Brave, strong, confident.or overly optimistic and stupid?!either way, weve only gone and got ourselves to Spain, with the intention of walking the GR11 trail; a 840km, with 39000m elevation, hike from Cabo Higuer on the Atlantic coast, through the Pyranese mountains, to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast.
Yep, thats right, we left home Sunday 10th July, on the 16:45 ferry to Santander, and enjoyed a smooth, overnight sailing. In fact, after only around 30mins out of Plymouth, we saw a couple of dolphins swim by. Excited by this, we decided to join the 6am party (only to actually be on top deck around 5 as our phones had automatically moved forward an hour but the ferry stayed on British time!) in hope wed see some more dolphin & whale action. And for once, we actually did! We spotted several whale blows over the couple hours that morning, with some relatively close, although never close enough to actually see the whale. Our new whale watching friends told us though, from the spurt of water, they were most likely Fin Whales ? and well, its the closest weve to seeing any whale action so well take it!
After a sloppy breakfast (we wouldnt the ferry cooked breakyor the coffee), a nap and more ocean watching, we soon arrived into Santander by 2pm. A quick bag scan and passport check, and bang!, there we were, standing in the hot heat, in Espaol!
After finding our hostal ‘Pension Figon and managing our first broken Spanish conversation checking in, we ventured out to explore Santander, but boy it was hot (I think the heat will be the main takeaway of this trip!) We did find the tourist info centre and obviously managed to pull off the Spanish look and language enough that the guy continued to show us the map and talk in Spanish for quite a while; Only when he asked us something and we looked blank did he then ask where we were from, seeming excited he could then practice his English. Some further wondering and exploring occurred, before finding a place for dinner (one with a sign clearly stating they had plant based burgers!), a quick shop and bed.
Waking early ready for phase 2 of the ‘getting there part, we managed to order breaky accidentally successfully in Spanish and take another brief
wonder around, before getting our Alsa bus from the centres bus station all the way to Irun (a speedy 3.5h over the midday god for aircon!) Similarly to yesterday, we headed to our hostel first (Pension Lizaso) to check in, and then hit the heat again to explore the town. Not finding an obvious info centre, we just wondered and found an impressive (and cool) church, a pretty riverside walk and plenty of bustling shops and bakeries. We are struggling however, being vegetarian, with menus. So whats a safer bet and more delicious then an Indian!
So, with the ‘getting there part now pretty much done, I guess we better stop talking about it and actually try to do it! As we have a second night here in Irun, we are going to catch a taxi out in the morning to the actual coast at Cabo Higuer and start walking inland back to Irun the very first, small, part of the GR11; a tester if you will, to dial in our bags, straps and shoes, and safely feel how the heat will affect us. Then if all is ok, well head out of Irun Thursday
