30,813 steps – 20.27 kms (missing turn added at least 1 km)

We got out of bed early this morning after a sleepless night, didn’t even brush our teeth, and just started walking. We were exhausted before the day had even begun.

To leave town, we had to climb more than 100 stairs straight uphill, which felt especially cruel that early in the morning. But once we got moving, the day rewarded us with stunning ocean views for most of the walk. The coastline was absolutely beautiful!

Later in the day, when the route turned more rural, we were so focussed on keeping the pilgrims ahead of us we missed a sign. Three older gentlemen passed by us and suddenly became very animated trying to explain something important. Between our limited Spanish and their rapid-fire directions, we ended up pulling out ChatGPT to translate. Their message was very clear: “Keep walking and whatever you do, don’t turn left.”

Well…guess what we did.

We didn’t realize that was the left they meant. 😂

Part of today’s route also included some highway walking, which wasn’t our favourite section. By the time we made it into Castro Urdiales, we were completely wiped out. In Spain, dinner is traditionally served around 8:00 p.m., but there was absolutely no chance we were staying awake that long. Instead we wandered around town, had pintxos for dinner, followed by cheesecake, and were asleep by 8:00 p.m.

Camino life at its finest.

”The sea carves cliffs not through force, but through persistence.”