Departure, Arrival, and First Day

After intense, almost obsessive, planning this past year, the day of departure inevitably arrived. Every anxiety I had about getting to the airport, the plane being on time, transferring from DeGaulle to Orly, that plane taking of on schedule, and being picked up in Biarritz by one Jose Antonio went without a hitch. What I had not foreseen, was that the grilled vegetable sandwich I had purchased at JFK would make me sick. What misery! Clammy, headachy, nauseated, I had to stumble from one mode of transport to another toting a you-know-what kind of bag from the plane. But at last, arrival at:



a fine hostelry, comfortable in every way but certainly not over the top.

Hondarribea is a walled city, which demanded exploration despite my having a headache from hell, not to mention the already mentioned woes. Through the fog, I was actually able to absorb the receptionist's instructions to "go straight and through the playground" in order to discover the famous bridge, which all the guidebooks mention but does not appear on any map, to reach the old city.

Just to prove the walled-ness, contemplate, if you will, this section of wall:




You even have to go through a stone tunnel to enter:





And, boys and girls, if you are naughty, you go down to the dungeon:





Hotel Jaizkibel is the first hotel I have ever stayed in in Spain that offers room service at hours other than when the dining room is open. Not that the menu is extensive and when the possibilities that contain ham are deleted, about two choices remain. So a dry French omelette, a roll and butter (not on the menu but provided at request) and yogurt with honey, garnished with walnuts from Bishops, were dinner for which, by then emerging from my misery, I was grateful:




Oh, and this was the first time ever I spoke Spanish on the phone!!

I had an ambitious plan for today. Get up on the early side, and head out to Paisajes de San Juan in the cool of the morning. Accordingly, the alarm was set for 7:00. Imagine my surprise when, upon awaking, to see the phone read 2:00----when it was light out! How could that be? You may pause to think before reading on. Give up? Got it?

The phone was still on airplane mode, so it was actually 8:00 a.m. After eleven hours sleep, I was ready for anything. After a pleasant breakfast, off I set, a little worried because today's instructions were kind of ehh, but you know you are on The Way when you begin to see:







However, my confidence gave out when the signage, which was practically non existent, gave out altogether and there really was no path. Fortunately, I came upon this good fellow, without whose help for a good stretch of the way, I never could have managed.




As I started to blurt out my confusion, he responded, "Tranquilla, señora." Translation: "Slow down, lady, and tell me what the problem is." Afortunadamente, he was willing to walk with me until he had to turn off and we chatted. OK, he talked, mostly, which was fine, at least the 80% I understood.

Intermezzo: Do you have to know Spanish to do a walk like this? The hoteliers speak English fluently, but in shops and along the way, people don't, so when help is needed, as it was then, and again later to take two busses back to Hondarribea, it was essential. The many many hours of dry podcasts and of working through novels, finally is paying off.

Back to the sights! It's not England, but Wi--llll-b--ur has relatives everywhere:




This guy did not move a muscle:




Horses running:




Resting:



Eating:



First view of the Bay of Biscay:




Easy to follow stretch of path (would that it were all like this):





Going down this, yes, to the bottom, was scary at times. There were railings for the worst of it, but not looking to the left and hugging the right was the best strategy. Tripping would have led to a bad end.



Was thrilled to have made it to my destination not tired in the slightest, and again, thanks to some friendly and willing-to-help locals, I was able to manage the busses, arriving safely back after a five+ hour walk on a gorgeous day. Unfortunately, GyPSy gave out, my fault for not having checked the batteries, so mileage is unclear--it was something more than ten, so let's say 20K. The difficulty, according to the book, was 5, the highest degree, but really, except for that scary downhill, it was not demanding. Not to worry so much about the upcoming 32K days, if this was the standard. Vamos a ver.

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Location:Hondarribea