¡Hola desde Irún!

Let's hope that all the bad things have come to an end. We started off with a delay of one and half hours in Calgary. They fiddled with the toilets, and finally we left with toilets only on one side of the plane. We arrived late in London, but that was of no consequence because Jackie was at work anyways. We took the train in from Gatwick to London, and had to walk to Jackie's because of a stike in their tube system. That was a blessing in disguise, because all the walking and sunshine (believe it or not in London!) really helped us to combat jetlag. The GPS which Roman lent us was wonderful. We followed the indications and arrived at Somner Place Mews without getting lost. Without it, that would have been easy because the streets go in every which direction and it is very easy to lose your north. The area that Jackie lives in (Kensington) is just gorgeous as is neighbouring Chelsea which we had to walk through. You could easily imagine yourself dancing in the streets with Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, the curved streets with white colonaded houses. We found the key and were greeted by Annie, the cat. We didn't waste any more time indoor and started exploring the neighbourhood. She is just a few blocks away from the celebrated Hyde Park, so we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around in there. After a nice Indian supper, we hit the sack around 10:30. I couldn't sleep past 2:15, so I got up and finished off a small project that I hadn't had the time to finish at home. At 4:30, I gave it another try and managed to sleep another 4 hours. We got up feeling fairly refreshed and spent the rest of the day walking around - to Buckingham Palace, down the Mall (road leading up to the palace), Trafalgar square with Nelson's famous statue, then followed the Thames on the Thames walk until the Houses of Parliament (Big Ben) and Westminster Abbey, which was closed to visitors. We made a U-turn on the next bridge to find ourselves on the other side and continued admiring the buildings along the river. What a good choice that was. It totally altered the impression of London that I had when we visited the first time back then in the 80's. Walking in the streets can be a little unnerving because you always feel like you will be run over. They must have squashed one tourist too many, because at every street crossing, at your feet, in big letters, are the words "Look Right" or "Look Left". That really helps because your instincts are all wrong. We met Jackie at 7:00 for a nice Italian meal, sitting outside gazing at the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, where they kept the bonny price prisoner and where Henry VIII decapitated the wives he was tired of!

The next morning we were off for Biarritz. Our traveling luck followed us. We had to evacuate the airport because of a fire alarm! Thank goodness it was a false alarm and our plane left with only 5 minutes delay. We were pleasantly welcomed in Biarritz by Mary and Longinus, the Spanish friends we made on the Via de la Plata. That was a wonderful surprise. We didn't have to scratch our heads trying to figure out how to get to Hendaye, the last French town, and how to cross the border into Spain. We settled quickly in our hotel and went off to visit San Sebastian. It is noted for its beautiful beaches. The place was just bustling. We walked the entire length of the promenade along the beach, then went off to a nice little secluded restaurant. The only problem is that the street was cordoned off at the restaurant level for an oncoming parade. Everyone wanting to continue on their way parked in the restaurant parking lot, so we had a hell of a time parking. We were treated to a typical Basque meal - fish soup, bacalao (cod) served with spicy green peppers. This morning, we had to start our GR11 (Gran recorrida 11) in earnest. We walked from the hotel back into France, around the beaches of Hendaye, around the beaches of Hondarribia, and up to the lighthouse at Cabo Higuer. With great difficulty, we managed to crawl down to sea level and wet our walking sticks. We walked the part of the route that starts at the Cabo, back along the beach, and ended at our hotel (which is just two steps away from the route). Now, instead of having to walk 30 km tomorrow, we can look forward to walking only 23 (if we don't screw up like many preceding hikers have done). The forecast is for rain, but according to Mary, the weatherman absolutely cannot make a reliable forecast (just like the Calgary weathermen!). With a bit of luck we won't get soaked. Today we walked around 20 km and encountered a few sprinkles. Enough to make me take out my rain cape, but still too little, because I chose the drizzle to sweating inside the rain cape. Now my hairdo is full of unmanageable curly waves. Tomorrow we head for Vera de Bidasoa, where I will probably encounter an Internet Cafe, so, ¡Hasta la vista!