Bermeo

 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 according to Trip Advisor was nearby so we dropped in to try it for lunch. It was singularly unattractive although busy. Very basic but good value and only open at lunch time. When we did venture into the flat it was fine, well equipped, spacious and quiet although the shared spaces were a bit old fashioned, dark and intimidating.

The port was a broad expanse of sheltered water with slipways near the station, further out were fishing boats moored in mid channel or onto the docks opposite the town. Clearly still very active with a mix of local and deep sea vessels passing to and fro. On one of the slipways was the Ortega, a large 1970's wooden fishing vessel that was being restored as part of the heritage of the area; a major undertaking!

The town surrounds a natural harbour with an extensive open area on the north side, a short walk from where we were staying. This was where everyone met for drinks, snacks or just meandering through the trees. Behind the ground rose sharply up a hill which was where the main square, the shops and restaurants were found; much smarter than by the port where we were staying fortunately. A pretty part of the harbour curved round the headland there, overlooked by the maritime museum and more bars. The residents clearly love statues which were scattered all over the place. Particularly poignant was a group, an old man two mothers and children looking out to sea with these words "Here they come, always watchful of the sky and sea, often going through tense anxious times, and then they say fish is expensive"

We soon grew to really like the town, it had character, variety and full of a mix of interesting Spanish people. In the evening the area by the port was really buzzing, everyone was out chatting, playing about or just meandering. They ranged from the elderly to small children, to tables of well off people with lots of drinks to small groups, clearly less well off, sitting on the benches under the trees

We were also fortunate enough to find an incredibly good restaurant and even secure a table for dinner. The Alakrana was a gem, modern but imaginative and totally unexpected. The food was outstanding, I started with finely sliced smoked marlin which was followed by a huge octopus leg carefully braised, served with a paprika emulsion. This was all accompanied by a light but surprisingly good local wine, fresh but full of citrus flavour with just the right amount of acidity to balance the fish. Our only disappointment was that the restaurant was fully booked for the following night.