Heading south from Bordeaux it was a fairly short trip to pretty Hondarribia, situated at the mouth of the Bidasoa River which forms the French/Spanish border in this region.
The sun was shining and Russell couldn’t wait to get stuck into sardines for lunch down in the old fishing village section of town.
We tried to walk off some calories with a stroll along the beach area but were also keen to arrive in our next destination, San Sebastian (or Donostia in the Basque language), as early as we could.
Navigating to our hotel proved to be a little challenging and I must have looked a bit frazzled on check in which consequently resulted in a complementary room upgrade from the lovely Lionel 😉 so after quickly unloading we set out to explore the town.
When booking San Sebastian I had chosen accommodation away from the Old Town as most there generally don’t have parking. Consequently I was a little worried we would be too far from the action but it turned out that although our hotel was perched on the hillside above San Sebastian, it had a very cool elevator that descended about three stories down the hill and popped us out on the street below, ten minutes from the pedestrianised Old Town and not far from the beautiful Cathedral of the Good Shepherd.
We had visited San Sebastian many years ago but only as a day trip so over the next couple of days we had the opportunity to explore a little more and also to reacquaint ourselves with pinxtos that the area is famous for. Pintxos are small snacks, often (but not always) comprised of various ingredients held in place by a toothpick on a piece of bread. The word ‘pintxo’ means “spike,” hence the toothpick. The Old Town is THE place for pintxos and we managed to sample many different dishes during our stay (but somehow have no pictures of them 🤷♀️)
I hiked up to the impressive Castillo de la Mota fortress atop of Monte Urgull which played a key role in defending the city and contains the the Sagrado Corazón or Sacred Heart, a twelve metre high statue which has blessed the city since 1950.
There were stunning views in almost every direction and although my calves protested about the number of stairs it was a good workout and despite the threatening skies I stayed dry.
Meanwhile Russell indulged in the more leisurely pastime of checking out the Basque museum which he said was impressive 😉
(Sacred Heart in the distance)
Our two full days barely allowed us to scratch the surface of this lovely city but as we checked out on our last day I was looking forward to checking off a bucket list location today in San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.
For those of you that are Game of Thrones fans, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is Dragonstone, Daenerys Targaryen’s castle. The location has become so popular since GOT that access is now by (free) ticket in order to limit crowds in the high season and weekends. Luckily we were there mid week in perfect weather and early enough in the season that it wasn’t too crazy.
This idyllic place is located between the coastal towns of Bakio and Bermeo joined to the coast by a stone bridge and a 241-step staircase. The Church in situ now is not the original one (thought to have been built in the 9th century) as the island has seen its fair share of battles in GOT and real life.
Russell was content to view from the cafe but I was determined to trek down to the beach and then climb those 241 steps for the authentic experience and so climb them I did! (In much more appropriate shoes than many I saw 😂) It was absolutely stunning and so worth the small detour.
After a little recovery time (and an icecream) we were on the road again, a relatively short drive to Bilbao where Fiona awaited us. She had flown into Madrid the day before and then trained (and bussed, another story…) up to Bilbao to join us for the next few weeks.
Next up, Bilbao and the lost puppy……