Basque country - more eating and drinking

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We have been teetering on the edge of the Basque Country but today we went right into the region so left behind the relatively flat area for more hills and valleys and immediately noticed there must be a high rainfall as it was soooo green with cattle and sheep and not a vineyard to be seen. We could only liken it to Gippsland in Victoria or Bega in NSW. We then descended to the Bay of Biscay to the fishing village of Getaria where El Kano is revered for bringing back 17 men who set out with 240 others to circumnavigate the world. EVERYTHING is called El Kano something. Mike did note that the memorial was built to the survivors, not the lost!!

We visited a family run artisan anchovy producer. Oh my goodness, I will never take those salty little morsels for granted again, or at least not the artisan ones as they do everything by hand. We were given a demonstration and then volunteers were called for - we took a quick step backwards as it is really fiddly as you can imagine. Our representatives did a great job and prepared, skinned, filleted and packed the anchovies in oil. We then moved on to sample two types of anchovy pinxtos (pinchos/Tapas) - one with the salted and the white that was pickled. They were accompanied by a wine that is produced in the area called Txakoli (pronounced Chakolee) which is a slightly sparkling white wine. TIP - toothpaste is used to get rid of the anchovy smell on hands!!

Of course you cannot sample the wine without visiting the vineyard and we went to the vineyard of a delightful family who love Australia and Australians that was established in 1830. The current owner is the 6th generation winemaker. He showed us his vines - different from all the others in that they formed a canopy and grow just above head height - and the winemaking process. He was delightful and passionate about his product which, of course, we had to sample with some more pinxtos using anchovies.

Because we hadn't had enough to eat or drink we then went back into town for lunch!! What a treat, this was another family run business but it had the addition of 1 Michelin star!! The wonderful thing is that it wasn't at all stuffy and was loud with lots of people and there was even a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. The owner was delightful and told us "My father was a fisherman, we just prepare fish like he used to. There are lots of restaurants in the area that deserve a Michelin star so don't focus on that". What grace and humility. All I can say is that the meal was superb and because of his humble attitude and desire to please a motley group of Aussies, he got a gold star from us.

We have just returned from a walk along the boardwalk of our final destination on the tour, San Sebastián, a beautiful seaside town. We are sorry that we leave early in the morning as it is the most attractive beach we have seen in Europe and appears to be a buzzing, interesting town. Everyone was out "promenading" in the warm evening. Because we finished lunch at 5pm there was no need for dinner so a farewell sangria and pinxto completed our tour of Northern Spain.

We leave for Madrid in the morning so 5 hours on the train will give us time to reflect and thank God for this excellent week.

Adios from Northern Spain

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Photos

Church Elkano returned to with 17 sailors 3 years after they left
Complete with boat hanging from ceiling.
Memorial to soldiers who survived

Doing a great job.
Michael is 6'6"!!

Our host and guide - two men with a passion for what they do
More anchovies

San Sebastián beach
Could have been Australia except for sun lounges and umbrellas

Glimpse of San Sebastián by night
Definitely needs more exploration

Comments

[Barb D]

SMILING
I have so enjoyed reading your daily blogs, and especially to see the interesting photos ... and ones with your smiling faces!!!! You have had a fantastic adventure, and I praise and thank God for answered prayer and you have remained safe. Have fun on your last days. Playgroup awaits you Mike!!!!! Lotsaluv xx