Tony, Tim, Betsy & Ray's (not forgetting Geoff) 2014 Camino

12.06.14 Thursday. Irun to San Sebastian. After a longish walk yesterday through Irun to the little Alburge wr gain a great deal of information from the hospitalero including a free booklet like the one Geof found for the whole route. Including campsites. There was one in Irun but another 7km out of town was a bridge too far. We zate off after a light breakfast at the donativo alburgue and after a walk though flatland just outside Irun start to.............. you guessed it climb. We go up steeply for a couple of hundred metres and then start to contour round on an excellent track, well three of us do. Ray thinks he sees a shortcut and follows a set of older markers both red and white GR marks and yellow arrows. He goes over the top of the mountain without even a Virgin on top and rejoins us some km later looking even more sweaty than the rest of us. We carry on round and descend steeply to sealevel at the first deep inlet/estuary at the start of San Sebastian where a little foot passenger ferry takes us and other walkers to the edge of San Sebastian. The route then goes, instead of the obvious urban way, up and around a great cliff path and over and down into San Sebastian proper. We are still hearing the cuckoo but less persistent than before and the cries of seagulls are heard and will doubtless become commonplace. Robins and wrens arr seen and Ray glimpses a weasel crossing the path ahead. The walk had been notable for shirtless male dog walkers up to the point when as we walk along the beachfront in San Sebastian the seem replaced by female ones without dogs, sunbathing in the heat. We concentrate on the way and eventually passing a great little sculpture of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, find our alburgue a much grander and more costly affair than last night. Hopefully we will get to a campsite tomorrow. 27km and up and down which at 1700m seems unbelievable. The system may have failed in this case.