Orío to Zumaia

Not a lot of sleep was had last night, I was trying not to snore so I didn’t keep everyone awake and we were sleeping opposite the bathroom - thank goodness for sleep masks, I was sleeping on a top bunk - first one this trip and I am a little rusty so I was conscious of not falling out and just to add to the atmosphere there was a fiesta in a town some where close by, we could hear the mariachi band and all the people celebrating through out the night, it sounded like everyone was having an awesome time, if only I wasn’t so old and tired, anyway before we know it, it’s time to rise and get ready for another day on the trail. We have breakfast included for our €20, so we get ready and head to the little kitchen/dining area. We enjoy a variety of food including fresh fruit, yoghurt, porridge, toast, little cakes, tea and coffee. There were about 10 of us, the rest of the bunch got up early and left before breakfast. It’s going to be close to 30 degrees again today with not a lot of cover from the sun. Our walk today takes us through and out of Orío and it is stunning. We walk along the river enjoying the views of the boats tied up along the rivers edge, and the buzz of activity as people go about their day. We cross over the river via a bridge and start heading out of town, in no time at all we are heading up, up, up again. This is another picturesque walk with a lot of coastal views. It is summer holidays here in Europe and there are tourists, locals and pilgrims everywhere enjoying the outdoors. We pass a few camp grounds which seem full of surfers. The walk from Orío to Zarautz is through country side with rolling green hills and the sea as a beautiful backdrop. We stop in Zarautz for a drink and light refreshment at a lovely little bar and their tortilla patatas is so fresh, it smells and tastes devine. Then it’s a fairly flat walk via a coastal walking path, along side a busy road, this walking path is bustling with people as there seems to be a triathlon and the swimming leg is underway. The swimming leg seem to start in Getaria and finish in Zarautz, there is a lot of support people on the water, in boats, on jet skis or on paddle boards. Man o man I don’t know how they can swim that far it’s 2.9km in the open sea 😳, I would have sank and drowned after 30 metres. The vibe is electric and I feel very fortunate to be here experiencing this. We make a small climb into Getaria and walk down to the old part of town, the bars are all busy, but we manage to find a table in a lovely little bar and have a couple of vinos and a plate full of prawns, life is good and it would be very easy to settle in for the afternoon but we need to keep moving we still have a ways to go to get to our destination today. The walk out of Getaria is quite the accent, Lisa and I do the usual - walk for about 20 steps, stop for 20 breathes, then repeat until we get to the top. There are lots of hills between here and Zumaia and they all seem to be on the Camino path. We finally get to the outskirts of Zumaia and it’s all down hill from here, we gingerly make our descent, thinking that when we get to town we will taxi to our accommodation, but unfortunately there are no taxis around and we end up climbing a very steep, long street to get to our hotel. Our hotel reminds me of something out of the seventies - picture the hotel in dirty dancing. We do the usual chores before we go to find the bar in the hotel, they direct us to the an open air area, where we need to hold our glasses or they would blow off the table, I look like ‘cousin it’, my hair is covering my face, I can’t see Lisa, I can’t see or drink my drink and I am not game to let go of my glass, we can’t stop laughing and eventually we move indoors. After a chat and a vino we head to the indoor pool, our bodies have taken a beating and it’s time to show them some love. To our surprise the indoor pool is a therapy pool there are specific stations situated around the pool focusing on different areas of the body, I start with the stomach, move to the thighs, then the carves, then the back and neck, lastly the all over body station. I feel like I am going to walk out of this pool 25 years younger, and in my mind I feel it, but no, I still physically look then same, even my cellulite is jiggling it’s way to the change room, oh well, at least my muscles are no longer aching. We go shower and get ready for dinner, we dine at the hotel which is exceptional, George shouts us a beautiful bottle of Vino Tinto from the Rioja region, we drink, eat then we call it a night, our room is dark and we drift off in no time.Read more