Itxapse, Basque Country
last night in Spain
01.06.2018
20 °C
We have made it through to Itxapse, just near to San Sebastian and Bilbao. It is just the best way to complete our time in Spain. The weather continues to be a pain, and although we drove around the coast with just breathtaking scenery, it hasn't done it justice unfortunately. However if you like endless golden beaches, fantastic surf, usually golden weather, you can shop till you drop, amazing food, great bike tracks - then this is a place I would recommend. Our trip today took Sal through Bilbao and also another city Elbar. It is really quite stressful to drive through such huge cities and I think it is because we set the sat nav to avoid motorways. Today we have been more clever with our navigation and studiously followed the N634 highway, which is a national road. Quite often it is running along side the motorway. We are working the various options we have to tailor our trip to our specific likes and dislikes which has come with experience now. By the time we compare the routes on the sat nav, the map, the via michelin app, the acsi app and google maps we have a pretty good idea of where and how we will make our way to the next destination!
I have some regrets about not spending time in Bilbao as it looked really great. However the logistics of it all seem abit much. I am not that interested in seeing inside the Guggenheim, but would love to see the building. Oh well cant have it all. No other regrets except the impracticality of getting to the south of Spain. I can leave that for another trip and do it at leisure. My enduring memory of Spanish roads will be about speed bumps and roundabouts - 53 today negotiated. There are lots of pilgrims on the road first thing and this morning was heavy fog. One man had a flashing headlight on, which was good as they seem to prefer wearing dark colours.
The campsite that we have chosen for tonight is really in a very steep area overlooking the sea. Signposts are not a strong point here and I have lost count of the sites that we approach thinking that we really must be in the wrong place before getting there, only to find that a site emerges at the end of a seemingly deserted road. As I said we are in Basque country, so a different language. There is a strong political awareness here and banners and flags etc proclaiming that 'this is not Spain-but Basque country'. But the young men at the camp are just lovely. We complimented him on his English and said our Spanish was poor, he replied that 'we were guests' so gracious.
Once we had settled in and had a siesta after the drive, we decided on exploring. Absolutley not able to ride bikes here, so walking the only option. We were given instructions how to make our way out to the peninsular to see a spectacular cliff. It was quite some trek, despite being just 5 km, as steep and slippery. Still pleased we have done it and was worth the effort.
Tomorrow we are going to cross the border again, into France. Our intention is to stay at a camp for a few days and rest. On the 7th we will make our way to Pau. Feels like a turning point in the trip, and now casting our eyes towards home and the various hurdles to be crossed on that journey.
Posted by Sallyj66 12:26 Archived in Spain Comments (3)