I knew at dinner last night that shifting north was the right decision. I wandered around Irun and stopped at a bar or two and at 8:30 found a friendly looking restaurant so I stopped in. I was the first guest but it was full within a half hour. As if the staff wasn't nice enough, the family sitting next to me (couple with three kids between 12 & 20) were above and beyond welcoming and even tried to pick up my dinner tab!
I found the camino with no problem. It's weird that on three of the five routes I've been on, the first day has the reputation for being the hardest. but let me tell you: It was goose bump spectacular. The first hour out of Irun was a big climb and the view of the city was incredible.
Days like today make me glad that I don't bother researching the day ahead because the surprise of what came next made it all the better. Four hours or so into the day I came across a really dramatic looking cove. I was several hundred feet up but could see and hear some lively bars down by the water. I was certain that the trail went all the way around the back of the cove and was confused when the yellow arrows pointed down a long, steep set of stairs. They went between houses and through people's yards all the way down to the water. The yellow arrows pointed down a ramp to a floating dock. Sure enough, for 70 cents a small ferry boat pulled up and hauled a bunch of us to the other side of the cove. Once I got in to San Sebastian I looked it up and the town on the cove is called Pasaia and has a very colorful history.
On the far side of the cove an even longer and steeper set of stairs went up and the trail ran along the north side of the hill with beautiful views of the Bay of Biscay.
Finally the trail led down to San Sebastian. No drab suburbs or outskirts - right from the scenic trail into the heart of the scenic city.
A lot of people consider San Sebastian to be the culinary capital of the western world. I'm going to do some research and find some good eats.
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