In the latest addition of “is this real life?” I bring to you the various sights on Day 01 of the Camino del Norte, from Irun, Spain to San Sebastian:
I probably should have walked around San Sebastian more than simply walking along the Camino to get to my hostel, but that’s kind of the catch with doing these walks: you get to pass by and through extremely beautiful nature and cities, but when you arrive you’re usually exhausted (or at least I am), and so you’re basically just checking in, showering, maybe washing clothes if you can and have time, cooking, eating, and then sleeping before starting the next day.
Alternatively, you could take a more relaxed option and either walk slow enough so you aren’t always exhausted (but let’s be honest, this isn’t a real option), or you can take a day off when you visit a super beautiful town like San Sebastian to explore the city, and thus, prolong your overall trip by several days.
That’s probably the better option, but my little single-track mind prefers to keep moving on the trail while adding to an ever-growing list of cities to come back to and explore whenever I decide to slow down…
As the title of this post suggests, the Camino del Norte (or, literally, “the northern way”) is also called the Coastal Way since it mostly hugs the northern coast of Spain before ending in Santiago (as all Camino’s do).
Staying true to its name, at least on day 1, we were never far from the coast and even with the cloudy morning, could often see the ocean crashing onto shores in the not-too-far distance. And, unlike the GR10 (immensely), you’re passing through actual towns (not villages) every couple of hours. And not only do these towns have cafes and grocery stores (!!!!) but they all seem to be the most adorable or beautiful towns you’ve (or I’ve) ever seen!
Continuing my trend of doing walks without knowing anything at all about what I’m heading into, I didn’t really expect to see so much coast, nor did I expect to be doing actual hiking vs walking! For a significant stretch of Day 01, I felt like I easily could have just been on the GR10, and I was, in fact, on the GR121, so I didn’t need to be concerned at all about withdrawal symptoms from the GR symbol:
Even cooler, from one town, Pasai Donibane, we had to cross over the port area on a boat for 30 seconds. Everyone else, significantly more informed than me (not hard to do or be) were well aware of this and were not half as giddy as I was!
I had heard in passing that the Camino del Norte was considered one of the more difficult/mountainous Camino’s, and this, also one of the most beautiful, but even after crossing the Pyrenees I have been just blown away and taken aback by the beauty of this region: am I the only one who knew NOTHING of the Basque region? Probably.
Well I know now!
The easily could change the name of this Camino to the Heavenly Way because it’s just so darn beautiful!!
I knew I would be getting a pretty radically different experience on the Camino vs the GR10, but if/when that happens, it hasn’t happened yet. Yes, there are quite a lot more hikers, and walking through cities is a bit of a shocking change after the rurality of the GR10, but day 01 has been an extremely smooth transition into a new experience: most of the day was on trail, and when it switched briefly to the road I was either compensated with the option of coffee breaks, grocery breaks, or jaw-dropping coastal scenery!
Least of all to say, my Camino is off to a Spectacular beginning! I only have to convince my brain to give up it’s GR10 ‘scarcity mindset’ and have it accept that I no longer have to go into EVERY grocery store I see and stock up on everything under the sun, because there will be another grocery store at the latest 2-3 hours away!
Oh! AND I get to sleep in a bed every night AND have a shower – a WARM shower at that?!?! Guys – what on earth was I doing on the GR10?!?!? Camino del Norte is where it’s at!!
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