Mundaka!

Many of you have met Marina as she lived with us the past two summers. She is from a small town called Mundaka, in the Basque region of Spain. Upon leaving Madrid we headed up to spend a few days with her and her family in their hometown. Mundaka is well known for surfing and beautiful beaches so we made the most of that. This first photo is a view from our balcony that looks out towards the beach across the street. It was well located as Marina's family lives across the street on the beach side.

Mundaka is small enough that you can basically walk the whole town in 10 minutes. It has a small grocery store, several bars, a surf shop that has been open for 30 years (owned and operated an Australian who came to Mundaka as a surfer and made it his home), and great views from just about everywhere you go. To the left are some of the sites around town.

During our time we made use of the water. In addition to swimming, we rented kayaks and paddle boards. It was Dean's first time trying out SUP, as balance is not something he is particularly confident with. Our new Australian assistant actually got him to stand which was quite impressive.  Below are some photos of our water adventures.


We also did a bit of sea kayaking. It was harder than we expected with the current and ocean waves but still a good time.

As luck would have it, in addition to a great place for water adventures, it was time for the town celebrations of Mundaka. They had a small carnival set up with rides. The girls took advantage of the bumper cars and the bungee trampoline. Kids and people were out and about everywhere. One evening there was also a "parade" sort of thing. What was interesting is that people would line the streets and as the parade car came by, they would then join in. It wasn't just a parade for watching but rather for everyone to participate in as they wished.

We also had the opportunity to see Marina dance a couple of traditional Basque dances as part of the festivities. As is tradition with most celebrations around here, everything lasts all night. Marina's dance group had a mobile bar that opened at night. The dancers took turns tending bar and Marina had the 3-6 am shift one day and 12-3am shift the next. It was brutal for her with that and also trying to spend time with us.

It was a great visit and nice to get to know her parents and her town a bit better. We look forward to a couple more adventures with Marina before we head back to Wisconsin. 

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.