Day 1: Irun to San Sebastián

Monday June 5 2017
28.2 km

I went to bed last night hoping that my usual Camino walking in the rain experience wasn’t about to be revisited but awoke today to the sound of torrential rain. I wasn’t too concerned as it was day 1 and I had just bought lovely new boots , which I was assured would be waterproof for three years and not just for my trip, and I have Arctery’x waterproofs, which again come with an assurance of dryness. The rain was unrelenting, I kept trying to think of things other than the terrible weather but a constant stream of rain filled songs kept playing in my head; ‘Here Comes the Rain Again”, “I Can’t Stand the Rain”, “November Rain”, “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head”…you get the picture…

Due to the dampness of the day I opted for the low level route as the promise of climbing high above the Bay of Biscay and passing Neolithic dolmens, medieval towers and castle ruins was quite lost on me (and virtually all the other would be pilgrims) when the ground appeared to have become one huge big river. After about 15km the route came to Pasjes de San Juan and the rain ceased, the sun came out and the sky was blue; the only indication of the bad weather was a sorry assortment of bedraggled pilgrims pealing off waterproofs and drying off in the midday sun. I was rather frustrated at this point to discover that not only were my feet soaking wet in my new boots but also my shorts were too…hopefully there won’t be too many rainy days on this trip. 🙏🏽

From Pasjes I took a small passenger ferry to cross the port and then continued up a long, steep flight of steps to an old lighthouse before continuing up some more for great views out over the Bay of Biscay. I passed quite a few fellow walkers moaning about the ascent but I’m sure they made it to San Sebastián and will be happy to learn that day one is the toughest day. The sun continued to shine and before too long San Sebastián appeared; a beautiful sprawling city – it reminded me of Nice only ten times (?) larger. The route goes straight along the beach promenade before entering the city which made for an easy walk as there was plenty of people watching to be done. I’m staying in a place called ‘A Room in the City’, a hostel, and as I’d actually booked for tomorrow night I have to spend tonight in a mixed dorm of eight. I fear I may be too old for this and would prefer my own room with an ensuite but I have promised this time to try and do more of the communal living (watch this space to see how long that lasts!). Tomorrow I’m staying here as it was impossible to change all my bookings for the coming days.