Wednesday June 7 2107

23.3 km (51.4km)

After a rest day, during which I managed to walk 15km in flip flops taking in the sights of San Sebastián with plenty of pintxos stops along the way, it was back to walking today. I am sure I’ll return to San Sebastián again, in fact it may have just become my favourite city even, dare I say it?, surpassing Paris. It’s early days I know but already this Camino seems very different to Camino Frances; there are only a handful of ‘pilgrims’ and the majority of San Sebastián inhabitants seem to be oblivious to the fact that it passes right through their city. I gave up, after a few failed attempts, producing my Camino passport for stamps in various establishments with most of them eyeing it and me suspiciously as if I might be asking for money or trying to sell them something. More importantly is the lack of cheap pilgrim sustenance; last year it was 10€ or less for three courses (always including chips) plus as much wine as any pilgrim might need/want. In San Sebastián the food was of a completely different standard with a price to match and where to find vino tinto at 1€ a glass?
This morning I had a quick coffee in the hostel before departing and noticed a shell on a fellow early morning coffee drinker’s backpack. Katharina from Berlin had completed the whole thing and was back for a final night in San Sebastián (a bit odd because that’s a 800k turn around at the end..She filled me with a sense of joy and wellbeing for the day first telling me that after Bilbao I should get a bus for the next 150k because it’s horrible and boring, then proceeded to regale me with tales of bedbugs in ALL the Albergues and threw in the fact that it’s so quiet she didn’t see anyone for three days (I’m suspecting she meant other pilgrims because she had been at flea infested Albergues during those three days…too e fair she was completely covered in bites). It all sounded too miserable to take on so I bid her Buen Camino and headed out of San Sebastián (after another cake for breakfast). It was a beautiful day, perfect for walking and it was great to have dry feet again. The walk stretched across rolling hills, undulating paths keeping the boredom at bat, with the only slight problem being that I’d misread the guide book and there wasn’t anywhere to eat for a good 16k. Orio was the first place I came to; a well preserved port town with plenty of places to eat and replenish my water. I walked non stop for 16 k t arrive in Orio and need to remember that my 51 year old knees don’t appreciate this :(. The last 6k was much the same, rolling up and down through the countryside until Zerautz came into view. It doesn’t matter how many times I come to a seaside town it is always as breathtaking as if it were the first one I’d seen. It’s a surfers paradise and I hate to think what it’s like in the summer but for now there were a few surfers but mostly older, more subdued, holiday makers making for a calm few hours spent sitting on the beach this afternoon.

Txiki Polit Pentsioa, Musika Plaza Z/G, 20800-Zarautz

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave