Day 18 - Orio

We have been on the move every day since we started out in the camper van, so today we decided we would stay put in a lovely caravan park and have a little down time, relaxing and doing the chores of clothes washing.

We met a lovely english couple from Manchester - Nancy & Bob, camping opposite us, and they have been (kinda) touring northern Spain.  They have spent the last 5 days in Bilbao though as the clutch went on their camper van.  They told us a little about the area - having stayed at the next beach the previous day.

We started our days adventures with a promise to the kids of a swim at the beach and play in the playground after walking into the old town of Orio and visiting the tourist information centre.  We were glad we did, as the lady was very helpful, and we also saw our first pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago or The Way of St James.  At the information centre we got maps of Orio, Zarautz (the town along the coast we want to walk to), and also San Sebastian - and how to get there on the train.

Pilgrims passing through Orio walking the Camino, are walking the Camino del Norte route - the northern or coastal route.  It is one of many different recognised ways of reaching Santiago del Compostela.  There is no real start point for the pilgrimage as in medieval times people used to start from their own front door.  However, the most popular modern day route - often referred to as the traditional route, commences in Saint Jean Pied de Port which is on the French side of the Pyrenees.  This route is approximately 500 miles or 780 kilometres in length, and passes many monuments, churches and historical remains as it ventures through the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela.  I am very keen to make the pilgrimage myself one day.

After a walk through the old town of Orio, the kids were keen for their rewards of beach and playground.  We stopped for - what is becoming ritual like, baguettes for everyone and we munched on them as we walked around town and ventured the kilometre or so back to the Orio Kampina.

Another chat with Nancy and Bob, and Kristie was excited to find that Nancy had had someone write down in Basque - the language of the area, how to order a glass of "dry" wine.  She has had difficulties conveying this since we arrived in Europe.  I snapped a photo of the note and I'm sure it will get good use while we are in the Basque region.

It was then off the beach and playground.  The water was cold and everyone seems to be surfing mad here, surfing in what I would consider not very good waves.  Not breaking left to right (or vice versa), they were just dumping waves at the shoreline.  Says he - the surfer.  NOT!

On the way back from the beach, the Basque note got put to use immediately.  We sat down at a local bar where the kids had icy poles, Kristie the local wine and I, a local cerveza (beer).  

And that was pretty much our lazy day.  Still not that early to bed, as we seem to not eat until quite late.  Its the Spanish influence.