Wednesday, September 10, 2025

The Bridge at Portugalete

 

Today I walked to Potugalete. There is a bridge here designed by a student of Gustav Eiffel. Instead of having a road surface for cars and people to ride on, there is a ferry suspended by wires from the bridge. People walk on, and cars and motorcycles drive on it, and then the ferry moves through the air to the other side.

I crossed the river by a little motorboat, then came back on thr suspension bridge  Here is a picture of the ferry coming across to pick me up. You can see the shadow of it in the water.



On the way to Potugalete I saw this giant globe along the river  it was a tribute to the first crew to circumnavigate the world  they did it in three years, from 1519 to 1522.

A man saw me taking the picture and he started to tell me about it . Ferdinand Magellan was in charge when they left in 1519. He was killed in the Philippines and a Basque, Juan Elkano, became the captain.  Five boats and 250 men sailed from Seville. Only one boat returned.

I am staying in a very nice albergue tonight. Because I had a short day today- only 10 miles-  I am planning a long hike tomorrow. Today I met some really nice people. Sarah from Lancaster who’s a professor at Franklin and Marshall, and Lina a teacher from Germany. I also talked with Ha and John, a husband and wife from Pusan, South Korea. 

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