Santander
to
Boo de Pielagos

For our next stage we travelled by train to Hendaye, where we stayed overnight. We had time for an evening stroll to watch the sun set, followed by a candlelit service at the local church. The following morning we crossed over the border to Spain to get the early bus from Irun to Santander, where we had stopped the Autumn before.
The bus arrived in Santander early and so we just caught the Easter procession around at the cathedral, with a large wooden platform being moved by about a dozen burly men hidden inside. We followed the procession around and into the cathedral and  experienced the start of the service with magnificent singing, although we had to leave after the Gloria. We returned to the friendly tourist office back in the bus station, to get a pilgrim stamp and some useful advice. From there, we worked our way uphill on the Camino, and after getting lost a few times but finding our way with the help of amused locals, we got to a park for a snack and to put away our warm clothes- it was already 18 degrees! The rest of the day was a pleasant zig-zag through the countryside, almost entirely on tarmac, although unfortunately all the churches on the way were closed. Quite a few other pilgrims overtook us, but when we arrived at the Albergue Piedad in Boo de Piélagos, we found that we had we had a bed for the night because there was a private room with en suite bathroom waiting for us!