I got up this morning and decided to do a practice hike to make sure I could get out of town tomorrow morning without getting lost. I wanted to hike about 8 kilometers up to Santuario Guadalupe. This is a picture of Santuario Guadalupe as I was starting to walk up the hill to reach it.
This is a picture of Santuario Guadalupe after I got to the top of the hill.
It is a church and there was a mass going on when I got there. I had been to an earlier mass in Irun and I didn’t want to overdue the mass thing.
This is the main altar piece in the church in Irun where I went to mass this morning.
What a beautiful church. The Mass and the sermon were in Spanish so I didn’t get a lot out of it. But it gave me some time to pray for Anna. She is having a really tough time just now and if anybody has a spare prayer please send it her way. After Mass I lit a candle 🕯 and said a prayer for everyone on my prayer list. I was surprised that the 9:00 AM mass on Sunday morning was so sparsely attended. I have heard that Catholics in Spain, especially younger Catholics, have abandoned the Church in droves. When I attend mass in Spain I am usually the youngest person in the church. And I am no spring chicken.
After I got up to Santuario Guadalupe I took a break and then hiked back down the hill to Irun. This is counterintuitive, but it is much easier and safer going up a hill then it is going down a hill.
As I was walking through Irun to get back to my hotel I spotted this sign.
I think I mentioned in a blog post last year that this is the sign for a dentist’s office. How strange. It looks like the snake in a martini glass 🍸. A snake in a martini glass sounds more like an attorney than a dentist. But this is Spain, so who knows.
Beautiful flowering bushes in Irun.
I kept walking and ran across this guy.
Everyone in Irun seems to like him, so he couldn’t be an attorney. Then I remembered seeing this banner when I was at church this morning.
The statute is Brother Alberto Larzabal Michelena, Irun’s favorite son. He died in 1936 and the people of Irun are pushing the Pope hard to beatify Alberto. It seems odd that it took the good people of Irun over 80 years to push for his beatification. But this is Spain and I don’t think people in Spain are in a big hurry to get anything done, including beatifications.
It is my understanding that if you lead a very good life and someone with friends in high places at the Vatican lobbies for you, the Pope will beatify you. Once you are beatified people can pray to you and ask you to help them. Beatification is the first step on the road to sainthood. You can move from beatification to sainthood if a miracle or two is attributed to you. A miracle would be something like the 1986 Mets winning the World Series, which means that Tom Seaver is a saint.
Between the hike and trying to figure out what’s up with Alberto, I had worked up quite an appetite. I stopped by a very nice place called Hemingway’s. I was dressed in my hiking clothes and had worked up quite a sweat 😓 and just a little bit of an odor. So I decided that a small table in the corner of the patio would be the perfect place for me to eat dinner. A young waiter quickly approached me and told me I could not sit on the patio. I completely understood why he did not want to serve me and I apologized profusely and tried to scuttle away. He stopped me and told me to wait while he talked to his manager. In two shakes of a lamb’s tail he was back and leading me to a lovely table in the middle of the patio. The waiter, Alessandro, introduced himself and asked me where I was from. When I told him I was from Denver, Colorado he was amazed that someone who lives in a beautiful place like Colorado would travel to Spain. He said I must have a very compelling reason to leave Colorado and travel to Spain. When I told him I was going to start the Camino Del Norte tomorrow he laughed and said I must be crazy. This kid has only known me for five minutes and he has already pegged me as crazy. Usually it takes people a lot longer than five minutes to reach that conclusion. This is one perceptive waiter.
I ordered a large Radler and asked to see a menu in English. Alessandro said there was no need for a menu, he would order my meal. He asked if I liked meat or fish, and when I told him fish he said he would take care of everything, and he did.
A little fish hush puppy before the first course.
Second course was a tomato and smoked monkfish salad.
Third course was a pan friend cod topped with pimentos and green peppers with a delicious tomato purée sauce.
Third course was cheesecake.
What a wonderful meal. Alessandro made it more than a meal, it was an experience.
Tomorrow I will get up early and start this Camino. I plan to walk about 18 kilometer to Pasajes de San Juan.
I hope everyone had a restful Sunday.
Good night from Irun, Spain.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 
I would fly to Spain just for that yummy dessert. Spent a,m. with Anna, she is doing better . Had dentist appointment so your dad spending p.m with her. Doing French dip for supper.
Good night from good old U.S.A.
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