Eneko and I pretty much had a full day, we left Beasain around 9 and didn't get back until 8:30 pm! We took the high way all the way to St. Jean de luz (or San Juan de la luz in Spanish) in the French Basque Country; yes, I started off in France! It is a beautiful port city, so amazingly picturesue. White buildings around 3 or four stories, red trim, lovely! We walked through the center before getting caught in the rain and finding shelter in a cafe. Seeing signs in French took me back to Paris but it was even cooler because there was the mix of Euskera as well. We took a walk along the boardwalk along the Cantabric sea, oh goodness that is beautiful town! Then off in the car just a ways up to get out to walk along the docks towards a castle like sttructure before realizing our path didn't connect to it. We were also greeted by a bit more rain, but that was the last time for the day. We managed to scare away the rain the rest of the day by always keeping an umbrella on us.
Then we went to Hendaye, another coastal town on the French side. Beautiful again, I absolutely love the house styles. Such a warm and happy feeling to the place!
Hondarribia was our first stop in Spain. From here on it was all sun. Were we parked the car and went for a good walk all over. We passed a school where tons of people were gathered around a reccess style soccer match that had all animated. We took a walk along the boardwalk again to the city center... I've seen more of the sea these five months than any other point in my life I think! We even passed by a nursery school playing music in Euskera, oh the linguist in me was on such a language high! We toured the center a bit, lovely atmosphere, Euskera signs everywhere. I think here the houses were even prettier, four to five stories with white walls and red, blue or green trim. Evne better was when they had flowers on their balconies or Ikurrinas (the flag of Euskal Herria). The old part of the city was of course stone streets and houses, remains of outer walls even! The center square offered a breathtaking view out over the city on towards the sea.
What I love about the old parts of the cities is the feel. You have this old environment with newer shops and bars but these new businesses within the older structure don't take away from the ambiance. And then above it all are residences, I couldn't even imagine living in such a place! It'd be like a dream at first!
From there we went to San Sebastian where we walked a ton! We started off near the old part of the city but did a beach tour first, walking along two of the three beaches, each offering a completely different sight. Walking along the path was awesome: there were people jogging, walking, huge waves crashing upon the walls, the taste of salt in the air, the infinite sea before you and the beautiful city behind. We turned the mountain bend to reach Playa de la Concha which gave view to eight story apartments, some of the most expensive in all of the Basque Country, maybe even Spain (?).
I don't think a single child was in school that day because I think we passed by every single elementary classroom out on a fieldtrip that day! I don't blame them, it was a beautiful day. We then proceeded to explore the old part of the city. There we had pintxos. This is the best place for pintxos, Eneko was so excited to bring me to this part! The bars were lined with sooo many options, poor indecisive me didn't know what to do! I somehow managed to choose two and they were delicious and so was the one I had at the second bar. American bars need pintxos for sure!
We then went back to the beach to walk along toward s the Peines del Viento, the combs of the wind, three sculptures that look like combs sticking out of te rocks. The ocean waves were intnese near it and it was actually a piece of art I could understand. Then we went on the funicular, a sort of lift that took us to the tallest hill from which we saw the most spectacular view of the city! It was worth it for sure!
Back in the car we drove to several more fishing beach happily beautiful towns like Orio and Zarautz. Then on to Getaria, a smaller fishing town, where we parked by the docks and wandered all around. My favorite part was the plaza. Here there were people of all ages gathered together, talking, playing and having a blast. There I saw my first fronton, a sort of wall set up for playing this game where you throw a ball at the wall and hit it back as it bounces back to you. Usually done with a bat of some sort, these guys were playing bare handed! From here we went to Zumaia and ended up with a trip from the coast to Azpeitia and the Santuario de Loyola; huge, grey stone, old and impressive.
by this point the two of us were spent! No wonder, it had been 12 hours of driving, walking, exploring and excitement! We came back to a delicious dinner by Eneko's mom, Asun, complete with great conversation again... pretty sure I crashed as soon as I hit the bed!
