Urederra

It's become clear that I'm just not able to keep up with the blog. We have been very busy, often out from morning until very late at night. We didn't completely forget about July 4th though. In fact, we spent it together, just the four of us on a wonderful hike. We drove almost 2 hours to Urederra in Navarra, Spain. It's an area I have never visited before and it's beautiful.

We went to the Nacedero del Urederra which is a national park and it’s part of the bigger Parque Natural de Urbasa-Andía chain in Navarra. The best time to go is in the early spring when there is more water running than what was there at this point but it was still incredibly beautiful.  

We first checked in at the information booth where they were surprised to find out we were from the states. Apparently there are very few folks from the states that have made their way there, although they did say the numbers are growing due to the photos that have made their way to the Internet. It took us about 3-4 hours to hike the whole thing mostly because of stopping to take pictures. I can't explain how beautiful it was but below is a slideshow of the highlights of what we saw along the way.
 

Necedero del Urederra - Kizoa Video Maker

As you can see from the photos it is a series of waterfalls and pools along the hike. The word Urederra in Basque means beautiful water. The blue color of the water was amazing. I have never seen water so clear and blue except in pictures of tropical places I have yet to visit. Despite the long drive the kids said it was worth it because of the incredible beauty. I hope to get a few more of these excursions in before we head back to the states.

Costa Vasca: Lekeitio y los alrededores

The weekend of April 9-10 we joined another family for an excursion to Lekeitio, along the Basque coast. We left Saturday morning and headed straight for the beach, well with the exception of a few missed turns and re-routings it was straight to the beach.


Most of this story we will tell in pictures. This first set gives you an idea of the beauty of this small city. It is a port town. Many of the homes have beautiful ocean views. As you will notice there is one house with extra view. Think skylight without the glass. It appears they had a fire which is unfortunate but I suspect with the views that they had, they will rebuild. While the day was sunny, the winds were strong so it wasn't as warm as it looks. After some time at the beach, we walked around the town, stopped for some food, and then went back to the beach.

Across from the town is an island. When the tide is low, which it was after lunch, you can cross over to it, well at least if you have a swimsuit. The girls made it over and climbed the stairs. The water is freezing, although you wouldn't think so from seeing the girls in it. There is a rock wall that is supposed to offer another option for reaching the island however there were parts that were broken and worn away by the water. Since the adults didn't have suits, we decided to not risk getting soaked.


Our friends Patricia (mom), Eusebio (dad), and their two daughters that go to school with Maia and Morgan were great company.


We stayed in Kurtxia a casa rural (country house) that was quite lovely. We had great views of the city from our window as well. Breakfast in the morning was really good and the owner, Xabier, was nice enough to give me the recipe for the very yummy lemon breakfast cake. 


By Sunday it had cooled off quite a bit and appeared to be an on and off rainy sort of day. Since we had gotten cool by the end of Saturday we decided to venture inland a bit on our way home. We visited a waterfall and took a short hike in the Gizaburuaga area. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains, although the winding roads aren't meant for people with a weak stomach.

It was a great weekend and we look forward to our next excursion.

Excursions in Euskadi

We decided to rent a car for the weekend and head out on our first official excursion. Of course at the time we reserved the car we didn't plan on three out of four of us being quite ill during the week. Arming ourselves with cold meds and a sense of adventure, we crossed our fingers and headed out the door.

Our plan was a combination of sightseeing and seeing friends along the way. We began our journey around 10am, a car full of snacks, cameras in hand, and a GPS. We drove along the coast to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. The drive was quite nice although the highways were curving around through the mountains so not the best for those with a tendency towards motion sickness.

We were most of the way there when the views caught our eye and we had to stop for a photo shoot. We were in the small town of Bakio. It was a really nice area and seemed to be the perfect place for a vacation home by the ocean. While it isn't far from Bilbao, it didn't appear to be as easily connected to the big city as where we are living; a car or bus ride away. These first pictures are what we saw.

We continued our journey along the coast guided by our GPS. Most of the time that works well. However, this time it took us, as it turns out, past our destination and to where the highway ends, literally. Apparently it has been closed for a couple of years due to fallen rock. We pulled over, got out, and could see the island we were trying to reach. This time guided by our gut we backtracked and found a parking area where we could catch a not very well marked trail.

As you can see the views were spectacular. The staircase consists of approximately 230 stairs. That part really wasn't bad at all though. At the top is a small church that dates back to the 10th Century. We were lucky enough to enter. In most cases the building is closed.  In addition to the church, there is a nice covered area with stone picnic tables and a fireplace. You may have noticed in the pictures that Morgan is ringing a bell. It is supposed to be good luck to ring the bell three times and make a wish. (My wish was for no more trips to the clinic...)

I have to admit, it took me all weekend to learn to pronounce Gaztelugatxe, a word in Euskera. Since I worked so hard at it, I thought you would be interested to know its meaning. Gaztelu is castle and aitz is rock or bad. So it is either Castle on the Rock or Bad Castle. You can choose.

After spending some time taking in the views at the top we headed back down. The underneath part of the stone bridge that connects the island to the land has two arches. You can catch those in the pictures as well. We spent about an hour climbing around on the rocks, looking at snails and finding the tiniest shells ever. The last part was the hardest. Climbing back up to the parking area. I don't really know why it was so hard. Perhaps because that part of the walk is much less inspiring.

Once back at the car we needed to head to Guernika where we met up with Marina, an exchange student who lived in Madison last year. She is from Mundaka, just outside of Guernika. She and her parents took us to a restaurant where we sat overlooking the countryside and filled our bellies with roasted chicken, salad and french fries. The setting was beautiful and the company outstanding. It was really nice to meet her parents and to see Marina again, only this time in her home setting.

Following our meal we went to Bosque de Oma.  It was a long walk in but once we found the painted forest it was well worth it. The tree trunks were painted by Agustín Ibarrola, a Basque artist who lives in the village below the forest. We aren't sure in which one of the houses but you can see the village in the pictures below.

In any case, this is by far the most unique forest I have ever ventured through. In addition to the painted trees, there are triangle numbered markers on the ground. The idea is that you stand on the marker looking in the direction it is pointing and from there you see the works of art created by Ibarrola. He managed to paint tree trunks such that looking at groups of them together you see a variety of shapes and designs. Very curious. My suspicion is that he occasionally must return to the forest to repaint as the weather must wear away at his art work.

After locating the 40+ markers we made our way down the hill and walked through the small town below. The total trip was a couple of hours at least. Lots of walking but well worth. We ended our visit with a really nice bar on the beach near the ocean just across from Mundaka. We look forward to our next visit with Marina and her parents when we hope to visit her home town and other beautiful cities along the way.

We returned home Saturday night quite late, exhausted, but energized by our excursion. We knew we needed sleep as Sunday we had plans to visit our friends in Victoria. We definitely were getting the most out of our rental car.

Sunday came fast. Our first stop was Murgia, a small town on the way to Vitoria. It was there that we met up with our friends Rosa, José, Sara and Marta. They took us up to the top of a rocky mountain, Las Penas de Oro where we found Nuestra Señora de Oro, a small church, accompanied by more outstanding views. (For those of you who don't speak Spanish, you can translate those sites pasting the URL in at translate.google.com. It's not perfect but will give you the gist.)

Following our mountain top pictures, we headed to Vitoria where we visited Salburua nature preserve. The museum describing how they restored the area was quite interesting and we could have definitely used more time to explore it. Unfortunately they close at 2 for lunch and reopen later in the evening. This is typical of most businesses. I find it amazing that Spain has continued to preserve so much of this tradition. It is also not possible to shop on Sundays as nearly everything is closed. Fresh bread and pastry is available, video rentals, movie theaters, museums, etc. However grocery/food stores, clothing stores and the like are all closed.

Following the nature preserve we headed for lunch and spent the rest of the day just enjoying our time together. The girls really welcomed the opportunity to spend time with Sara and Marta, who are 12 and 10.

The drive home was uneventful but most importantly, we knew this was the beginning. We hope to make the most of our time here and enjoy similar excursions as we get to know more about the area in which we are living.