Day 3 San Sebastian – Zarautz

The alarm went off at 7:00. I looked at Gerry, he looked at me. He turned off the alarm, closed his eyes and went back to sleep. We woke again just before 9:00.

Last night we never moved from our hostel. That’s a real shame as we both love San Sebastian but this time we couldn’t muster the energy or enthusiasm to walk back into town. We had spaghetti Bolognese from the hostel bar… It was from a tin and warmed in the microwave and we shared a banana for desert. That meal sort of describes how we felt.

We looked over the next stage whilst we ate. Gerry’s sunburn is worse than mine and he’s got a blister on his heel. I knew he was feeling worse for wear because as the day went in he didn’t want to admire the veiw or stop for photos… He just wanted to get there.

Looking at the elevations the next 20km are going to be pretty much the same but it will be hotter. Gerry said that if he felt tired in the morning then we were going to search for a bus. When he turned off the alarm his look said bus to me!

So we got up at 9:00, had the luxury of a morning shower and time and space to pack our bags. I like to think I’m organised but Gerry takes it to a whole new level. I threw him a curve ball by putting plasters and first aid in the wrong place and he said it would bother him all day… And I know it really will which makes me smile!

We wandered down to the sea front and people watched for a while then searched for breakfast. Oh I do love Spanish coffee; we might live in France but nothing beats a cafe con leche! I went full pilgrim and had toast with mine but Gerry played safe with a croissant.

We decided to take a bus to Orio, thus avoiding another steep down and more sunburn; the poor chap is still looking a tad red on his neck. We’ve visited San Sebastian several times and we know we’ll come back again so we were happy with our choice. And the gods were on our side because as we reached the bus stop our bus pulled in… They only run four times a day so how lucky we were!

Fifteen minutes later we’re in Orio. ( everytime I say the Town name Gerry hums “Can’t fight this Feeling” by Reo Speedwagon which was a bit of one hit wonder and it’s really annoying… but he finds it very funny) We wandered through the old town, past an infant school where about 50 toddlers were busy at play in the morning sun. We meandered down along the estuary before retracing our steps back into the old town. It was market day and all the outside cafés were full so we found a spot in the corner inside and ordered cold drinks and a cheeky pinxos… A fresh slab of bread, with a layer of dried ham, then mushroom omelette, topped with caramelised onions. One was more than enough to top up from breakfast and all for the princely sum of 1:50 euros.

Satisfied with our jolly morning exploring we took off back to the estuary where we picked up the yellow arrows and followed the Camino again.

They weren’t wrong about the weather. It’s definitely hotter today than yesterday. We slathered on sun cream and Gerry pulled out his brolly. Mine is at home because I thought it would be cooler. I do have my cotton scarf though and that saved me from sunburn yesterday so I wrapped it around again today. We walked out of town and down along the other side of the estuary. Then we turned away from the coast and into the hills.

This is Basque wine country. We’ve no idea what it’s like but Gerry decided that he was going to try a glass later. Up we wandered passing sleeping cows and dogs, figs and apples and kiwi orchards and lots and lots of vines. Up we went and my sweetheart let me share the shade of his brolly. We kept pausing in the shade of trees to catch our breath and admire the view. At one such stop Gerry almost clapped his hands with excitement when he spotted a Table d’Orientation… I’m partial to a train touristique and Gerry loved these little tables of facts and figures… And so we paused and took in the points of interest before moving on.

A French cyclist wobbled up towards us… What an effort for him! At least we could stop for a minute. Gerry shouted “courage” and he waved back. A few minutes later he whizzed by on the downhill saying he would get the beer first.

We could see a hint of the blue sea through the trees and as we turned the corner there it was again. Laid out below inviting us to visit.

We skipped slowly down into town, still pausing under the shade of trees, bit by bit edging closer to the sea.

Zaurutz is a beachy tourist town that seems to be home to surfers and pensioners. We turned down to a beach road and the a bar… It was cerveza o’clock! We drank in the views, changed shoes and chilled. And once we’d drunk enough we headed down to the seashore.

I don’t know if you’ve ever tried paddling in soft sand whilst wearing a full pack but let me reassure you it’s a great test of balance… And I know you’re really hoping that one of us went over but we didn’t… We paddled up to our knees and watched the surfer dudes and felt as happy as Larry.

Back on dry land we had one more task before finding our hotel. Ice cream. We’d decided earlier that would be lunch. We found the perfect place and I opted for deux boules of strawberry cheesecake flavour and another of toffee flavour. His nibs went for sorbet of mango and lemon. However 2 scoops we did not have and instead I ended up with two cups and Gerry’s was so large he struggled to hold it! I ate my fill from both cups but left loads… “Waste not want not” on my left decided he could not walk away and leave it so he scoffed his and finished mine. Which will explain why he’s now snoring softly beside me.

It’s been a lovely day… That Gerry is pretty good at planning… He should do it more often.

We do love to be beside the seaside!