Near the top we got a good view of the site. Our ‘van is the one at the centre/bottom of the shot.
Here is a close up. As we were in the shoulder season the park was not too full and we managed to select a site with water and some space to our nearest neighbours. The laneways however were not geared all that well to the length of our ‘van which necessitated careful route planning within the site.
Our next trip was to Pamplona which is famous for the running of the bulls. This occurs for two weeks in July when 6 bulls are released at 8:00am each day and various over testosterone men run ahead of them down the narrow streets. A statue (with the bull ring – Plaza de Toros - in the background) testifies to the sort of mayhem that often ensues with some quite seriously injured.
We walked the route and many of the shops base their year round sales on this event.
The route also goes past the colourful town hall.
The bull run gained increased attention when it was described in Ernest Hemingway’s book “The sun also rises”. By way of gratitude a local street has been named after him, however current additions detract from the original intent.
Here are some of the bulls several years later still tired out after the run….
OK these were working animals at Orio. In the background are women working on the fishing nets which were laid out over 100 metres. Seafood is a major focus in the area. During the weekend we were joined by cousin Nancy and Sasha from Narbonne so some serious eating and drinking was immediately called for. We found a great restaurant in Orio where one of the waiters had spent a year in Australia and the attention was such we went back a second night. The barbequed fish, mixed salad, cheese and local wine were excellent.Suitably fortified we took a day out to Bilbao. The main attraction is without doubt the Guggenheim museum. It is so interesting with its numerous shapes. I was not allowed in without leaving my camera bag behind which I was not prepared to do (it all got a bit bureaucratic) so I walked around around the building. The rest of the team went in but later advised that I really had not missed much as some of the sculptures were “a bit out there”.
However, taking numerous photographs outside was irresistible. The building is largely clad in 3mm thick Titanium. Even knocks look good as they add to the textured finish.
It also integrates well with the river and nearby bridge. 
The mixture of light and shadow results in the building changing throughout the day.
On the city side is a “puppy”; well a 13m West Highland terrier. The diverse colours and soft shape are a good antidote to the angular and single colour of the museum.
We followed all this artistic appreciation with a coffee adjoining some fountains. A dog was obsessed with chasing the fountains as they turned on and off with success measured by a mouthful of water from the top of a fountain. He reminded all of us of the wonderful time Tieve had cooling down with the fountains at Castre (see last years blog).
Unfortunately Nancy and Sasha only had the weekend with us so we decided to go back to San Sebastian as this was on their way home. The City was humming with people as there was a rowing festival on. What was disappointing for us was the number of old buildings that had had graffiti added for the day by Basque Separatist supporters. We also were given a pamphlet suggesting that “political prisoners” were being kept in other areas of Spain which was unfair on their families (cost of travel etc). What seemed to be missing was that these were bombers and murderers.However, the politics could not impinge too much on our desire for Tapas and a drink.
As our previous haunt was occupied by supporters of one of the boat clubs we opted for the quieter Plaza de la Construction. This well maintained arcaded square has numbers starting at 1 at the top and gradually around the square and then to the next level (none of your 101,102 for level 1 here). The numbers were originally used by organizers to sell space when the square was used for bull fighting.
After a relaxing lunch Nancy and Sasha left and we decided to travel the 50 or so kms to Biarritz just across the border in France. This is a chic town where you need to be seen. It also makes the most of the rocky outcrops and the buildings work well in their surroundings. It was also good to be able to speak a little of the language rather than totally relying on locals to speak English as occurs in most of Spain. The beach also has some very regular surf which appears to be a 24 hour affair.
A little further up was a small boat harbour and bridge to one of the outcrops. A quite stunning place.
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