23/09/2023
Los Acros to Santander
Bus—Train—Bus
Sad day. Up before 7. I had a good nights sleep; just over six and a half hours. I sat across from Jasper at breakfast…...he was finishing up walking shortly as he was hosting a work retreat or similar; I think it was going to be in Portugal…..who knows where….well hopefully Jasper and his clients.
I walked to the bridge out of Los Arcos with the T’s. I think a fly got in my eye as we were saying out goodbyes….what was a fly doing around at 20 to 8 in the morning.
I watched them walk out of sight…..while I would of course have preferred to be travelling alongside them I had other places to be. Something tells me they are going to have a great time…..and Joe, T’s boyfriend, was going to be joining them in a couple of days so all was looking bright for them. I headed off to the diner / bar we were in last night to pass a bit of time, damn that bloody fly, it just wouldn't leave my eyes alone.
It was a bit of a wait for the bus about 3 and half hours. I chatted to several pilgrims at the bus stop, some I had seen over the last few days. I got chatting to a young American lady that I had met yesterday outside the building with water that puzzled me.
I walked to the bridge out of Los Arcos with the T’s. I think a fly got in my eye as we were saying out goodbyes….what was a fly doing around at 20 to 8 in the morning.
I watched them walk out of sight…..while I would of course have preferred to be travelling alongside them I had other places to be. Something tells me they are going to have a great time…..and Joe, T’s boyfriend, was going to be joining them in a couple of days so all was looking bright for them. I headed off to the diner / bar we were in last night to pass a bit of time, damn that bloody fly, it just wouldn't leave my eyes alone.
It was a bit of a wait for the bus about 3 and half hours. I chatted to several pilgrims at the bus stop, some I had seen over the last few days. I got chatting to a young American lady that I had met yesterday outside the building with water that puzzled me.
At one stage she asked me keep an eye on some of her gear as she went around the corner to the farmers market explaining that as they were setting up she had spotted the largest blueberries she had ever seen, apparently some were as big as her thumb. As she went off I thought ok, I remember hearing an Americanism; Fubar…...I have a feeling it may apply to the event that the young lady found herself a part of, I think her name was Linda.
When she arrived back with a large bag of….lets call it dark fruit for now…..and offered them around the few of us sitting on the wall, I took a look and politely declined….I do like them but prefer the state they reach after they have been well squashed and fermented for at least a couple of weeks. So a few minutes pass and Linda quietly says to me ‘You know what Padraig, these may not be blueberries they might be grapes’ I could only smile and reply ‘d ya think?’…...fortunately she saw the funny side of it.
When she arrived back with a large bag of….lets call it dark fruit for now…..and offered them around the few of us sitting on the wall, I took a look and politely declined….I do like them but prefer the state they reach after they have been well squashed and fermented for at least a couple of weeks. So a few minutes pass and Linda quietly says to me ‘You know what Padraig, these may not be blueberries they might be grapes’ I could only smile and reply ‘d ya think?’…...fortunately she saw the funny side of it.
The bus ride to Logrono was pleasant however looking through the window at the beautiful countryside that was been bathed in sunshine I would have much preferred to be out there walking….even more so when on a couple of occasions when the bus passed close to the Pilgrims path and you could see people hiking along….ahh.
Walking out of Logrono’s Estación Autobuses the first thing that greets you is the entrance to the train station. Could not have worked out better…..well actually it did, the next train to Bilbao was leaving less than 20 minutes.
On the journey I was seated next to a lady from South African lady. Surprisingly she did not know they were playing Ireland in the world cup later that day. Similar to a lady I had met a couple of days back she was walking in place of and for her husband. It was something he had always wanted to do but had become incapacitated a couple of years back and though doing okay for now it was something he would never be able to do. She admitting that she was surprised at how much she was loving it.
It was a two and half hour ride, very smooth and comfortable and with nice company the time flew by.
Walking out of Logrono’s Estación Autobuses the first thing that greets you is the entrance to the train station. Could not have worked out better…..well actually it did, the next train to Bilbao was leaving less than 20 minutes.
On the journey I was seated next to a lady from South African lady. Surprisingly she did not know they were playing Ireland in the world cup later that day. Similar to a lady I had met a couple of days back she was walking in place of and for her husband. It was something he had always wanted to do but had become incapacitated a couple of years back and though doing okay for now it was something he would never be able to do. She admitting that she was surprised at how much she was loving it.
It was a two and half hour ride, very smooth and comfortable and with nice company the time flew by.
On exiting the train I went straight to information. I was in luck once again there was an evening train from Bilbao to Santander and it left from here. Once I had purchased a ticket I went for a wee wander around the city, I had just short of four hours to kill…..first impressions was looking over what I take is the city centre from a height above the river….were wow this looks inviting. Not really a city loving person but I immediately got a nice vibe….after walking just 4 or 5 streets it had a nice mix of old and new…..old is always interesting, new is fresh and sends out an optimistic message to the young.
Time for a beer and some food…..Okay I realise that I just might have sarcastically commented on people who take photographs of their food earlier on, let me think…..there is no might about it, I have always been vocal in my criticism of people who do so. Alas I am now so disappointed in my own self. I had to do it…...the damn pizza was just picture perfect so I took out my phone….and while you may not be interested let me tell you the beer was also nice. The pizza though…..it tasted even better than it looked. Aside from the reason for having to go home early this was turning out to be…..not a bad day.
Isn’t karma a bitch ( excuse my language ).
I took a photograph of food and then had happy thoughts…...so the world decided to take a bite out of me….while finishing my beer I checked my train ticket for later….just to pass the time you know…….what a wake up call.
Now if I was a normal crow heading from here to Santander it would be approximately 79km distance ( I looked this up and apparently a crow can fly at about 37km an hour, so lets say that this crow in norther Spain stops for a pizza and a beer he can still to it in less than three hours ) now if I was to walk it the path would take me up to 105km distance wise…..so maybe 12hrs.
The train I had booked was leaving at 7:35pm and arriving in at 11:10pm ( sounds like one of those maths questions in primary school, if only )….this had to be a mistake I thought. I checked my phone yep train times were right…...to say I was a bit confuddled is about right.
Finished my lovely beer right quickly, paid for it and the very photogenic pizza before making a quick march to the train station.
There was just one ticket booth open, same one where I had purchased mine from, it had a generous sized queue so I decided to head through the stiles and up to the platform to do…..well not sure….but on getting there I found a nice large diagram of the route and realised while not necessarily taking the scenic route ( unless you were into star gazing ) it was going to call into just about every town, village and hamlet between here and there. I checked the platform for an exit sign….other than a couple of emergency ones I could not find one so decided to retrace my steps and head back down the way I had come. On reaching the bottom I discover that this is entrance only…..thought briefly of hopping over the stiles but instead opted to look out for an employee of the station to attract their attention…..I didn’t have to wait long….the lad who had sold me the ticket left his booth and came out to help. I explained my dilemma….the train was going to take so long that my accommodation would be closed as I had to check in by 9pm at the latest. He was sympathetic but said there was nothing he could do…..that’s okay I say but I just have to get out so I can see about a bus or worst case scenario a taxi….he thinks the taxi may be too expensive…..I agree with him but I still need to get past the stile….he tells me I cannot leave from here….that is okay I say; where can I leave from? He tells me once I go through the stiles there is nowhere to leave this platform……I tell him there has to be….he tells me politely that there isn’t…..I smiled at him and told him there was and saying los siento pero place my two hands on the stile and began lifting myself up…..okay, okay he says, wait a minute and goes back to his booth to get the key and open the stile….I smile at him and thank him. Just to let you know the entire exchange was very civilized. It was not his fault that the train in question was going to stop here, there and everywhere and neither was it mine that a train was going to take three and a half hours to reach a destination that was should have been done in less that two hours. ( On reflection it was more my fault, I should have checked my ticket at time of purchase. ) As I thanked the lad and was walking away he enquired about my ticket? I think he was wondering if I was going to look for a refund…...I really didn’t have the time so I handed it back to him saying gracias y adios. ( Who knows he may just have been able to pass it on to someone, though knowing bureaucracy it’s probably not permitted.)
Time for a beer and some food…..Okay I realise that I just might have sarcastically commented on people who take photographs of their food earlier on, let me think…..there is no might about it, I have always been vocal in my criticism of people who do so. Alas I am now so disappointed in my own self. I had to do it…...the damn pizza was just picture perfect so I took out my phone….and while you may not be interested let me tell you the beer was also nice. The pizza though…..it tasted even better than it looked. Aside from the reason for having to go home early this was turning out to be…..not a bad day.
Isn’t karma a bitch ( excuse my language ).
I took a photograph of food and then had happy thoughts…...so the world decided to take a bite out of me….while finishing my beer I checked my train ticket for later….just to pass the time you know…….what a wake up call.
Now if I was a normal crow heading from here to Santander it would be approximately 79km distance ( I looked this up and apparently a crow can fly at about 37km an hour, so lets say that this crow in norther Spain stops for a pizza and a beer he can still to it in less than three hours ) now if I was to walk it the path would take me up to 105km distance wise…..so maybe 12hrs.
The train I had booked was leaving at 7:35pm and arriving in at 11:10pm ( sounds like one of those maths questions in primary school, if only )….this had to be a mistake I thought. I checked my phone yep train times were right…...to say I was a bit confuddled is about right.
Finished my lovely beer right quickly, paid for it and the very photogenic pizza before making a quick march to the train station.
There was just one ticket booth open, same one where I had purchased mine from, it had a generous sized queue so I decided to head through the stiles and up to the platform to do…..well not sure….but on getting there I found a nice large diagram of the route and realised while not necessarily taking the scenic route ( unless you were into star gazing ) it was going to call into just about every town, village and hamlet between here and there. I checked the platform for an exit sign….other than a couple of emergency ones I could not find one so decided to retrace my steps and head back down the way I had come. On reaching the bottom I discover that this is entrance only…..thought briefly of hopping over the stiles but instead opted to look out for an employee of the station to attract their attention…..I didn’t have to wait long….the lad who had sold me the ticket left his booth and came out to help. I explained my dilemma….the train was going to take so long that my accommodation would be closed as I had to check in by 9pm at the latest. He was sympathetic but said there was nothing he could do…..that’s okay I say but I just have to get out so I can see about a bus or worst case scenario a taxi….he thinks the taxi may be too expensive…..I agree with him but I still need to get past the stile….he tells me I cannot leave from here….that is okay I say; where can I leave from? He tells me once I go through the stiles there is nowhere to leave this platform……I tell him there has to be….he tells me politely that there isn’t…..I smiled at him and told him there was and saying los siento pero place my two hands on the stile and began lifting myself up…..okay, okay he says, wait a minute and goes back to his booth to get the key and open the stile….I smile at him and thank him. Just to let you know the entire exchange was very civilized. It was not his fault that the train in question was going to stop here, there and everywhere and neither was it mine that a train was going to take three and a half hours to reach a destination that was should have been done in less that two hours. ( On reflection it was more my fault, I should have checked my ticket at time of purchase. ) As I thanked the lad and was walking away he enquired about my ticket? I think he was wondering if I was going to look for a refund…...I really didn’t have the time so I handed it back to him saying gracias y adios. ( Who knows he may just have been able to pass it on to someone, though knowing bureaucracy it’s probably not permitted.)
Back to information. Yes there was a bus however it was departing from a station elsewhere, like the other side of the city or there abouts. He recommended a bus I after a quick browse in the head opted to trust to shanks mare ( my own two legs ). Two plus Kilometres and I had close to an hour….not a problem. I had started to walk away from the desk when there was an epiphany….I think I must have had it...I brought up G maps on my phone and asked the chap behind the counter if he could type into my phone the destination and once again trusted in this phenomenon that is google. Everything looked well for about 20 odd meters then l left the train station…...my phone was still in my hand but google and it’s directions apparently took a vacation to well lets just say…...somewhere else. According to it I was still in the station.
I enquired from a couple of bus drivers that were chatting the general direction of the bus station ( I cannot remember it’s name right now ) they pointed fingers which I duly followed, my thought being at the time: I am going to be asking a lot of people for directions or the googly thing will kick in…….I was not optimistic about the latter…...what do you know but the latter woke up and stayed with me for the duration. It did help that, while I’m sure it was raining somewhere in Europe at this current moment, it was not doing so in Bilbao. Actually it was a very pleasant evening all round; weather wise and location. I passed through two small squares with very inviting looking Cafés, I really wanted to indulge….but alas….actually the bus I was hoping to catch was an anagram of alas: Alsa. I swear as I passed by a couple of cafés I heard them whisper cerveza aquí, teasers.
I made pretty good time; I arrived with half an hour to spare. First thing when I get is find that there are three Alsa windows and all are cerrado. I find the information booth at the end and have my question all ready: Dónde cojo el autobús para Santander? He raised his right arm, pen in hand, and pointed to back in the direction I had come saying Alsa. He then turned away. Lo Siento, Alsa es cerrado! He turned around, looked at me, once again raised his arm with pen in hand, pointed and said in the same monotone voice Alsa…...he then turned away from me again. ( If he is ever captured as a spy folks do not worry….they will never get any useful information out of him. )
As I walked back towards the Alsa booths I was wondering: perhaps he is a magician with his pen being his magic wand and he will have magicked the Alsa booth open.
Nope, he was not a graduate of Hogwarth.
I still had over 20 minutes to spare so I managed a quick beer with my eyes firmly glued to the closed booths with the light blue colours. Not happening I am thinking. Maybe I can purchase a ticket on the bus? Nope; there is a stairs leading downstairs, several automatic stiles but with just the one manual and it is being managed by one very busy man. I join the queue and can hear others ask the same question: no ticket no entrance.
So as I walked back to my favourite blue booths I now was beginning to think that the bus is leaving without me. I wasn’t too concerned. Find somewhere to stay here for the night, a few beers, maybe even find somewhere to watch Ireland v South Africa ( ha, fat chance ) and get a different flight tomorrow. Time for another beer, the lad is fairly busy so as I am waiting I check the Alsa website on the off chance there is a later bus. Ye know what, I only now think of buying my ticket online…….that’s what I get for leaving school early. The only snag is I have to sign up to Alsa and confirm by email that I am actually really very, very, very interested in becoming a dedicated and loyal customer to Alsa.
The entire project ( it felt like one to me ) took less than two minutes. My scan even worked on the e stile….good thing because that man was still very busy. I soon found myself beside the bus with nearly a whole 5 minutes to kill. What is a fella to do with all that spare time???
It turns out there were two buses: One I believe was express to Santander while the other was making some intermediate stops, including the Airport.
I was ushered onto the express……..all I can say is Wow, what comfort. I was assigned seat 47 which was the back row, television, radio, more input and outlets than seemed natural so much space you could set up camp. Best to just check out the video which should be around this page somewhere.
The bus left at 19:00 and arrived at 20:20 and it was one smooth ride…..I wondered if the train had left yet?
The Albergue I was staying in was a straight walk across the road from the station exit. Couldn’t be simpler really …...apparently it could be…..because when I looked at the tables outside of it and could see the diner and counter inside I decided that this was a café and walked by it ….twice…..they do say third time is the charm. On the third time of standing outside I decided to glance up and look at the name printed on the canopy over the entrance ElHostel & Co…..in my defence other than the name on the canopy I still could not find a sign with the lettering on the canopy was being only about 3 feet in height and I had after all mislaid my glasses back in Roncesvalles…...and who am fooling….I should have spotted it the first time.
After a small bit of confusion…..well it was a day for it…..the manager said he was not expecting any more guests, he checked, no neither I nor anyone resembling handsome me was there, I asked if he would not mind rechecking as I had paid online less than 5 hours ago…..no, I was still not there. Fortunately my booking on my phone was there which I showed him, and you know what….guess who’s name was found. These things happen….well at least to me anyway.
I enquired from a couple of bus drivers that were chatting the general direction of the bus station ( I cannot remember it’s name right now ) they pointed fingers which I duly followed, my thought being at the time: I am going to be asking a lot of people for directions or the googly thing will kick in…….I was not optimistic about the latter…...what do you know but the latter woke up and stayed with me for the duration. It did help that, while I’m sure it was raining somewhere in Europe at this current moment, it was not doing so in Bilbao. Actually it was a very pleasant evening all round; weather wise and location. I passed through two small squares with very inviting looking Cafés, I really wanted to indulge….but alas….actually the bus I was hoping to catch was an anagram of alas: Alsa. I swear as I passed by a couple of cafés I heard them whisper cerveza aquí, teasers.
I made pretty good time; I arrived with half an hour to spare. First thing when I get is find that there are three Alsa windows and all are cerrado. I find the information booth at the end and have my question all ready: Dónde cojo el autobús para Santander? He raised his right arm, pen in hand, and pointed to back in the direction I had come saying Alsa. He then turned away. Lo Siento, Alsa es cerrado! He turned around, looked at me, once again raised his arm with pen in hand, pointed and said in the same monotone voice Alsa…...he then turned away from me again. ( If he is ever captured as a spy folks do not worry….they will never get any useful information out of him. )
As I walked back towards the Alsa booths I was wondering: perhaps he is a magician with his pen being his magic wand and he will have magicked the Alsa booth open.
Nope, he was not a graduate of Hogwarth.
I still had over 20 minutes to spare so I managed a quick beer with my eyes firmly glued to the closed booths with the light blue colours. Not happening I am thinking. Maybe I can purchase a ticket on the bus? Nope; there is a stairs leading downstairs, several automatic stiles but with just the one manual and it is being managed by one very busy man. I join the queue and can hear others ask the same question: no ticket no entrance.
So as I walked back to my favourite blue booths I now was beginning to think that the bus is leaving without me. I wasn’t too concerned. Find somewhere to stay here for the night, a few beers, maybe even find somewhere to watch Ireland v South Africa ( ha, fat chance ) and get a different flight tomorrow. Time for another beer, the lad is fairly busy so as I am waiting I check the Alsa website on the off chance there is a later bus. Ye know what, I only now think of buying my ticket online…….that’s what I get for leaving school early. The only snag is I have to sign up to Alsa and confirm by email that I am actually really very, very, very interested in becoming a dedicated and loyal customer to Alsa.
The entire project ( it felt like one to me ) took less than two minutes. My scan even worked on the e stile….good thing because that man was still very busy. I soon found myself beside the bus with nearly a whole 5 minutes to kill. What is a fella to do with all that spare time???
It turns out there were two buses: One I believe was express to Santander while the other was making some intermediate stops, including the Airport.
I was ushered onto the express……..all I can say is Wow, what comfort. I was assigned seat 47 which was the back row, television, radio, more input and outlets than seemed natural so much space you could set up camp. Best to just check out the video which should be around this page somewhere.
The bus left at 19:00 and arrived at 20:20 and it was one smooth ride…..I wondered if the train had left yet?
The Albergue I was staying in was a straight walk across the road from the station exit. Couldn’t be simpler really …...apparently it could be…..because when I looked at the tables outside of it and could see the diner and counter inside I decided that this was a café and walked by it ….twice…..they do say third time is the charm. On the third time of standing outside I decided to glance up and look at the name printed on the canopy over the entrance ElHostel & Co…..in my defence other than the name on the canopy I still could not find a sign with the lettering on the canopy was being only about 3 feet in height and I had after all mislaid my glasses back in Roncesvalles…...and who am fooling….I should have spotted it the first time.
After a small bit of confusion…..well it was a day for it…..the manager said he was not expecting any more guests, he checked, no neither I nor anyone resembling handsome me was there, I asked if he would not mind rechecking as I had paid online less than 5 hours ago…..no, I was still not there. Fortunately my booking on my phone was there which I showed him, and you know what….guess who’s name was found. These things happen….well at least to me anyway.
A few minutes later and I was checked in and given the 10cent tour. I had a top bunk on the ground floor. The bunk itself was very large ( I would estimate there was about 2 dozen of them in this dorm ) and all had one side on a wall giving it what I image would be a Pullman Sleeper Carriage feel. It was well equipped with individual lighting, sockets and outlets. The curtains are heavy enough that your light does not go out into the room and also gives you enough privacy that although you are in a bunk it feels more like a cubicle….not sure if I am describing it well enough.
The entire place was very clean and the shower area was pretty large and well up to date. I would have no problem in recommending ElHostel & Co. to any pilgrim or traveller who did not mind staying in hostel like accommodation.
Once showered I grabbed a quick sandwich from the front and went in search of a bar that might on the off chance be showing the rugby, I was not optimistic, well I was about the game but not of been able to see it on a large screen. One helpful young lady told me about a sports bar, however it was 15 minutes away and I would need a taxi, with no guarantee it would be showing the rugby I felt I had done my share of pushing my luck for one day. I walked about three blocks, found 5 bars, three had telly's but it was either motor sport or soccer. I settled for the final bar I dropped into and brought up the match on my phone…….the day ended well…...not a pretty game but we beat South Africa 08 to 13 points.
Throughout the game I did manage to get a few looks from the locals as I rose from my table a couple of times hand raised in the air with an odd shout of “Yes or Brilliant or Go on ye boy ya” and the occasional “ What are you thinking, why did you do that? Are you a fool or what ” when we managed to keep South Africa out or made a good play and maybe the odd fumble or two. They looked at me and when I noticed I smiled, they smiled back and then I sat down again. I am sure they were thinking something akin to Daft Tourist.
I look back fondly on that night and think 'I once I had helped Ireland win the match by shouting, not too loudly I might add, at my phone' I relaxed in the square with a couple of slow brandies and wee beers for company before turning in for a good nights sleep.
The entire place was very clean and the shower area was pretty large and well up to date. I would have no problem in recommending ElHostel & Co. to any pilgrim or traveller who did not mind staying in hostel like accommodation.
Once showered I grabbed a quick sandwich from the front and went in search of a bar that might on the off chance be showing the rugby, I was not optimistic, well I was about the game but not of been able to see it on a large screen. One helpful young lady told me about a sports bar, however it was 15 minutes away and I would need a taxi, with no guarantee it would be showing the rugby I felt I had done my share of pushing my luck for one day. I walked about three blocks, found 5 bars, three had telly's but it was either motor sport or soccer. I settled for the final bar I dropped into and brought up the match on my phone…….the day ended well…...not a pretty game but we beat South Africa 08 to 13 points.
Throughout the game I did manage to get a few looks from the locals as I rose from my table a couple of times hand raised in the air with an odd shout of “Yes or Brilliant or Go on ye boy ya” and the occasional “ What are you thinking, why did you do that? Are you a fool or what ” when we managed to keep South Africa out or made a good play and maybe the odd fumble or two. They looked at me and when I noticed I smiled, they smiled back and then I sat down again. I am sure they were thinking something akin to Daft Tourist.
I look back fondly on that night and think 'I once I had helped Ireland win the match by shouting, not too loudly I might add, at my phone' I relaxed in the square with a couple of slow brandies and wee beers for company before turning in for a good nights sleep.