Long Weekend in Basque Country
Thursday December 6 - Sunday December 9
We spent 4 days exploring the northern coastal towns of San Sebastián, Zarautz and Getaria. We drove 4 hours from Madrid leaving on Thursday morning, it was Constitution Day a national public holiday in Spain. The driving here is intense to say the least and being the navigator comes with high pressure knowing a wrong turn or missed exit could result in a hour detour or high toll costs! We made it without getting lost and arrived in beautiful San Sebastián just before dark. We explored the beach and old town by going for a run. Dan picked up his first surfboard purchase (a Birthday + Xmas gift from me!) and I was still able to attend my weekly client meeting while on the go. Thursday evening was spent walking though very busy, lively streets filled with various bars serving the famous local cuisine of pintxos!! Delicious and weird but fun to eat and try out so many different flavours of the North. We also had the best ice cream bar we’ve ever tried called Loco Polo.
Friday we woke up at first light so Dan could surf and try out his new board. It was a beautiful sunrise and lots of people were out walking on the beach with their cute doggies. Next we went for breakfast — with our standard order being cafe con leche, and chocolate pastries. We then walked to the top of a seaside cliff to explore Castillo de la Mota, a very well preserved military fort that Napoleon used. We were very lucky with unseasonably warm and sunny weather!
Next we drove 30 minutes west to Zarautz, a smaller more quaint version of San Sebastián. We spent two nights here at a wonderful Airbnb at the edge of the ocean overlooking la playa! We ate lunch in a nearby town called Getaria — incredible seafood and of course the local Asturias sidra! We explored the old town of Zarautz and Dan surfed while I watched and drank warm cafe con leches– it was too cold and rainy + the surf conditions did not look fun, easy and happy which I prefer! I did purchase my first surfboard for happy fun waves in the south of Spain for our Christmas holidays! More to come on that later ;)
On Sunday we packed up and drove to Zumaia to explore the Flysch cliffs!
This stretch, the most spectacular of the tidal flats that runs along the Basque coast, from Haitzandi to Haitzabal, has a length of 8 km and a geological importance of the first order.
