Pyrenees to Berceo, San Millán Cogolla (summary)

From Escarilla, high up in the Pyrenees, it was easy going down towards Jaca. But some parts of the route were not very nice for a biker because of the busy trafic on the road. This will happen more tracks in the coming days because in this area on some places there is only one proper road to go, and that has to be shared by biker, cars and trucks. Fortunately most Spanish drivers keep a large distance between the car and a biker.
Another thing I can not easily get used to here in Spain is the late time of getting a diner in restaurants. Mostly only after 20:30 PM, if I’m lucky I can eat “already” at eight o’clock. In one town in the Bask country I could not find a ‘normal’ restaurant but only cafetaria’s where you can eat pinxtos. Nothing wrong with pinxtos, they are often delicious, but to have a whole meal you have to eat a lot of them.
The first big city I visited in Spain was Pamplona. It is on the Camino de Santiago, like many other cities here in the north of Spain. Visiting Pamplona was very nice, although the weather was not Spanish yet (it was quite cold, but dry). The town was busy with people walking around, musical bands supporting triathlon sportsmen and women. Besides the little old streets, very cosy, I also visited the cathedral and the fortress that is nowadays in fact a public park.
After this weekend my journey went on to the coast at the golf of Biscaya. This took some days and on the first I had to cross a mountain at 1000 meter above sealevel. Here I had magnificent views on the lower parts I went to, and the big birds circling around their rocks. One day I planned to go along the rocky coast of the Bask country, unfortunately it rained a lot that day so the views were great but less than in sunny weather. Last stop before Bilbao was in Gernika-Lumo. This town is famous because in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War it has been totally damaged by German and Italian bombers on request of Franco. Picasso made a painting of it, called Guernica; a copy in stone is visible in Gernika.
On May the 20st I arrived in Bilbao, and that same evening my daughter Marian arrived by plane. Together we had a very very nice weekend in Bilbao. On Saturday we visited the old and new town centres, enjoyed the terrasses, had a look at the Guggenheim museum from the outsider. This is really a architectural highlight, very beautiful. In the afternoon we went by metro to see a special bridge over the Rio Bilbao: a cabin hanging with cables on a very high construction (seaships can pass this bridge without waiting to open) is bringing people and cars to the other side of the river. Marian and I also crossed the Rio via this bridge, a special experience. The next day the rain was pouring but we already planned to visit Guggenheim. From the inside this building is as spectacular as it is from the outside. For me it was the top highlight of Bilbao. After a good lunch we went to the airport where Marian flew back home.
The days after Bilbao I again went more south, to Miranda de Ebro and Logroño. On the road I met the Spanish way of ‘working’: biking on a normal road I suddenly saw a sign that from that point the motorway starts and it was not allowed anymore for bikes, pedestrians. One problem: at that point there was no way to the right nor to the left, so I had to turn around and go back, but to turn I had to cross 4 lanes. I survived!
Now I’m in Berceo, a little village very near to San Millán de la Cogolla. I arrived last Thursday and will go on tomorrow (Sunday the 29th of May). Yesterday and today I took my time to rest a lot and I visited the two cloisters in San Millán: Monasterio de Suso (1500 years old) and the Monasterio de Yuso (1000 years old). Quite interesting to see also the differences between these two. The Suso is simple and sober, while Yuso is much more rich in it’s construction and the artworks it keeps.