The Street of Oil Sardines (Camino del Norte 2)

The pilgrim's day begins early; in my hostel, there was commotion from 6 AM. A mobile alarm, whispers, the rustling of bags, and then a flashlight erratically flickering around the room. I turned on the light; better to face the end with horror, etc.

Just a few minutes later, I was also up and ready to go. At 7 AM, we set off into the dark night. Spain lies far more to the west than Germany (and still in the same time zone), which is why the sun rises and sets nearly an hour later than in Berlin, meaning it was only getting light here after 8 AM and darkening after 8 PM.

The path led again through the hills along the coast. Flora and fauna instead of cafés and croissants. Halfway along the way was the fishing village of Orio, with a medieval church and tourist infrastructure. A sardine can art installation and some industrial wastelands, presumably former canning factories, reminded me of the heyday of fishing. For centuries, the Basques were also a significant whaling nation, as evidenced by the city coat of arms and murals since Bayonne.

After not even five hours, I had already reached my daily goal: Zarauz, far too early. The town featured an oversized 2 km city beach, a terribly unremarkable beachfront promenade, and a very beautiful old town. Historically, Zarauz is also a spa town and closely associated with names like Isabella II, Queen Fabiola of Belgium, Marlene Dietrich, and Jackie Kennedy.

The pilgrim hostel was closed... without any reasons given... (later I found out that the accommodation is only open in July and August.)

A notice directed me to the neighboring house, where a business-savvy elderly lady offered a room for stranded pilgrims. Doña Josefina warmly welcomed me and showed me the room. Everything seemed a bit aged, especially the guest bathroom was dusty. There was no internet. Nevertheless, Doña's 25 euros helped her maintain her large apartment for herself and her, I suspect, elderly husband in need of care.

I spent the afternoon at the beach reading excessively long Wikipedia articles about Isabella II of Castile, the first female regent of united Spain, and about Queen Fabiola of Belgium.

In the evening, I enjoyed some pintxos and a second beer at my new favorite bar, Arrano, after all, it was Saturday.

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The thanks for the borrowed title goes to John Steinbeck, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 1962.