Amute

After a fairly noisy night in our Irun city centre pension, we darted in and out of the toilet we were sharing with other residents! Unfortunately all the madness of the last few days had taken its toll on Mary’s stomach- which was definitely playing up 😳
We headed for breakfast at a nearby bakery and attempted to work out what was what as our Spanish is still extremely elementary. With the locals all queuing up to overhear our attempts 😂
We collected up our rucksacks and set off on the Camino del Norte with Trevor in full swing. Helpful/unhelpful locals telling us when we had gone wrong! Getting out of Irun was fairly challenging with roadworks blocking paths and signage of the way not as clear as we are used to, or hidden behind vans!
We started the great ascent, oxygen masks on and off we went.
We climbed through woods for the majority, until we got through the tree line and into a clearing with a little church and fantastic views over Irun town and beyond.
Little did we know the climb had only just begun and continued for the next hour or so. We were both in Plodicus mode and at times Mary felt quite exhausted- she usually loves the challenge of an uphill.
As we climbed the views became more and more amazing, with some to open sea and others to mountains and towns in the distance. There were eagles soaring overhead at points.
Along the way there were small castles and tors where people gathered for photo opportunities.
On one of these a little chit chat befriended Mary and kept her company for a good 10 mins.
The climb down into Lezo and Errenteria was full of moon rocks that were very dodgy on the ankles. As we descended and ascended we kept hearing grunting and heavy breathing as a whole tranche of fell runners were running this route! 😱
We stopped in Lezo, a cute little town and had a drink as we were only half an hour away from our room for the evening.
However finding this place was a nightmare through huge roadworks, canals, railway lines and strange communal lifts that take you from the lower to upper parts of town - Trevor was having a meltdown, we were having a meltdown- but we made it in the end - a nice calm room for the evening- and a buffet breakfast to look forward to in the morning 👍Læs mere