Day: April 13, 2018

Post by Wynette: We met 6 other pilgrims today. All very friendly and nice (and fast). They were from: Vienna, Ireland, Paris, Germany, Latvia, and Spain. We were by far the oldest. Charlie thinks we may be the only old people not scared off by this Camino route’s reputation as a hard walk. But since we plan to walk relatively short days I’m sure we can do it.

We walked 1.2 kilometers today on a very steep downhill Roman road. Kind of cool knowing how old it was but Roman roads are hell to walk on.

Post by Charlie, photo chosen by Wynette: Our internal clocks are still adrift so we wake up to an alarm at 8:00 am and didn’t get off until 9:30. Round the beach in San Sebastián and up, up, up into the mountains to Orio. From 0 to 1032 feet but with the ups and downs we went up and down 2200 feet total. Max gradient 15% and min gradient -15%. 10.9 miles, a little farther than we like to go but there were not any intermediate places to stop.

It was so great to be back on the trail. Past Basque farmsteads, wonderful ocean views all along the way, some mud, a breakfast stop, and ending in the cute little town of Orio and a very nice Casa Rural.

Post by Charlie: We ran across them fixing the trail. Their hi-viz suits seemed to be brand new.

Post by Charlie: Trying to avoid the mud I grabbed the barbed wire fence. All superficial but, still, not recommended.

(View from statue) Post by Charlie: San Sebastián is known for its gourmet food. The pintxos (pronounced peench-ohs) are amazing. If you saw “The Way” you know that in Basque Country the tapas are called pintxos. There is a huge variety and it becomes intimidating. We had them for lunch and dinner. Only learning for dinner to order the hot ones.

San Sebastián is everything people say: great food, lovely beach, interesting and pretty architecture. But we were glad to get walking this morning. Nothing is as good as being on the trail in the morning walking through Spain.

Post by Charlie: Hotel rooms in Spain have lights over the doors. Your Redoubtable Travelers (YRTs) have encountered this before and go abroad armed with duct tape and black electrical tape. The lights are high and nearly impossible to cover, and are bright. You need to stand on a rickety chair, sometimes taken from the hall. This is necessary to get high enough to cover them. Covering with a towel is never possible. Taped cardboard works best. Last night the bed was as bright as a full moon night. We were tired last night and didn’t try to cover the lights on the very high ceiling so had to wear our eye masks from the plane. Wynette imagined some tourist in the past perishing from smoke inhalation unable to find the door to their hotel room and a rush to legislate a solution. We take the libertarian view and trust people to be able to find the door to their hotel room. At home we sleep with black out curtains and enjoy a dark room.

Post by Wynette: We had ocean views much of the way today. Cloudy weather so not as blue as ocean views can be but we liked that the clouds kept us cool. I liked this photo of Charlie and the Atlantic.

Post by Wynette: We were lucky with weather today. Pleasant temperatures, very little rain. But we were told that in the days before we arrived rain was heavy. The lovely Basque man where we ate breakfast warned us we’d see lots of mud. Boy was he right.

Post by Charlie: The North Atlantic coast is a big surfing area. Tonight we are in Orio which one guide says is known for weight-lifters and surfers. This surf shop was in the old town in San Sebastián.

Post by Charlie: If you climb a steep path with lots of step you get to this statue which overlooks San Sebastián. I forget who it is, you can google it. Not as big or as high as the statue overlooking Rio but there are great views from the statue base.