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Camino: Etapa 3 – Zarautz to Deba
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Etapa 3: Zarautz to Deba
Distance: 23.2 km
Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009
Weather: Morning rain, partly cloudy and cool afternoon
Photos: 115 (24 selected for Google Map)
Notables: Getaria Txakoli vineyards; Ikurriñas in Zumaia; lonely gravel country road traversing the hills; wild flower field.

Etapa description continued after the break. Follow the flecha . . .

I like to walk about amidst the beautiful things that adorn the world.
~ George Santayana ~

Bear with me for these first few etapa entries – I took Santayana’s quote that I had written in my journal and ran with it.  All that is remaining in my early Camino journal entries are personal writings, daily Scripture recommendations, and notes on weather, daily expenditures, and photos.  I am mustering all the powers of my cognitive faculties to provide an accurate description of my Camino experience.  I spent three months preparing for the Camino but the only thing I wanted to do in the first two weeks was put one foot in front of the other or sit on a windswept hill in the Basque countryside.

There was one other thing I wanted on this day – Txakoli wine.   The third etapa begins in Zarautz and the next significant settlement is the important fishing town of Getaria.  The region surrounding the town is one of three Txakoli-producing wines in the Basque Country and unique in that vines are cultivated at a higher altitude than the other two varieties, Alavan and Biscayan Txakoli.  I took an alternative route that climbed a ridge high above Getaria and passed through numerous Txakoli vineyards.

Getaria Txakoli cultivation is spreading to nearby communities and I was hoping to find a bottle in Zumaia to enjoy at the Deba albergue.  Open stores are rare even on regular Sundays in Spain but this was Easter Sunday so I was left to photograph Zumaia locals on Sunday strolls and the numerous Ikurriñas.

I left Zumaia with no bottle of Txakoli to begin a long 13-kilometer walk to Deba.  It was a physically challenging stretch made all the longer because of what I had mentioned earlier – sitting on a windswept hill.  The route out of Zumaia climbed another range of hills that lead to quite possibly one of my favorite moments on the Camino.  The rains from the morning slog through the muddy Getaria vineyard paths had moved inland and the afternoon was blessed with blue skies and a brisk Atlantic wind.  The Camino leaves the main, asphalted Zumaia road and climbs through the coastal hills on a gravel cart track.  My only company was a herd of cattle across a ravine towards the sea and I was content to sit alongside the road for half an hour to boast morale after seeing but not tasting Txakoli.

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