http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Spain , Basque Country en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:20:40 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:20:40 +0000 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/San-Sebastian/blog-451270.html I have managed to hitchhike my way too mundaka to check out the wave action..saw some pretty good footage from wednesday..apparently all the pros are in town go check it out..this trip has turned out like the movie Eurotrip..i was robbed i have no money and im hitchhiking my way around the joint sleeping in my tent. so much funim pretty sure the lads van was worse than joes maxed out at fify http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/Bilbao/blog-447472.html I was pickpocketed last night whilst roaming the streets of San Sebastian. I have absolutely no money a big thanks to the staff at beti anayak for feeding me and letting me stay free of charge. enrique and frankie and old mate boss lady amazing people. ok so when youhave no money hot tip from mother bear find a church becuase they will feed you and give you somewhere too stay. Thank god for c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/San-Sebastian/blog-446704.html Hola omigoes ive been in san sebastian spain for three days..it took 12 hours and three TGVs later Hot tip straight from Dylbo book the TGVs in France at least three days in advance becuase for some reason they seem to be really popular specially on weekends and they only have a few places for Eurail Pass holders. So i was stuck in Bern the capital of Switzerland for two days..which was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/San-Sebastian/blog-446386.html A somewhat longer driving day.Leaving Santiago de Compostela we initially headed inland for some time then turned northward toward the coast again hitting the coastline at Ribadeo. From there to Bilbao it was mostly driving along an interstatetype highway albeit not yet complete to Bilbao. Along the way we stopped frequently to see views of the rugged coastline of Galicia Asturia and Cant http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/Bilbao/blog-442118.html Today was the ride through the Basque Country and the Pyrenees...Flew to Barcelona yesterday evening had a good feed of Paella and went to bed....Arrived in Bilbao today around 145 pm...The train ride was quite pleasant and the scenery was from green and lush to barren and dry from red earth to white earth to the mountainous terrain of the Basque region and to Bilbao...Found the hotel reste http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/Bilbao/blog-441579.html Wherein I leave the rain for the sunI awoke Friday morning to find it was pouring rain in Donostia. Thunder lightening the whole works it was beautiful Think Seattle rain midwinter it was coming down sideways in buckets. I had planned to walk to the local bakery to grab some breakfast to eat on the train they had some lovely whole wheat rolls Thursday. The bakery was still closed when I http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/San-Sebastian/blog-439129.html We leave the blue sky behind as we head over the border into Spain and on to San Sebastian.Lonely Planet rave about the place and it is a pretty mix of narrow old streets bar tops stacked high with extravagantly prepared tapas and several beaches right outside the door. However the image is tarnished once the sun goes down by the number of english well aussie actually touts trying to coax you i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/San-Sebastian/blog-438815.html Beach walkWalked the beach again this morning there was better light so caught some great pictures of the Manolo Valdez sculptures along the promenade. I then had an amazing lunch at one of the restaurants along the marina. I had a salad and grilled squid. It was the most I've spent for a meal here 30euro but totally worth it An amazing meal I will remember for years.Hike to the castleTo be http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/San-Sebastian/blog-437411.html Departing MadridAfter getting up early this morning I checked out and went to grab some breakfast at the hotel restaurant. A beautiful older Japanese woman came in and attempted to order her breakfast in Spanish. The waiter was having issues understanding her and looked at me. After talking with her for a moment I discovered she knew a smattering of Spanish and Japanese. And she was traveling a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/San-Sebastian/blog-437149.html It took an hour to drive down the coast to Mundaka. Checked in to our hotel which was four kilometres out of Mundaka towards Gernika. Drove into down town Mundaka and found it extremely busy being a hot summers Sunday. The streets are very narrow and the countryside green and lush. We had some tapas at the local hotel and watched the teenagers dive off the rock platforms into the small port. We d http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/Bilbao/blog-434102.html Motorhome News from Europe 4 France and into Spain. 28th September 2004 The Pyrenees and PicosIt is now just four weeks since our journey began every day another adventure with new towns and villages wild open spaces and tree covered hillsides another mountain to climb new faces time for meaningful conversation and to make new friends. Our journey has taken us through the valleys of the C http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/blog-431344.html Drove down the coast and stopped off at Anglet to check out the surf. The swell had picked up and there were heaps of people in the water. Continued on into Spain and headed for San Sebastian. The hostel Axtika was expensive but in a great location with good rooms. We walked to Playa de la Zurriola for a swim and a surf. For dinner we headed into the Old Quarter for tapas in a Pinxto bar. The ci http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/San-Sebastian/blog-430295.html Portsmouth to Bilbao Tim and SueBit of a bumpy start our ferry departure was slightly delayed due to 'unseasonal weather'. The drive down to Portsmouth was an absolute shocker so no surprises that the ferry didn't turn up to dock until quite late. Here's hoping that this isn't going to continue on the crossing.It was bit of 'rough crossing' in various senses of the word. Generally OK we went http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/Bilbao/blog-427913.html Now this is a town I could easily spend some more time in one day. I recently just had a great stay in San Sebastian and loved every minute of it. This is a cool little holiday spot I can highly recommend to everyone. As you can see by the pictures it also has the most amazing views. Also I didnrsquot make up the most beautiful view in the world thingrsquo.. therersquos actually a plaque at http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/San-Sebastian/blog-426310.html 2 week's wwoof..... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/Bilbao/blog-425246.html Wednesday 29th July Bilbao The Picos SantanderThe Guggenheim is an amazing building but I had to agree with the consensus that debated whether its content was worthy of its surroundings. That's partly because I don't really get gargantuan ultra modern sculptures those more refined would probably disagree. As a basic sort of chap. for me art is about pictures on canvas or other media and for http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/Bilbao/blog-423928.html Tuesday 28th July San Sebastian BilbaoAfter mucho milos I'm picking up this Spanish lark already the last couple of days I had always planned today to be an easy lazy day but that was no excuse for taking the autoroute the 100km or so short hop to Bilbao. I studied the map afterwards yes I know somewhat arse about face and noticed the coastal road. Sure enough it even warranted a ment http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/Bilbao/blog-423924.html And To Think I Wasnrsquot Going To Come HereLeaving Bordeaux and France behind I didnrsquot want to spend 13 hours straight on a train to Madrid even though it seems strange to say that after doing the TransSiberian. The decision came when I recognised the name of a little town on the North coast of Spain San Sebastian. Not knowing a lot about the place I had only booked in for two nigh http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/San-Sebastian/blog-423446.html Day 455 10709Back to the Bus station again this time bound for Bilbao. We headed straight for the Guggenheim museum described as one of the worlds most impressive buildings. Past the random artistic monument which the Spanish love. We started with the tour of Chinese artist Cai Guo Qiang's ' I want to believe' exhibition. It was an awesome display of art using everything from cars fireworks http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Basque-Country/Bilbao/blog-422991.html