{"id":2609,"date":"2011-05-14T13:21:02","date_gmt":"2011-05-14T19:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"\/impressions\/?p=2609"},"modified":"2015-05-14T16:12:49","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T22:12:49","slug":"basque-shore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/2011\/05\/14\/basque-shore\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain 2011 &#8211; Basque shore"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 10th of March was again one of the most beautiful days we had in Spain &#8211; after The Pyrenees. The very morning looked foggy, but then it cleared up and I was already thinking of staying one more night in that wonderful hotel with lots of X-es in its name with the sea waves beating under our window:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2611\" title=\"DSCF1450\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But then my willingness to see the mountains one more time conquered this wish to stay and so we just walked one more time in those 4 medieval streets of Getaria:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2610\" title=\"DSCF1454\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1454.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"422\" height=\"563\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2612\" title=\"DSCF1485\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1485.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"422\" height=\"563\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">The church is very strange there-  it is built over a street! So the altar part of the church is higher and all the floors are lifted towards the altar, so tat if you drop a ball by the altar, it wall roll down towards the entrance, or if you go for a communion &#8211; you would feel like climbing a mountain, or if you sit in a chair &#8211; you feel like you are in there to have a nap:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2613\" title=\"DSCF1463\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1463.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Spaniards like having coffins in their churches, some of them with a very realistic body, so that I was happy I visited them only now, when I am &#8220;over the hill&#8221; and not so sensitive, fo rin my childhood &#8211; i couldn&#8217;t bear such a view:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2614\" title=\"DSCF1464\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1464.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"422\" height=\"563\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">There is  a fortress by the road, which you can climb up and see the town from high up:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2615\" title=\"DSCF1471\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1471.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2616\" title=\"DSCF1476\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1476.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2617\" title=\"DSCF1475\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1475.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2620\" title=\"DSCF1482\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1482.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2618\" title=\"DSCF1479\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1479.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Our hotel was that last red building.  We also walked down to the fishing port with the warehouses for fish:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2619\" title=\"DSCF1467\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1467.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">This is a town you can fall in love with and want to come again and again&#8230;but we would rather not, too far away&#8230;So we left driving up North on the same road by the sea till we saw Zumaia:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2622\" title=\"DSCF1489\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1489.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">We stopped by the entrance to the city to see the House-museum of a Basque prominent painter Ignacio Zuloaga, but it was closed, so just some pics from outside of his house:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2623\" title=\"DSCF1498\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1498.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2624\" title=\"DSCF1499\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1499.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2625\" title=\"DSCF1502\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1502.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Speaking about Basques &#8211; they have their own language Euskera and their own different names of cities and places. But even their names in Spanish sound and look different &#8211; the letter combinations like &#8220;itz&#8221; or &#8220;oa&#8221; as well as the last letters &#8220;X, Y, Z of the alphabet are met in their words quite often. And also speaking about Basques  &#8211; their waiters seemed to us rather unpleasant. This was area in our trip were they openly showed how they hate taht we don&#8217;t speak Spanish and how they &#8220;don&#8217;t care&#8221;  -they would never look directly to your face. just somewhere through your head to the spaces behind&#8230;and never cared whether we stayed or left for the service for unbearably slow&#8230;Women waiters &#8211; a completely different story. They were nice as everywhere in Spain.  Draw your own conclusions, I can&#8217;t give a sexist advice :-).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Here are some pictures from Deba &amp; Ondarroa &#8211; another coastal towns:<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2628\" title=\"DSCF1511\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1511.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2630\" title=\"DSCF1514\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF15141.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">The maps usually don&#8217;t show a road from Ondarroa to Lekeitio. but there is one, on the sea shore. a very narrow one. it was worth driving it for the views and the first sight of Lekeitio from the high coast cliff that the road came from:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2631\" title=\"DSCF1518\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1518.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2632\" title=\"DSCF1527\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1527.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2633\" title=\"DSCF1529\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1529.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">We found a space to park in the center on the street and walked to the port area to search for some &#8220;menu dia&#8221;. That took us a while. Lots of places, all crowded and very unfriendly. After seeing the boats and the Cathedral:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2634\" title=\"DSCF1555\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1555.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2635\" title=\"DSCF1546\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1546.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"422\" height=\"563\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2636\" title=\"DSCF1551\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1551.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">We found a nice restaurant further from the sea and closer to where we parked:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2637\" title=\"DSCF1540\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1540.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">A magnolia tree was blooming if front of it:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2638\" title=\"DSCF1563\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1563.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">After leaving Lekeitio we already turned inland and drove for a long time, through the gray granite mountains. pretty high rocks over high passes till we reached Vitoria &#8211; Gazteiz &#8211; the Basque capital. Walked there a little, but not too much, same narrow medieval streets, same churches&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2639\" title=\"DSCF1572\" src=\"\/impressions\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/DSCF1572.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Except that their streets go parallel in co-centric ovals. But&#8230;we couldn&#8217;t  find their central square. And afterwards we had a big problem driving out of the city &#8211; the road out was kind of hidden&#8230;as it often happened to us over there :-)&#8230;So we drove till we reached Alfaro, already in the dark where there was a suitable hotel and pretty close to another place of interest for tomorrow  -Corella.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 10th of March was again one of the most beautiful days we had in Spain &#8211; after The Pyrenees. The very morning looked foggy, but then it cleared up and I was already thinking of staying one more night in that wonderful hotel with lots of X-es in its name with the sea waves &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/2011\/05\/14\/basque-shore\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Spain 2011 &#8211; Basque shore<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spain","category-travel-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2609"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4318,"href":"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2609\/revisions\/4318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/softblog.com\/impressions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}