This is a big catch up from the long boat journey.
BASQUE COUNTRY
We said goodbye to our Mel Gibson themed hotel room and left
San Sebastian promptly. Arriving it
Zarautz the surf was slightly smaller than the previous day but still good and
clean. I paddle out and got some nice
waves including a long left. Unfortunately
I also managed to lose my finger splint (the expensive one I got made at Bupa
for surfing). I had some back up splints
in the car so that is what I used so I could go out for another session and
surf more. In the sun and nice waves it
was pretty epic.
I met Maria back on the beach. We checked out the little castle which had a
restaurant run by a local celeb chef but unfortunately it was fully booked
until 3. So we carried on to Getaria
along the coastal road a short hop away.
This was a great little town. We
found a locals place where we had a menu for 10 Euros each and included 3
courses and Basque cider. The main
course was grilled fish which is the specialty of the town. Feeling quite full we had a wander down
towards the port. On the eve of the vote
for Scottish Independence the support as evident everywhere. This was clearly a very Basque town.
We continued along the coast road until Zumania before getting
the motorway. We passed a couple of nice
surf spots en route. The motorway to
Mungia was not so great as the bendy motorways required concentration.
We found the rural BnB quite easily thanks to Maria chatting
to the locals. We arrived there and were
let in by a labourer doing some work.
The room was pretty nice and the area rural. We headed off to Bakio for a surf. The waves were quite a bit smaller and
breaking close to shore. Unfortunately
the session was over pretty quickly as I almost snapped my board at the nose
and was all creased. Ironically this
board came from Bakio and nearly ended its life there. We finished up in the bar for a few drinks
and some food.
BILBAO TO SANTANDER
The next day we headed early to Bilbao and parked up near
the Guggenheim. We had a walk around
checking the architecture, football stadium and centre of town. We had some great pintxos on one of the
streets with many bars- this included sea urchin which was great. We headed off to watch a bit of the Red Bull
bridge diving competition which was going on by the Guggenheim. However needing to get to Santander we didn’t
hang around too long.
There was a bit of traffic leaving Bilbao and also getting
into Cantabria. However we made good
time passing some scenic points on the motorway. The entrance to Santander is hardly
glarmourous especially as I headed straight into the industrial area. At the second attempt I drove by memory to
the place which repaired my board last year.
Turns out the board is quite serious and I will definitely need some professional
help! Unfortunately I could not get it
done in time- although I know they do a good job and the 40 euro they quoted me
is much cheaper than equivalent in England.
Post board stop we headed to Liencres beach where I had a
surf. Waves were quite small and weak
but as the last surf of the trip I needed to make the most of it. Maria enjoyed the beach which is in a
national park and has plenty of interesting rocks.
We headed to our motel style hotel and checked in, before
going into Santander. After parking underground we wander around the town. In
the first bar we had some pintxos. This
was followed by some amazing octopus at another restaurant. All was topped off with the best ice cream
(Regima which I first found in Santander).
FNAL DAY AND FERRY HOME
The next day was our last day of the trip. We headed to some prehistoric caves. There was a little Museum and a walk around
one cave with a few paintings. The rest
of the caves were off limits. We then
headed to the beach at nearby Suances for a nice swim in the scorching sun. Not many waves to speak off so just a swim.
This was followed by a picnic lunch in the park at
Liencres. We then spent most of the rest
of the afternoon at Eroski hypermarket stocking up for the boat and on Spanish
food. One big bill later we headed to
the ferry terminal. We were quite early
but by no means the earliest. We enjoyed
watching the various types of people including one biker who looked like Santa
Claus.
We have now been on the boat nearly 24 hours. Most of the food and alcohol we bought has
been consumed. I managed to catch the
Man City vs Chelsea game. We have wandered round the deck, seen some films in the cabin and had a long sleep.
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