, and the gurgle of nearby streams. And occasionally you look around and wonder: Are we still on the Camino?

We left Deba around 7 a.m. on Tuesday. Our trek took us up two intense climbs and down a long and often steep descent into Markina – Xemein.

Today was a challenging day of hiking. Our hiking distance between Zarautz and Deba was similar to yesterday (14.3 miles, about 8 hours, and 2,266 elevation gain), but the incline was steep! When we arrived at the albergue, it was all people could talk about!