A Tourist's View: Part II The Basque Coast

In this part, I no longer get to play tour guide. Together we discovered Guipuzkoa and southern France visiting places new to all of us.

Saturday
Our plan included meeting friends at noon. On the way we stopped in Gernika. The last time the Casa de Juntas building was closed. This trip we had just enough time to see it. The building is quite beautiful and I especially enjoyed the stained glass ceiling. Of course it was nice to get some close up pictures of the original and the offspring famous Árboles de Gernika, the very important oak trees I talked about in my previous post.

From there we headed to Lekeitio where we found our friends from Vitoria, José, Rosa, and their girls. They had met Kevin and Lynne on a previous trip to the states when we were all in California together. It was nice to have them as our tour guides along the coast.

After walking around Leketio for a bit we began our drive along the coast. The scenery was amazing and the roads were quite curvy. Morgan learned the hard way that she needed to look out the window, not down at her DS. We went through several small towns along the coast and eventually stopped at Zarautz. It was nice to get out of the car, stretch our legs and find a meal. As it turns out, we happened upon a triathlon. It was a really nice course as the swim started in a neighboring town and finished on the beach of Zarautz. Our lunch spot was right along the rows of bikes. I'm not sure where the bike and run went exactly but with the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, it had to be a beautiful course.


We have noticed that they take their races seriously here. They have relatively short time maximums on their courses so that if the racer doesn't finish each event within a certain amount of time, the racer is disqualified and not allowed to finish. I suspect that makes it easier for the race officials and volunteers. Of course that would also be very disappointing for someone who has trained for a race and then doesn't get to finish it.

Following lunch The kids let out some steam on the beach and in a park.


Our travels continued on to San Sebastian. Parking and traffic were tight as always so we headed up Monte Igueldo to take in the spectacular views of San Sebastian below and a bit of amusement. From the top of the tower which was built in 1778 as a lighthouse, we had a great view of the city, the ocean and the amusement park. The girls took a ride on the roller coaster, known as the Montaña Suiza (not rusa). In the center of the tram is a man whose job is to handbrake the coaster throughout the ride. Can you imagine spending your entire day on a roller coaster, repeating the same ride? Another unique feature is the view of the Cantabrian Sea from the coaster set in the mountains. So, I guess if you have to ride a coaster all day long it helps to have amazing views.

Not far from San Sebastian we found our casa rural, Artola, in the mountains. It was in a great location overlooking the coast. We were welcomed by a herd of grazing sheep. The downstairs part is a sidrería, cider house, but it wasn't serving on Saturday as it's a small family run place and it's past season. After settling into our rooms, we headed down the mountain for dinner. We ate at Petritegi Sagardotegia cider house. The food was delicious and plentiful but the girls favorite part was catching the cider in the glass. There is an art to it and according to those who frequent these places, the cider tastes different if it is poured from far away and hits the bottom of the glass with a splash.

Sunday
After breakfast we headed to France. We visited a really cute town in the Basque region called San Juan de La Luz. The walk around town was beautiful yet much more touristy than any of the other places we have been. Many little souvenir shops and specialty shops selling "traditional" goods such as woven shoes and items made from striped fabrics that are typical of the Basque region. We also happened upon some sort of horse event as there was a parade of people on horseback dressed in traditional costume and marching their horses. We saw no graffiti on the walls of this French Basque community unlike what we have seen in much of the Spanish Basque region.

We then moved on to Hendaya where we stopped for lunch and to take in the views. It was there that we parted ways with our friends from Vitoria.

We decided to head home stopping for a quick photo shoot in Mutriku. One of the more interesting features we saw was a "natural" pool. They had built a wall in the ocean in a protected but relatively deep area. The tide naturally fills and cleans the pool daily. It was protected so safe for people of all ages to swim and big enough for lap swimming.

All in all it was a busy but very nice weekend of seeing new sights and sharing time with good friends.

This & That-Here & There

The past few weekends we have stayed closer to home but been busy nonetheless. I've added a map so you can see where these places are.

Beach Surprise in Algorta
We rode our bikes down to the Ereaga beach just past the Old Port area of Algorta on Sunday May 1 to find some really amazing sand sculptures. The artist was still there putting on the finishing touches. I don't know his story but he welcomes donations from passersby and certainly deserves them considering the attention he paid to details in his work.


Culture in Arrigorriaga
On May 7 we took a train to Arrigorriaga, a small town just outside of Bilbao. They were having their XVI International Clown Festival. We actually didn't see any clowns but we did catch an impressive marionette act, the Grannies from Austria who were 4 men dressed in drag as old hags. They were pretty funny as they took the observers on a tour including scaling a building (losing underwear in the process), "stealing" a bike and a car, along with other shenanigans. Dean and I agree that much of what they did would probably not be acceptable as a public family show in the US. Following that was the acrobatic team Circo Claxon in the pictures. They were quite impressive.


Hanging Out with Friends in Mundaka & Gernika
On Sunday we headed to Mundaka to visit Marina and her family. Marina lived in Madison last year attending High School at La Follette. We took the metro to Bilbao and then hopped on a slow train in the direction of Mundaka. It was an older train that reminded me of RENFE circa 1980's. The scenery was quite beautiful along the way. We got off in San Cristobal where we met up with Marina and her family. From there we started our hike to Mundaka. Not far into our journey we found the Torre Madariaga and museum of biodiversity. We learned about biodiversity in the world, and the birds and wildlife native to the Basque region. One of the coolest rooms was the animal photo room pictured below.


At the top of the tower there were telescopes where we could get a close up of the surrounding terrain. I believe the purpose was for bird watching but they must have all been napping as we didn't see any birds in the hills.

We continued our journey along the water as we approached Mundaka. Mundaka is a beautiful small town on the ocean. While there are people that live there full time it is a hotspot for tourism in the summer months. They are known for their great surfing. Pictured below is a white building on the beach. That's where Marina lives with her parents and her sister. We stopped there for lunch. They had balconies off of each of the rooms. Too small for patio furniture but nice to stand on and get some fresh air. What a great flat and location. I can imagine how relaxing it would be to come home from work and have views like that. The beach is in a cove-like area so the water is relatively warm there. After lunch we took a bit of a tour around the town. On the edge of the ocean was a chapel. The girls found a horse that took a liking to them, or at least to the attention they were giving it.


From Mundaka we grabbed the train heading back in the direction of Bilbao but stopping off in Gernika. Gernika was bombed by the Germans in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War and pretty much decimated. Hitler's airstrike was in solidarity with Franco's work to overthrow the Basque government. One surviving item is the oak tree. In years prior to the war, the Basque Assembly would gather under the oak tree to discuss issues of the region. The oak tree died of old age but the trunk has been preserved. Around the corner is another oak tree, an offspring, as its replacement. The tree of Gernika symbolizes the freedom of the Basque people and serves as a reminder of the past. Oak trees in this area are considered sacred and may not be removed. Pablo Picasso painted numerous pictures telling the story of the atrocities of the war and the bombing in this city. At this point, most everything in Gernika is new as the town had to be completely rebuilt after the war.


On the Run in San Sebastian
On the 14th we headed to San Sebastian. Dean was primed and ready for the half marathon on the 15th. We had a slow moving day on the 14th and just wandered around San Sebastian a bit to get oriented as to where we needed to be for the race on the 15th. San Sebastian is known for its tapas/pinxtos which are small appetizers you get in the bars and cafes. We've made meals out of that more than once. That evening we caught a really nice kid-oriented theater production. The Mariantoia Oliver Company is a four person act that combines dance, acrobatics and clowning around.


The following morning Dean ran and did quite well finishing in 1:40:49. The run was along the ocean for a large part of it so the scenery was nice and he felt the race was very well organized.

Taking a break in Hondarribia
Following the race we took a trip along the coast to Hondarribia, a small quaint town on the eastern border of Spain. It was an important shipping area for exports but is increasingly host to lots of tourism and has a port full of private yachts. The kids wrapped up their weekend on the beach playing in the sand and water a bit until they were just too cold with the wind. I took a stroll through town to get a flavor for life on the border of France.