Day 9 – Bakio – San Juan de Gastgatxe

15.5 km ~ 21, 865 steps

Song of the Day: Whenever God Shines His Light – Van Morrison

Got to sleep nice and late in such a nice room in our AirBnB and then off we set to walk to the famous San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. If we thought this was an off day…hah. Most people if they come out to see this take the bus from either Bakio or Bermeo right to the start of the walk down to the church. As Maverick can’t take a bus, we walked. I thought he it can’t be bad we’re walking pros now. It was bad. Lots of rolling hills with steep parts but it is so beautiful. So lush and green and humid which honestly is a welcome change from the dry, dusty wheat we had just been walking through before Logroño.

I was hoping the clouds would burn off for our time there, but it stayed cloudy. Not that that was a big deal because this structure is stunning in any weather. Just to think of how it was built and why it was built and just wow. And then also knowing some very cool people have been in this exact spot – my Game if Thrones fans I’m talking Emilia Clarke and Peter Dinklage and Kit Harrington.

A direwolf takes Dragonstone

The views are simply breathtaking. The ocean and the cliffs make it feel like you’re in Ireland or something. Of course, I rang the bell upon reaching the top and the tiny church there. And then we headed back to our home for now, though the walk back seemed much easier.

I took our awesome host, Cian’s, recommendation of where to eat and had a delicious lunch. We spent the rest of the day simply relaxing and I tried not to worry too much about tomorrow’s trip back to Bilboa and Logroño.

The ball bought in Estella…many adventures to come with this one including being dropped from Cian’s fourth floor balcony into a bucket of paint
Bakio boardwalk