Yep, it isn’t just the 2 of us for a couple of weeks. We are 4 once again – Meg’s brother Paul, and his Spain-loving wife Kara, are joining us for a couple of weeks exploring the Basque Region of Northern Spain. We really like traveling with people and were excited that they wanted to join us again. We had a fun time with them a couple of years ago in Barcelona, Madrid, Grenada, and Seville. Our first stop this year was the biggest Basque city of Bilbao. Meg and I had been here on a day trip a couple of years ago, but this year we had 4 nights here to give us a deeper dive. The main tourist attraction is the Guggenheim museum which is amazing.
In Bilbao, we visited a unique bridge with a car-carrying shuttle on cables. We took the funicular to see some great views. We checked out the city market and did a lot of walking. Mostly what we did is eat!!! Pintxos are the thing in Basque Country and we really enjoyed having a lot of small bites for lunch and dinner. That continued when we left for our next town- San Sebastian. More Pintxos!!
We stayed in San Sebastian a couple of years ago and were just blown away by the architecture, the beach, the food and just the whole atmosphere. We had bragged about what a great town it was so much that Paul and Kara were pretty excited. There is actually quite a bit to see but we had arrived on a festival weekend so the sightseeing would have to wait. Our arrival on a Saturday night greeted us with thousands of people out partying in old town getting ready for the big Regatta on Sunday. We elbowed our way into several bars to drink and eat the San Sebastian specialties while the streets were packed with people doing the same thing. The next morning we returned to the port to see the regatta “pre-game” activities already in progress. The bars were already packed on Sunday morning with race fans wearing their team’s colors. Small marching bands were walking through the alleys to cheer on their team. Crowds were all over the port, the boardwalks and the beach. We found a place on the walkways and watched the boat race which was supposed to recreate the whaling boats from the 19th century. The races weren’t that exciting to watch as a sporting event but the overall festival excitement was pretty special. It reminded me of the Seafair hydro races in Seattle where the event is much more exciting than the actual race.
Even without the rowboat racing, San Sebastian has a lot of other things to see. We really enjoyed taking another funicular to an small old theme park. We had terrific weather which led to some amazing pictures of the town and the beach. We also rode a small old rollercoaster that has got to be the most scenic ride we have ever been on. It was a 100 year old hokey roller coaster (with a driver) but it was right on the edge of the cliff.
One day, we decided to take a day trip to see the town of Saint Jean-De-Luz in France. Meg and I had stayed in this town a couple of years ago and had some good memories of wandering around this small beach town. This was Paul’s first time in France and we were again trying to show off one of our favorite towns. Unfortunately, the train system is still not quite ready for easy travel between Spain and France in Basque Country. The high speed rails aren’t finished yet so we had to patch together some buses and trains to make it to France for a day trip. We did eventually make it just fine and had a great time checking out Saint Jean-de-Luz. We visited the cool old church, zoomed through the Tuesday market, saw the beach, shopped the main street, and had a French Basque lunch. We enjoyed our time in France but it will sure be nice when the inter-country train travel is improved in a few years.
Back in San Sebastian, we finished our out time with seeing some more museums, the girls had a great seafood lunch, and I did the “free” city history. We also did a lot more walking and a lot more eating of pintxos. There are so many fun places to eat that we could really have used a couple more days. Next stop is still in Basque country but we are going to be a bit inland. We are heading for Zaragoza for another few days with Paul and Kara !!!!