Day One: Cancun - Madrid

Every trip has a departure point, which in this case is Cancun, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. A reknown touristic destination and the possible reason why you can find cheap flights between America and Europe. Now, when I arrived to the airport I was informed that my flight was slightly delayed. Minutes went by and then hours, yes, it was delayed almost three hours, nice way to start a one month trip.

I finally got on the plane and when I saw the table with newspapers I must have had a startled look on my face because the flight attendant offered me a couple of options: El Páis or ABC. I kindly refused explaining to her that I would actually prefer to read the news. She gave me a look that told me that she agreed with me and that was it for the newspapers. Besides, I had a book with me which I chose for the long hours on board of the plane, Cartas a Elizabeth by Antonio Velasco Piña.

Since it was past 10:00pm when we took off I waited for dinner to be served and then, since I was all by myself (there was no one seating next to me) I simply proceeded to get as comfortable as I could to be able to endure the flight to Madrid.

It was around 7:00 am my time when we arrived to the Barajas airport, then I had to wait in line for little over an hour to go through immigration. I finally got to the bus stop outside the airport since I needed to go to the bus station at a place everyone called "Las Américas". I finally got there and I was lucky enough to find a ticket for a bus that would depart for Bilbo (Bilbao) in just twenty minutes.

I tried to enjoy the view during the road trip from Madrid to Bilbo, but it is so arid and boring that I fell asleep until we got to Lerma, a city right next to a river by the name Arlanza.

I liked what I could see of the town from the bus stop and I snapped a couple of pictures. I grabbed a bite and a coke and then we continued on our way. I fell asleep again but somehow I managed to open my eyes right when a big sign on the side of the road said "Ongi Etorri".

Finally, I was in Euskal Herria, the Basque Country.

And here I am.

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