Saturday, August 27, 2011

San Sebastian a Orio - August 25, 2011

Hemos pasado un par de días en Donostia, nombre que recibe en vasco la hermosa ciudad de San Sebastian. Es momento de comenzar a caminar dirección Santiago, aunque no sea nuestro destino, nuestro corazón nos lleva allí.

El agradable paseo por la playa de la concha pronto dirige nuestros pasos por una empinada subida entre frondosos árboles hacia Igueldo, es aquí donde nos encontramos con Jose Mari, un apasionado y enamorado el Camino, él tiene de forma desinteresada una "parada peregrina" en la que ofrece un par de sillas para los fatigados peregrinos y agua en abundancia, también tiene un sello para dar crédito de tu paso por esa localidad. Conversamos con él y continuamos hacia Orio. El camino es de constante y suave subida, muy agradable y las impresionantes vistas de la costa pronto te transportan a una fuente de agua fresca y pura que el propio Jose Mari se en cargo de adecuar, es de agradecer esta parada entre una exuberante vegetación de intensos colores verdes.
Ensimismados en nuestros pensamientos nos encontramos con la pequeña Ermita de San Martin de Tours, patrón de peregrinos y caminantes. Solo a doscientos metros nos encontramos con el albergue de Rosa. Es tiempo para relajarse y conocer gentes del lugar...





Beautifully verdant countryside: everything is green, wet, (sometimes slippery) and simply luscious!




Photo of the blog co-author next to one of the Camino signs (which were not quite frequent enough for this chica who became lost on two separate occasions--one of them this first day!)  She is still looking pretty sleep-deprived!





Sergio's photo of a spider that had made his (her?) home outside the dining area at our first albergue in Orio.




First day of walking the Camino & I need to say right away that este Camino es mucho mas duro que el Camino Frances!! For me (not for Sergio) this was a VERY HARD day.   As far as I can recall, there were no flat areas: only pretty intense inclines followed by equally steep declines. I was still going on little sleep (totally awake each day at 4 am) & had (of course) acquired some blisters walking in San Sebastian in sandals without socks. And then I got lost. I have no idea what occurred, but "de repente, no estuve en el Camino". We had walkie talkies, but I was unable to reach Sergio & had no idea where I was.   Finally, I was able to wave down a cyclist who redirected me so I was able to & find my way to the albergue.  A great dinner of veggie pasta (my Camino favorite) revived my spirits, but it was a tough night sharing quarters with two competing "roncadores" (snorers). Finally had to listen to classical music on my iPod to screen out the noise. Woke in the morning to big storm & a day that began with walking in the rain (which when you live in Texas is quite the exciting treat!)

By Sergio & Dusty from Dusty's iPad.

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