Travelling Times

 Not far from Bermeo at the southern end of a Ria, is Gernica, easily accessible by train. It's a name that is synonymous with the Spanish civil war so we chose to spend a day to visit the Peace museum at least. The train system worked well, on time, comfortable and inexpensive; such shame ours are not as good. The line wound around beaches and nature reserves for the twenty minutes it took to get there. Travelling by train is such a good way to see the country and its people, these views were particularly memorable. The Spanish civil war was between the Republicans who supported the democratically elected government and the Nationalists, led by General Franco who wanted to establish a fascist regime. Franco was supported by Germany and Italy whilst communists and all sorts of socialists supported the Republicans. One of the most iconic events of the war was the bombing of Guernica on April 26, 1937, carried out by aircraft supporting Franco's forces. The town was targeted to d...

 Reluctantly we dragged ourselves away from San Sebastian to drive to the next stop on out travels with the hood down. Leaving the suburbs on the motorway was just as fraught as arriving but our route soon veered away from the main roads with tantalising glimpses of the coast. It's rocky with plenty of islands, splendid beaches accessible through a succession of modest but attractive resorts. The hills are never far away so we were soon amongst them to navigate around several rias that punctuated the shoreline before regaining the coast again close to our next stop. Our first experience of Bermeo did make us wonder if we'd made a sensible choice. When I booked, it looked like a fishing port where we could get good fish dishes although the facilities were limited, no hotel, just apartment accommodation. We stopped close to the address given to find it was a rather run down street in a not very impressive part of town but was close to the port and station. The best restaurant acc...

 Our second day in San Sebastián started as before, a light breakfast of coffee and a croissant at what had become our favourite bar nearby. By this time I'd managed to be able to order the basics in Spanish so we could fit in to the local community without too much difficulty; we enjoyed experiencing everyday life there. We wanted to go to the top of Monte Igueldo, for the view rather than the amusement park. It took two bus rides to get there, one to the Boulevard and another to the Funicular station at the far end of the bay. Like all buses it didn't take the direct route but wound through pretty houses, a smattering of shops, restaurants and occasional glimpses of the golden sands and deep blue sea. We couldn't face the climb on foot so we had to quell fears of funicular railways that had been prompted by the recent Lisbon disaster. The old railway track and carriages were built in 1912 but in remarkably good, original, condition. Once full with about 40 passengers, the...

 We had high expectations of San Sebastián after our previous visit which was only for a few hours. It didn't disappoint, from our light breakfast in a local coffee shop to a splendid meal in the evening we managed to pack a lot in without trying too hard.  It's a really enjoyable walk along the banks of the river past several attractive bridges then around the headland to the old town. The buildings adjacent to the river were all impressive belle époque homes, such a wonderful place to live! It was high tide with a strong onshore wind so waves were crashing on the rocks and over the path in the bright sunshine with lots of little rainbows. They had a welcome cooling keeping us fresh after the heat of walking. The Museum of the Seas was a beautiful building with a classic interior but without much content. The old town was just as we'd remembered it, a grid of busy streets with amazing Pintxos bars and tavernas. Without being too fussy we stopped at one nearby for lunch, th...

 There's not a lot between Vitoria and San Sebastián if you go direct so we chose the scenic route through the hills to Estrella then on North to where were planning to stay for the next few days.  The roads were a delight to drive on, the car performing beyond expectations. The big three litre V8 had so much torque it just powered up the hills and mountains in a high gear at 2-3000 revs. In the rocky corridors the burble of the exhaust reverberated between the walls. It's a wonderful touring car, especially with the hood down. Estrella certainly was an old town with a pleasant enough square but didn't have a lot to commend it apart from a convenient place to have a break and a coffee. Fortunately it was really easy to park anywhere on the roads, just like the Parisians do. We tried to visit a bodega but most were quite small or closed. We managed to get into Iguzquia, which is close to the town but only the shop was open so we bought a couple of bottles of rather nice wine...

 We wanted to see as much of Rioja as we could fit into a day so planned to drive to Haro, the capital of the area then on through the vineyards to Logrono and return through the hills back to Vitoria. Most of the Bodegas were fully booked but we did manage to reserve a place in a city winery which seemed a bit unusual but was easy to fit in. The drive there was a delight; windy, but largely empty, roads that snaked up and down through the hills. The countryside was sensational, mountains stretching away into the distance fading into shades of blue. Fertile plains with all sorts of agricultural activity alongside the roads. A succession of small towns, every one with a church, most with highly attractive, gloriously embellished, steeples. Haro was surrounded by Bodegas, one of the largest being Cune. We stopped in the square for a coffee and a short exploration although being Sunday not much was open. The style of the buildings was similar to that we found attractive in Malta, wood...

 We finally drove in to the capital of the Basque Country at 1pm, after many delays, just about the time everything closed, that is apart from the bars and restaurants. As it was Saturday we'd hoped we would arrive in time to visit some of the churches and museums but that was not to be. However, it was not at all disappointing as all the world (and his wife) were all out on the streets socialising and having a good time.  Vitoria is a beautiful, ancient city with a maze of narrow streets formed in concentric rings. We started off by walking through the Plaza Virgen Blanca in the centre, where an impromptu concert was going on. Not the most interesting of music unless you like drum solos but it gave a really festive air to this impressive square, or rather triangle. Everywhere we went was busy, throngs of Spanish people all enjoying themselves in the bright sunshine. Every age was outside together, families with babies, hoards of young people as well as the elderly, led by you...

 We're not cruising types so sitting on a boat chugging across the Bay of Biscay to Spain is just plain boring! We got on the Brittany Ferry "Galicia" at 7pm on Thursday, will spend all day Friday on board, then arrive at Bilbao at 8am on Saturday morning. It's a comfortable enough boat that's not very full so pleasent enough but the entertainment provided in the bar is definitely not for us so we stay firmly seated in the C-Club lounge for the duration of the voyage. There is a buffet service with meals brought out at appropriate times together with a regular supply of wine and constant hot drinks; we're well catered for. We could have gone down to the Azul restaurant but lethargy has set in and we prefer not to give up a nice seat by the window; we don't want to eat too much anyway. The saving grace of these trips is the conversations you have with other, similarly minded passengers. However this time there was nobody interesting, just some people who in...