Jeff: December 2022

So bright and early on Monday morning we got up and headed inland towards the capital of Basque country Vitoria-Gasteiz which was the first Spanish city to receive the award of European Green Capital in 2012 and has a green ring around it giving the ability to cycle around the whole city. It was, again due to rain today so we decided to do one of my new favourite things and go mural finding as Vitoria-Gasteiz has lots of them. They were started in 2007 and now there are over 30 different ones dotted about the city and not only is it great to walk around and find them it means we can explore the city. We spent a good few hours walking around the old and new sides of the city to find as many as we could, luckily we had found a google map locator for several but we found some that were not on the map and we couldn’t find all the ones on the map. What we did learn quickly is that you have to look all around for them, including up as some were on buildings high up, some were behind gates and some were behind trees. After a long walk we decided to head to a café for some lunch to warm us up and as usual we headed to a little vegan place where we were the only customers and we had a really good and interesting chat with the owner while having a three course late lunch. After filling up on lunch we headed back to the van, grabbing some shopping on the way to plan our cycle for tomorrow

The next day we planned to cycle around the green ring which was an easy 30km cycle but we obviously didn’t plan it well enough. The App we were using wasn’t great and the signs for the green ring and the directions on our app were different and the app wouldn’t stay alight while cycling meaning we kept having to stop to look at it so we thought stuff that and we would just follow the signs. That was fine until we got into a loop at a park that essentially went around the park in a circle and having done one loop we got the other App out and decided to try that and with Rich directing us we soon ended up back near the van having done a third of the route so we tried again with the second app and this time had a route that went around the whole green ring and completed the 30km (but we were cold, muddy and a little wet by the end). Once the bikes were loaded in the van and we had a hot cup of tea to warm us back up we got ready to head onto the next town where we planned to spend the night, charge the van before heading to Santander tomorrow for the 30 hour ferry back to the UK. We spent the evening packing for the ferry (arguing over what was overkill – Rich wanted to take the slow cooker!!!- and what was needed)

The next morning we got up very early as it was a couple of hours drive to the ferry. We had a dilemma on route though as the toll road was faster (if you could do the speeds it says, which Jeff does not do) and a few KM more but the other route could be mountainous or have lots of roundabouts so its always difficult to decide but as we had enough time we thought we would take the other route and boy were we glad we did. The route did take us through a valley and up and over a gentle mountain but the whole route was stunning, made even better by the fact that the sun was still rising as we drove. Having had a lovely final journey we got to the ferry port, checked in (easier than expected) and parked up. We had a bit of time so we popped to the shops to get some final food for the ship and waited to be called on. It wasn’t long before we boarded and we parked up, remembering the door colour and floor number, this time, and headed up to find out cabin. While the price of the journey included a three course dinner that was all it included so we had bought a kettle so I could drink tea, some food (which was a great idea as the range of vegan food was extremely limited) and lots of films downloaded (there was only 1 hour of internet per device and limited ability to stream or do anything on it). However there was lots of films on their in ship entertainment service so we binge watched movies mostly in the room, interspersed with walks around after each film and ate lots. As our room was en-suite we also took full advantage of the shower and had very long hot showers which was lovely. It was weird not sleeping in Jeff (and having single beds) but we soon got rocked to sleep by the waves. After 30 hours we docked in Portsmouth and headed back through the fog to Somerset ready to return to real life and prepare for Christmas!

The murals of Vitoria-Gasteiz

Told you there were lots of them

Dont worry this is only a sample of them, there were many more!

The wide sea on the way back to the UK

The next morning we got up and did our morning run which included a short diversion to see the elephants who were in the safari park which was apparently behind the camper stop. We then jumped in the van and headed north through Bilbao and upwards towards San Sabastian. On the way we had a couple of stops planned but we could only do one of them today, due to tide times. The one today was San Juan de Gaztelugatxe which was a hermitage on a rocky outcrop which requires a walk down a big hill and then a climb of 241 stairs to get to the hermitage church (which was also featured on Game of Thrones. Once we had managed the walk back up the hills (and managed to find a cat who happily had some fuss and then called after us as we walked away). We then carried on north towards our second stop but as this is also a rocky outcrop that you can only get to when the tide is low so we cant do it today so we found a creepy little stop for the night in the wooded hills with nothing but a building that made water gushing noises.

We got up the next morning we got up and headed for the town of Lekeitio where there is mirador de San Nicolas which you get access to via a small walkway only available at low tide. We headed down there about an hour before low tide and decided to rick it with the wall as it was clear but there were waves which were still crashing heavily against, and a bit over, the wall of the path. We walked as quick as we could over the path but it was like an ice rink in places and there was nothing to help us guess what would be slippery and what wouldn’t be. The waves did manage to get our feet wet but we made it safely to the stairs and climbed our way to the top of the rock. It was a lot easier than Calp (which we climbed near Benidorm and was no where near as high but it did give some great views as we were surrounded by sea. We watched some surfers practicing from the top and then headed down back to the beach across the path and managed to stay dry this time. On the walk back to the van we hunted down our daily baguette before heading off to try and find some electricity to charge the battery on the van. We haven’t had much problem with this before but everything decided to go against us today and it took several different stops to find some and even then it wasn’t the official electric (as this wasn’t working) but we managed to find a plug socket next to the official ones and this one was working so we used this before heading onwards towards San Sabastian. It was late by the time we got to the city and our plan was to park up in the old town, on the sea front and go out for dinner and a couple of drinks but again today conspired against us and the sea front was closed due to the storm out to sea. This meant we had to find somewhere else to park while driving around a very busy city in the dark and rain. We headed out of the centre (as its hard to find big enough parking in the city) to a stop about 30 minutes walk. We weren’t sure there would be any space but we were lucky and nabbed one of the last spaces but as it was still raining and cold we decided to give the city a miss tonight and grabbed dinner and a G&T in the van.

The next morning we got up and headed into town on the bus (as it keeps raining) and walked around the city centre for the day eating lots. First we started off by grabbing some toasts for breakfast and then walked around the old town before heading up to the castle (motako gaztelua) from which we could see the crashing waves and below and the statue on top of the chapel who is the custodian of the city. After enjoying the sun for a little up on top of the city we headed back down as the grey clouds were looming and releasing little showers of rain every now and then. Once down at the bottom of the hill we walked around the coastal section that had been closed yesterday but was reopened. It was really good fun as you could hear the waves crashing against the city walls and suddenly one would crash so hard it would send water up into the air and slam onto the footpath/cycle lane or road. This was particularly funny when it hit unsuspecting people and soaked them. We watched a few people get wet at different points, including some people who were taking lots of photos of the water coming up (and had been stood there for a good 10 mins) before a particularly large wave came and totally drenched them, much to the amusement of many people nearby (including us).

Next we continued walking down the coast and watched more surfers and people in kayaks riding the waves, some were really bad while others wiped out lots but they were all braver than me as I wouldn’t have got in the sea while it was that rough. After watching all this activity we decided it was time for tea and cake before heading to the park and English palace. While the palace wasn’t open we could walk around the gardens and it could have been any of the stately homes in the UK which was a little weird. After exploring this we decided to head back to the van for a change of clothes before we came out for the evening. Once refreshed we headed to Gintoneria which did amazing gin cocktails which were infused using dry ice and we had a couple before heading onto the vegan restaurant we had booked for tonight. We had a whole array of food, drinks and desserts for dinner including bao buns and roasted aubergine before getting the bus back.

The next morning we got up and planned to walk up to one of the other hills to get some of the views as it had cleared up since yesterday. There was a funicular that went up the hill but this didn’t start running till 11am and we are early morning starters so we didn’t want to wait. We walked up the hill but unfortunately the top of the hill was closed for road works so while we got most of the way up we couldn’t get to the very top. We did manage to get some nice views and then started the walk to the bottom and back to Jeff to head out to our next stop – Bilbao. It wasn’t a long drive, especially as we took the toll road there, and we got to the camper stop at lunch time. The camperstop is a lovely location on a hill above the town but it is a steep hill. There was a bus we could get into town and back but we decided to ride the bikes in so that we could explore the town more. The ride down was difficult as the route the GPS took us was very very steep and was more of a pedestrian route so we walked the bikes down rather than riding them, vowing to find a different route back up. At the bottom we continued the ride into town and soon found it full of people so ditched the bikes for a walk around the old town. All the bars and restaurants seemed heaving and there were people everywhere. We felt a bit overwhelmed as it seemed to be the busiest city we have been in for a long time but we continued to explore and then got on the bikes to ride out to the Guggenheim museum where there are several structures/statues to see outside. One of the statues is a dog and the story behind this is that it was a travelling exhibition that stopped in the city and then was due to continue but the locals loved it and managed to get it to stay in spain. We planned to explore the museum tomorrow but wanted to see the outside and area today. We headed back into the city centre and it had calmed down a little so we walked a bit more before getting some food at a top rated vegan café. Then we carried on walking around the city and headed to the cultural centre which is a great building (and has won awards) and has restaurants, a roof top swimming pool, and exhibitions on. After exploring the building it was getting rather dark so we decided that before heading home we would need a drink so we found a craft beer place for a where we both had a beer and shared a cookie (well it was more like a vegan wagon wheel). The reason we shared the cookie is on the way to the bar we had seen a churro stand which looked very popular so on the way back to the bikes we decided to stop and get some churros which were really good (and we decided we needed the sugar hit before heading back up the hill). Next we navigated back to the van, avoiding the pedestrian route and got to the bottom of the hill where the sign indicated that it was a 15% gradient, we took a deep breath and headed up. Rich did have to get off the bike as it appeared to be a popular time to drive up the hill and it was steep with lots of turns so its not the easiest hill to climb anyway. Once we made it to the top we had the last little cycle to the van with great views across the city at night.

The next morning I had booked the Guggenheim for the first slot of the day so we got up and cycled into the city and headed for the museum which is split across three floors with exhibitions showing the 25 years of the Guggenheim. There were exhibitions which involved going into things which I really enjoyed (even if Rich said I was too old to go inside the big white square) and ones to look at. On the first floor was an exhibit by Yayoi Kusama who was famous for using dots and had a mirrored room of lights which was great to go in. There were also exhibitions on material life, pop art and a look back at the history of the museum. We spent a good couple of hours walking around the museum and participating in the interactive pieces before heading out in the sunlight and onto get some breakfast. We had planned a bit of a clean of the van for this afternoon (it being a Sunday and all) and we knew the weather was supposed to be a bit hit and miss. So after breakfast we started the journey back to the van but stopped at a vegan cake shop to get some dessert for latter and stumbled across a market which we had a walk around. At the rear of the market there was also some female weight lifters who appeared to be lifting some stones for a competition or record as everything looked very official. They were lifting around 65kg stones multiple times and it was great to watch for a little bit before we continued on and up the hill. Rich made it up this time without stopping but it is still a gruelling hill to climb. We then spent the late afternoon/evening cleaning and sorting out the van and planning the next few day as we only have three days before we are on the boat home.