Tuesday 14th May - On to the Basque Country

Today is a moving day but we don't have too far to travel. By the direct motorway the distance from Renedo to Bilbao is about 70 miles. The weather forecast is for a dry morning but then rain in the afternoon and evening, so we get up and get on with packing. D has finally found a recycling station within walking distance so we are able to dispose of our shameful collection of empties. 

We are on the road by 10 a.m. and head east, parallel to the coast. At about the halfway point we turn inland with a vague plan to see more of the mountains. The road climbs steadily and there are cliffs and buttresses to either side. We pass a sign that says we are entering Euskadi, the Basque Country, and the first village that we come to, Lanestosa, catches our eye. This is yarn bombing big time.

With a bit of a struggle we find somewhere to park and go for a stroll. The houses are quaint and mainly well maintained. Wooden balconies are very popular. The village bar is open and apparently unspoiled by progress. We have coffee and manage not to upset the locals by speaking Spanish. We don't have a word of Basque between us.

The road continues to climb as we head south and back out of the Basque region into Castille and Leon. At the top of the Puerto de Tornos (920 metres) there is a car park and viewpoint with views westward towards mountains and incoming rain. Just before the serious precipitation arrives R spots some large birds circling above. They come in quite close and we can identify them as Griffon Vultures.

We descend through torrential rain and turn north east back into Euskadi, heading towards Bilbao. We have received a message to say that our room is ready so we decide to head straight there in the hope that the rain eases later. Unfortunately we have not preprogrammed our destination into Gertie Google and all of a sudden we are on some kind of urban motorway in downtown Bilbao. R manages to get some kind of steer on her phone and by a fluke we are very close.

We park and D sets out on foot to find Amet's House. This turns out to be a white building about 100 metres away. The setting is a little incongruous but the area seems to be on the up. Enrique, our host, is there to greet us and show us where to park. He then leads us upstairs to a very pleasant, spacious room and tells us a bit about getting into the city. The options are basically walk along the river bank or take a shorter walk to the tram stop.

We get settled in and have a cup of tea. This place is top notch - there's a kettle. We decide to take the tram into town and conduct a recce. R is apparently hankering after a pinchos experience. The rain is not too bad so we don our jackets and walk to the tram stop. D just has time to figure out the ticket machine as one arrives.

The tram takes us into the city and then across the river into the old town. The streets are fairly quiet and a lot of businesses are closed. We find a bar that is open and a very helpful barman dries a couple of stools and brings them inside for us. It's not busy and he has time to chat. The TX combination is very common in the Basque language and is pronounced tch.

The pintxos on display look fabulous and there are a few similar looking establishments in the streets around so we mark our cards for tonight.

We take the tram back to Amet's and prepare for a night on the town.

The rain had eased to soft drizzle as we walk back to the tram stop along the river bank. A local entertainment seems to be racing fairly chunky wooden boats and an all female crew are out practicing as we walked. It looks like hard work. The rest of the evening was a blur