As I walked out
Tuesday 20th May 2014 17:03
Hello! It´s been a couple of days since I last entered an account of what I´ve been up to so here goes. The day after I posted that message I decided the best course of action would be to get out of the city. The city of Bilbao was beautiful full of beautiful people with thier beautiful cars and buildings, the centre of the city reminded me of Mayfair in London - too much money for their own good. Being an English explorer from a middle class family made me stick out like a sore thumb. Together with being my first couple of days on my adventure nothing seemed to add up and I thought I would quit then and there. Having slept, having gone through my thought process of just how I would feel if I had quit at the first hurdle, of what everyone would think at home, I just couldn´t do it the easy way out was to continue my trip. And so I did. The following day I packed all my possessions up, said goodbye to the gruff Pension lady and stepped out with the intention of hiking out of the city south to Laudio. I explored the beautiful central park before I left and strolled through the city just to take it all in once more, I walked along the river South, the housing became poorer and poorer hitting the city limits, the industrial city had still not fully recovered even though the center areas were (as it seemed at the time) gilded in gold. As soon as I made it past the city limits I suddenly felt free, the grin on my face was of that of a child with an extremely tasty lollipop. It was silly. I walked with a spring in my step for 3 to 4 hours then checking the map I found I had only made it half way! I was surprised, google maps told me 4 hours walk, guessing at double the pace? Either way my body was flagging and the blisters on my toes were aching together with the weight of my bag and rubbing thighs I found it hard to continue, but I did. Arriving in Laudio I was somewhat destroyed, walking along between Ugad miraballes and Laudio my left knee suddenly twinged, a deep internal ´No More!´ of a twinge which had me worried. Having a bit of a stretch out and a rest the feeling had quickly dissapeared though the thought of it stayed with me till I reached the small town. Finding a place to stay was somewhat easier than expected though handing me a note saying "200" on it I was shocked and almost left the little hotel Valle de Ayala, though the receptionist laughed and assured me it was the room number. What a twit I felt haha. As I went upstairs I heard the guy laughing with his friends outside, guessing it was from this small blunder. A cerveza later with a small amount of food I passed out and slept in perfect bliss. The following morning I made up my mind to take public transport down to Burgos. This meant getting the bus to Miranda de toro then the train over to Burgos. I was somewhat dissapointed with this City, it felt like it had been deserted, it wasn´t beautiful, it felt like a little industrial city left to rot with not much else going on. I looked at my options and thought that making my way to Valladolid would be the best option. I had to wait a couple of hours for my train so I decided this would be the best place to practice playing my guitar in public. I was nervous at first though I quickly found my confidence, I didn´t sing as the station was nearly empty and my booming voice may have felt out of place there, though this was a success as I found I could play in public and also I had a little crowd of older and younger interested locals. Continuing my travels that day prooved to be a great decision, the short and somewhat inexpensive journey led me into the beautiful city of Valladolid, where I am currently writing this. Laurie Lee didn´t enjoy this city, perhaps 100 years ago it was similar to Burgos for me, an industrial dying city. Now I guess they have really turned it around, the city is booming with life, a network of beautiful streets with things to do and see on every corner. The "principle park" as I´m calling it as I can´t find it´s name anywhere is a thing of beauty, full of birds and gardens it is equivalent to James´s park in central london. A breath of fresh air. Though air filled with flowering vegetation, they have those evil trees london loves so much as the bark flakes away with the pollution, subsequent to this my hayfever has exploded a bit this afternoon, though I have my tablets back at the hotel. I´m staying in Hotel Paris for two nights (last and tonight) and tomorrow I will be on my way hiking to Salamanca. The deal will stay the same, if I don´t feel up for it I wont hike and find other transport. Though it is important to me that I at least try. I´m 100 times more confident than I was in Bilbao, I guess it´s from making that first step out the door, perhaps in my tired and worried state I couldn´t think clearly but I should have remembered it´s always the first that´s the hardest! The next I probably will enter anything online will be in Salamanca (though even then it may be impossible, finding an internet cafe in Valladolid has been a challenge.. turns out the one I´m in is the only one there is.)
Tonight I´m going to find somewhere great to soak in the atmosphere with a couple of beers and some food. Caio for now DR xxx