Camino del Norte Day 7: Rest Day in Bilbao
April 26, 2025
This morning I took a train and a bus from Bilbao to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the real-life filming location for Game of Thrones. The trip from Bilbao to Gaztelugatxe took less than two hours, and the winding scenic roads were absolutely breathtaking.
When I reached Gaztelugatxe, there was a 3km walk down to the staircase of 241 steps that lead up to the shrine for St. John. Admission was free, but all visitors had to enter through a ticket booth to avoid overcrowding. Because of the rain, there was almost no wait.
The higher I climbed, the windier it became. The lady in front of me lost her hat.
As I climbed, the wind whipped my hair and blew my long skirt so much that I had to do the Marilyn Monroe to keep it under control. I regretted my wardrobe choices.
A bit windy!
View from the top
The wind was most intense at the top. I could hear the sound of the waves seething against the dark rocks far below and the flag beating violently on a jingling pole. I thought of the lyrics of "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus” penned by the London merchant Samuel Trevor Francis (1834–1925). They flooded back to me in blue-green vividness:
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me,
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Thy love;
Leading onward, leading homeward
To my glorious rest above.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth
Changeth never, never more;
How He watches o’er His loved ones
Died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth,
Watcheth o’er them from the throne.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Love of ev’ry love the best;
’Tis an ocean vast of blessing,
’Tis a haven sweet of rest,
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
’Tis a Heav’n of Heav’ns to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
For it lifts me up to Thee.
The rugged, unspoiled shoreline
A Bus Ride with Greeks
When I got back to the park entrance, I realized, to my dismay, that 1) I had no more euros for bus fare, and 2) there weren’t any more public transportation buses stopping that afternoon, even if I did have cash. Standing in the shelter of a windy bus stop, I watched a tour bus begin to load and wondered what to do.
“Excuse me,” I said to a woman. “Is this bus going to Bilbao?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Do you think I could ride along?”
“I don’t see why not,” she said. “Nick, our guide, is over there. You can ask him.”
I thanked her, located the Nick, and asked him the same question. He considered for a moment, looking at the slightly soaked girl in the blue skirt standing front of him.
“I don’t see why not,” said Nick.
I thanked him many times and got in the bus. He asked my name and where I was from, and a middle-aged lady with kind eyes invited me to sit beside her. When the bus was fully loaded, Nick’s voice rang out over the loudspeaker:
“Everyone, we have a special guest joining us: welcome Sophie, from Tennessee!”
The entire bus clapped and cheered, and I heard exclamations of “Memphis” and “Tennessee” from around the bus. The man across the aisle asked me if I could play the Dixie. I told him I could play it on the fiddle, which caused another sensation.
The lady I was sitting beside, Jenny, told me about the group.
“We’re all Greeks,” she said. “We’re on a three-week tour of Spain.”
I told her about hiking the Camino, which greatly fascinated her. When “Wind of Change” by Scorpions came on over the radio, all the people on the bus began to sing along—not just the brave ones. All of them. One man near the front stood up and conducted everyone.
“We’re in a singing group,” said Jenny. “Would you like some chocolate? I am fat and do not need it.”
She pulled an enormous bar of milk chocolate out of her purse and shared some with me. Then she offered me pastries, a banana, and other packaged food articles. I gratefully accepted one of the pastries and asked her how to say “thank you” in Greek.
“Sas efcharistó,” she said.
I practiced the word many times and told Nick “thank you” in Greek at the end of the bus ride.
Once I reached Bilbao, I walked back to the hostel to change my clothes and regroup. Next, I decided to see the famous Guggenheim Museum.
