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Published: April 17th 2008
We travelled to the Basque Country to stay with our friends Mikel (who we had met in Edinburgh days) and his wife Leire and baby daughter Kira. Mikel had taught us to rock climb in Edinburgh and we had been to the Basque Country in earlier years to do a bit of low level rock climbing and to see the country.
On the drive from Barcelona to Basque Country, we stopped in a the Pyrenees Mountains and skied for a day at Candanchu, right on the Spanish/French border, staying in a town called Jaca (Haka). We missed the left hand turn into the Candanchu township and did a u-turn in France - so we had about 1 minute in France!
Mikel and Leire made us so welcome and we loved their town, Azkoitia (Ath-coy-tia), surrounded by the hills and mountains of the Basque Country. We took a wander through the town with Leire (she grew up here), and it has a real historical old village feel to it where the old men in peaked caps met near the town centre to hang out and chat, but it also has the stores set in the old buildings selling quality European
modern designer clothes and homeware. It’s like the history is preserved, and anything new is of top quality. No ‘$2 Shops’ (or ‘1 Euro shops’) in site!
We went out for lunch in Azkoitia and had the traditional midday feast consisting of lamb broth, then starter, main, dessert and coffee. Mikel said that during his working week, he usually takes the time to have the three course meal, then a smaller meal at night. Lots of the shops closed over the lunch period.
Mikel and Leire took us to San Sebastian on the coast (third largest Basque city) for a day trip. We had a wander through the city and then, towards midday we noticed lots of little bars starting to open, each with plates of food lining the counters. These were plates of Pintxos (Pinchos), the traditional Basque pre-lunch starter.
The tradition is to go to two different bars and have a pintxos in each along with a glass of the local wine. The wine is poured into pint glasses from a height, creating bubbles, but the glass is only filled to about 3cms. Once you’ve been to your two bars, you move on to a
restaurant for your 3-4 course lunch.
We went to a cidery where there is a technique for pouring your cider. One person stands at the cider barrel and opens the tap which squirts cider out a couple of metres. You stand with your pint glass and catch the cider until you have around 3cm, then taste while it is still bubbly. It goes flat straight away so after your first few sips you tip the rest out and start again. You don’t take cider back to the table but go up and get more when you want it.
Mikel and Leire showed us such a good time and are so proud to showcase their Basque culture and countryside. We will definitely be back!
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