We drove the rental car into France today, only a short hop it would turn out.
We made it to the town of Azcain, a town of not much note , but a starting point for a small loop route of small towns planned by Martha.
However, the chilly weather finally tipped over the virus I've apparently picked up aboard ship. I was feeling like crap so we returned to Hondarribia and the B&B.
I crashed/napped for two hours.
Then, full of OTC drugs, I drove us into Hondarribia to find dinner.
The first place we tried actually said no, just Pinxtos which were a bit tired looking. However, she turned to this man at the bar who was having an Espresso and he said he'd guide us to the restaurant he works at!
A short walk later, we were dining!
Afterwards, we watched a local boat crew practice:
We then wandered a bit, looking for "the angle" on the main church:
On the way to the above shot:
Bear and Honey Bee Nest
No info signs, so I can't explain why the soldier statue was carrying a large hand saw instead of a rifle. Combat Engineer perhaps?
During our first breakfast at Rural Farmhouse Eketxe, the B&B where we're staying while near Hondarribia, we had us a visitor.
We then drove over to the nearby town of San Sebastian primarily to find a bookstore that sold paper maps for trip planning. Having secured one, we wandered over to a nearby church: San Vicente.
The pics of the outside that we took just didn't turn out. We were way too close to the church, hemmed in by buildings on all sides. Instead, here a model of the church that Martha found inside:
After the church we went walking the seaside boardwalk:
We then checked out the STM: San Telmo Museum
It's a museum Basque History and Culture. The concrete shell encloses an old church which houses the exhibits. We found this museum to be excellent, by the way, worth the visit if you're ever in San Sebastian.
The main altar area displays of artwork were of a style new to both of us and quite impressive:
Basque history displays resulted in today's moto content. Sorry, not sure what the significance was of these items, but apparently they were signs of the industrialization and modernization of the region.
1957 Velosolex Orbea manufactured under license.
Warfare in terms of weapons and art work:
The King Taken Prisoner
The King Liberated
1596-1599
Battle of Belate
Augusta Peace
The requisite gothic stone work in the ceilings of the inner hallways surrounding a central grassy plaza
Lots of paintings and some statues, these are the paintings that caught my eye:
Fiesta de la Cofraida de Azada
Accidente Ferroviaro
Padre y Hijo
Patio de un Parador
Paisaje Arqueologico
Lucha de Perros y Lobos
Carniceria
Vista de Segovia
A little more wandering after the museum, following Martha around as she did a little shopping.
Spotted this UPS delivery vehicle which must work pretty well for the narrow streets of old Spanish town centers:
By this time, close to 3Pm, the weather had become heavily overcast with light rain sprinkles.
We returned to the car and drove back to Hondarribia for a light dinner.
Returning to the B&B, we had a chance to meet a remarkable young man by the name of Jakes (Basque version of James I am told). He was born blind but despite this and some other issues he's become a tri-linguist (Spanish, English and Basque), plays the piano to compete and win national contests, and swims distances such as 40 laps on a 25 meter pool.
He rides a horse without someone holding the reins; instead relying on the sound of bells from the lead horse and voice directions from his grandfather to the rear on his own horse.
He's 16 years old and despite his disabilities, doesn't let anything stop him from trying new things according to the caretakers that had brought him for a visit to the B&B owners. The owners have known the boy's family and him for a couple of generations apparently.
Such a great attitude towards life, Martha and I were awed. We were fortunate to have been guests and to have the opportunity to meet Jakes.
So ends day 4 of the wandering. Stay tuned to see where we go tomorrow.
We visited the Guggenheim Modern Art Museum today. Quite the architectural wonder as you probably know. We didn't find the art work itself much to our plebeian tastes but some of it was eye-catching.
First, some architecture views on our way back from breakfast at a nearby cafe:
Our hotel
Some of the stuff we saw and the angles of the building which caught one's eye:
The Puppy
The Maman
The Shuttlecock
Looking up from bottom floor
Tulips
After the Guggenheim, we took the Funicular up the nearby hill for views of Bilbao:
Fingerprint Sculpture
The Funicular Car
Then, there was more wandering about the old city center in search of Pinxtos and architectural shots:
Photo by Martha
Photo by Martha
Once again, very tired from the walking, it was an early evening for us after a short foray for Pinxtos.
Tuesday, April 22
We left Bilbao today in a rental car, a Hyundai i30. Took me a bit to get used to a manual transmission and learning the controls but no issues otherwise. I got the "Super Coverage" insurance but the fact that I can completely wreck the car and walk away with no financial penalties helps with my peace of mind. Pricey, but worth it.
We drove to Hondarribia, a small town about 1.5 hours east of Bilbao, still in Basque Country and along the coast. It lies right on the border with France as well and we'll be making a foray into it soon.
Martha found us a pretty awesome rural B&B pretty close to town, the roads to it are very narrow but fortunately there is very little traffic.
Photo by Martha
As I type this at 9:36 PM, it seems we have the whole house to ourselves. I guess there's no other guests.
Ok, so once we were checked in and had us a nice chat with the owners: Fatima and Patxi, we headed into Hondarribia
to get lunch and explore.
We parked the car in the Eroski Supermarket parking lot per the recommendation of Fatima and walked into the town center looking for lunch at the Gran Sol Bar. It's apparently famous for its Pinxtos but alas, it was closed today.
We got the "Daily Menu" instead at another restaurant and it was quite filling and yummy.
Then it was exploration of the city's sights, luckily its not a big city.
The church with the "cool" altar with the ship
Moto Content, mail scooters
Dentist Office Artwork?
The main church is the St Mary of the Assumption and the Apple Tree.
I liked the way the stained glass windows opposite this altar piece reflected on the glass.
Lastly, we visited San Nikolas Gate, part of the remaining city walls back when Hondarribia used to be a walled city.
I was pretty tired by now and a bit cranky, probably had too heavy a lunch meal I think. So we drove back to the B&B and I crashed.
Woke up sometime before 7PM and processed pics and this blog posting till 10PM. Quite a full day since we were up before 6 in preparation to depart the hotel.
