The tolls of pre-journey excitement, a 20-hour journey and a 9-hour time change have left me a touch incoherent.

The flight to Toronto had an unhappy dog who seemed to be soiling his little travel house, judging from his whining and the aroma. Poor guy. On the flight to Munich a nice East European woman was watching The Fault in Our Stars  over my shoulder on my screen. She urgently asked me if the lovely young fellow had died when the funeral scene made it quite obvious. She proceeded to pass out fairly dramatically in the aisle while I was in the toilet. Seemed to recover fine.

Looks like northern Spain!

I am esconced in the Hotel Jardines Bilbao. Very satisfactory for €50 in the historic part of town. (Once I learned not to drop the soap in the shower which is too small to bend over in, and fortunately I didn’t have to call for help to turn the lights on, once I saw the key card holder on the wall.)

It is nice to see the Spaniards of all ages out in the streets in the evening.

Of course my “plan” has been upset because I managed to miss a day (lost in time change) in my plans. I’ve decided to wait until I’ve had a good night’sleep before deciding what/where/when I’ll officially start walking.

I got a Spanish phone number and phone/data plan, stocked up on Euros, and practiced sitting outside a cafe and sampling vino.  I look forward to cafe con leche in the morning.