I have come to expect capriciousness in the weather, and today it was capricious. “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods”, wrote Shakespeare, and the weather gods seemed to be playing today. I awoke to find that it had been raining during the night, but it looked like stopping soon, so I had my breakfast in cheery good humour. But looking out again just as I was about to leave my accommodation, it was raining heavily again. I put on my raingear and went outside. The rain had almost stopped. But I continued anyway down the road into Pobena with the raingear still on.
The route from Pobena ascends quickly to another greenway, or Via Verde as they are called here in Spain. The greenway follows the line of the cliffs, and manages to stay remarkably level, giving an almost flat walk. It also allows great views back towards La Arena and the beach that I walked yesterday.
As I rounded the point of the headland, the panorama of the way ahead became visible: the line of coastal cliffs and the town of Castro Urdiales in the distance.
Approaching Onton, there is an industrial works ahead, but the trail turns slightly inland. It twists and turns to reach the village of Onton (also called Otanes). From there, the route follows the main road, up the hill out of Onton, crisscrossing the motorway, and descending to the village of Miono. For some of this route on the road, there was a decent margin marked on the road surface, so it felt safe enough, but in places there was none. Also, there were no signs that I could see to advise motorists to drive slowly. In France, when the Chemin de Saint Jacques took to a road, there were plenty of signs to tell motorists to be careful. Some improvements to this section today would be very welcome. It must be said though that between Onton and Miono, the road crests a hill where there is a great view back over the coast to the east, though today it looked like much of it was under rainclouds.
After Miono, the route goes uphill, continuing along the main road. I was glad when I came to the edges of Castro Urdiales. I went on downhill into the town and reached the waterfront at the town’s promenade. The guidebooks particularly recommend going to see the Iglesia de Santa Maria de la Asuncion and the nearby fort. The church has connections to the Knights Templar, and the fort was one of theirs also. The church is gothic in style, with amazing flying buttresses at the rear. One can only wonder at the engineers and architects who designed such a structure. The fort is largely destroyed, and what remains was used as the base for a much later lighthouse. Unfortunately, the church is closed to visitors on Sundays, and the fort was just closing when I got there. But the stroll around was enjoyable, and I had a good lunch soon after.
After that, and another stroll around the promenade, it was time to find my accommodation. It is an interesting pension, in an old building on the waterfront.
Today was a shorter walk than most of recent days, and my step count was just 27,089
Walkingman 