Roadtrip: Northern Spain

This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel up to the Northern Basque country part of Spain. I was able to take 2 days off of work so that this roadtrip was 4 days in length (Saturday through Tuesday). Lily (the other Canadian) and I joined my flatmate Hoelger and his two friends Marios (another German guy) and Nerges (an Austrian girl) to make us a party of 5. We rented a car and left Saturday morning and drove 7 hours up to San Sebastain, stopping in the mountains by a lake for some lunch.

We didn’t have any accommodation prebooked, as we figured we’d just find something when we got there,... well that turned out to be a little more difficult than we planned,... and we ended up sleeping on the beach! (not the San Sebastain beach, but one in the next town, Orli). Everyone in Barcelona had told me this weekend would be hot, and so I never thought to pack any warm clothes. Well that first night was a little chilly. Sunday we walked around the city (I am getting much better at just strolling,... this is a talent that many NorthAmericans don't realize that they lack). Very beautiful, and the beach is amazing (but quite snooty – very you go to see and be seen).

We enjoyed some of the famous Basque country tapas which completely fill the counters of every bar in every cafe, restaurant, and pub. See pictures below.

Marious knew San Sebastain really well, as this was his family's typical holiday destination, and showed us an amazing, very traditional, restaurant Sunday night called something like the Cidar House (only in espanol). We drank our fair share of cidar and dinner consisted of everything from fish, beef, tortilla (which is like an omlette), salad, cheese, walnuts, sausage, .... it seemed like as soon as we'd finished a dish the next would appear infront of us. The cidar is kept in HUGE barrels in a sort of cave-like cellar that you would have to go back into everytime you wanted a refill of your glass.

After sleeping once again on the beach, Monday morning we got up and drove West along the coast to Bilbao (the next relatively large city). That drive was probably my favourite part of the entire trip as it was through a number of beautiful lush green national parks, and the road consantly wound back and forth, always right along the coast (never once was it straight - - not recommended for those affected by carsickness).

The city of Bilbao is fairly industrial and isn’t nearly as picturesque as San Sebastain, but we went and saw the Guggenheim Museum which was quite interesting (contemporary art).

Then that afternoon we drove to Pamplona (aka San Fermin) for dinner. The city was quite quiet considering what the party is supposed to be like which starts on Thursday as the ‘Running of the Bulls’ festival begins and the city population increases by 5 times. (The picture to the right shows the final stretch of the where the bulls will run chasing the runners before finally entering the stadium at the other end). We had a good dinner in the city, and then decided we were still to cheap to pay for accommodation, so we drove out of the city to find a park to sleep in. Hoelger understandably got tired of driving (as he was doing all of it), and we ended up sleeping in a farm field. The three of us girls refused to sleep outside due to the location looking like a horror movie. So we slept in the car, which we could deal with.

Tuesday morning we drove to Zaragotha, a central spanish town between Pampalona and Barcelona. We saw a couple of amazing churches there, and then drove home to Barcelona. So all in all we saw 5 major Northern spanish towns in a record time of only 4 days, and it didn't even feel very rushed. However, it’s very nice to be back in BCN, and I can’t wait to sleep in a bed again.

Next weekend I'm off to the southern coast of France to visit with my Aunt Jinny's very good friend Myrna Magnan. They live in the small town of Bouc-bel-air (between Aix-en-provence and Marsaille), and I think this weekend will be much more relaxing than the last, which I'm looking forward to. It should be fun to be there while the country plays Italy in the world cup finals.