I’m not going to lie, this might have been one of my favorite days yet. Why? Because it had everything I love: hiking, group bonding, some truly jaw-dropping views, and lots of nature. We started the morning with breakfast and met our tour guide Garai. Apparently, he wasn’t going to be our guide, but our original guide got called for an interview related to the big Euro futbol match happening today (I guess that may be more exciting than showing us around lol). But honestly, I’m so glad things worked out the way they did because Garai was incredible. He was funny, super knowledgeable, and casually spoke five languages. FIVE. He grew up speaking Basque, learned English in school, and then just went ahead and added Spanish, French, and German to the list like it was no big deal.

We hopped on a bus heading to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, and along the way, Garai gave us a tour of the surrounding towns. We even stopped at a lookout point to take in the views of the river meeting the ocean. When we got to San Juan, we walked behind a restaurant to catch our first real glimpse of the island, and it was already stunning. Then Garai gave us a little warning: the hike was going to be rough with steep hills and lots of steps. At first, it didn’t seem so bad, we started with a steep downhill that felt like a breeze, but then came the stairs. All 240 of them. Straight up. My legs were questioning my choices, but the energy stayed high. We cheered each other on and made it all the way to the top, and the view? Worth. Every. Step. You’re standing on this tiny island surrounded by ocean, cliffs, and sky. Fun fact: This very spot was used in filming an episode of Game of Thrones. The hike back meant going up the steep hill we cruised down earlier, which suddenly felt like a mountain, but we made it! It ended up being around a two-mile round trip with a good bit of elevation around 750ft. Note to self for next time: maybe leave the jeans and cute top at home for a hike like this. While I did get some great photos at the top, athletic shorts and a tank would’ve made the walk a bit more comfortable.

We got back on the bus and headed to Bermeo, a charming little coastal town for lunch. It turns out Bermeo has a pretty cool history, it was once the capital of Biscay and a major fishing port. Even today, fishing is still a big part of its identity. The streets were colorful and inviting. We wandered around, tried some pintxos and then Nora and Dr. Borovetz treated us to ice cream. I got dark chocolate and mint chocolate chip, both were so good I would love to go back and try all of the flavors.

Then we made our way to Bosque de Oma, also known as the Painted Forest. It was created by the Basque artist Agustín Ibarrola back in the 1980s. However, the original forest died, but it was redone more recently. It has painted colorful shapes, faces, and patterns directly onto the trees. When you stand in certain spots, the painted lines line up to form larger images; it’s like stepping into a forest-sized optical illusion. We were told it would be a short walk to the art… which turned out to be 1.8 miles just to get to the beginning. But honestly, it didn’t feel that long because we were all yapping. The art itself was super cool. Even when you didn’t stand in the proper place for the full image, the colors and patterns were still so pretty and fun. On the way back, we added another 2.6 miles to the count. By the end of the night, we had walked 24,000 steps, about 10.3 miles in total. My legs were definitely feeling it, but I am so happy we got to explore and hike.

-Paige Colson