Stage 1: Irun - San Sebastián, 25 kms, sun and cloud, 22

A ‘Whale’ Of A Day!

Having enjoyed quite a number of starting days on many Camino routes these past 6 years, I have to say that this was the best first stage of any route I’ve yet walked. You might ask about the first stage of the Frances over the Pyrenees, but sadly it was pouring rain on me that day so my experience was just a wet slog over a mountain. Not that I wasn’t as excited as a small child at Christmas that first ever stage, but it was really, really wet and all I saw were big black slugs! I plan to return there one day to walk it again on a beautiful sunny day, then turn around and descend on the Valcarlos route. One day.

Our hosts prepared us a beautiful breakfast which came complete with a very good Spanish lesson! Six weeks like that and I’d be almost speaking like a native. It was great! I find I can understand much of what is said to me in this environment, but speaking doesn’t work quite as nicely. Anyway, I improve with each visit, and while I’ve come to accept that I can’t really expect much more than that, it’s enough. 

It was a pretty stiff start to the day with a climb designed to wake us up to the fact that this wasn’t going to be a cake walk. Point noted and filed. We climbed up to the Santuario de Guadalupe and were pleased to find it open as I’d read that its often closed. After a brief visit...

...we continued up an even stiffer climb following the Pugatorio Way variant that took us along the ridge line higher and higher. Stunning views.

We came across this lovely herd of horses and rather than move away from me,

they approached. This has happened to me quite often in my travels and I’m beginning to wonder what that’s all about. A horse whisperer? I had three or four approach me.





We eventually descended into Pasajes, a cute coastal town often visited. 

We walked to the water taxi dock and caught the small ferry across the harbour.



We found lunch on the working side of the harbour in a small interesting bar and then headed off to see a special working museum where they are building a ship. Not just any ship. 

In the 16th century Basque whale boats would sail across to coastal Canada in search of whales. Their boats were well made and apparently the envy of the other European powers. In the 1980s they found the sunken remains of one of these boats still pretty well preserved in a bay in Nova Scotia. Working with Parks Canada they surveyed the boat taking photographs and exacting measurements. Today they are building and exact replica complete with the whaling dinghies. There is an excellent exhibit covering all the background and then you enter the work area where one can see the craftsmen building the whaling dingy by hand with traditional methods and tools. Pretty cool! You can see wher they have laid the keel for the dingy beside an existing boat that I assume they are using as part of a model. 

Then we were able to visit the ship itself while under construction. All work and wood has been donated and it has garnered considerable attention. A few more photos. 

Way cool, but we had to be on our way as still another climb and more to experience.

The final section into San Sebastián was along some high cliffs for about 7 kms. Beautiful, if demanding trail. Loads of birds nesting on the cliffs as we wandered along. A really nice section where there is still large sections of the stone road built in medieval times. I’d like to show a bit more of this section, but the wifi is poor and bandwidth is at a premium. We are off shortly for a drink (we earned it today) and then on to a special concert with pinchos which is something like tapas, but it’s Basque Country, so it’s pinchos! They hold this gathering one Thursday in the month, and lucky us, that’s tonight. So we will take our tired bodies out for an evening of good food and music before getting a bit of sleep. 

Buen Camino!