Our late arrival meant that we missed our scheduled bus from Stansted to Heathrow airport. So we paid 3 pounds to get a guaranteed ride on the next bus. Glad we did, because the folks that stood there standby didn't get on. At Heathrow, we didn't have time or energy to get a meal. Of course, after we got to our gate, we were told there was a delay. On board was awful. More delay and no AC. The seats might fit a 5' person, but even they would be cramped if the guy if front leaned back.
The arrival in Bilbao went well, and Jason and Helen picked us up for the drive back to their apartment in Pamplona. They brought sandwich fixings and other goodies for the ride. They park their car about a 10 minute walk from their apartment, so we dropped Helen off with our bags, and continued on to park the car. It was nice to walk after so much time in airplane, bus and car seats.
We continued our walk to the Plaza San Francisco, then back to Jason's apartment for some lunch.
Jason and Helen drove us out of town to Hoz de Lumbier, a really cool canyon with a trail along an abandoned rail line.
We stopped by the river to skip stones
At the end of the second railroad tunnel, was a remaining support for the trestle.
Below us were some Roman ruins and this abandoned house.
Another view of this incredible canyon.
After our hike, we went into the town center, then on to Sanguesa where we went into a beautiful church by the river.
We walked around the town and found these gargoyles holding human heads over a church entrance.
We drove on to Ujue, and incredible small town on top of a hill. Beautiful scenery and wonderful view of the countryside. Unfortunately, our camera battery died in Ujue.
We drove back to Pamplona, and Rick tried to revive/recharge the camera battery. No luck. We may have to borrow Helen's camera, since this is only the first week of our trip.
A band is playing outside in the square, and a group of people are dancing. Evidently these are folk songs with a dance to go with them that the locals know. Anyway lots of fun. Sort of like line dancing with history.
This morning we went out to see if we could get a replacement battery for our camera, but unfortunately we couldn't. So we'll borrow Helen's camera for the rest of the trip.
We also went to the local supermercado to get a couple of items. Interesting experience. Each day they have one choice of the fresh milk of the day in either a litre carton or plastic bag. We needed peppers, but had to have the vegetable person weigh, bag and price our selections.
This afternoon, they set up some portable tables and chairs in the center of the plaza, and now a group are playing some sort of game. At about 8:30 a group from a Karate school, all dressed in white set up in the square and put on demo fights in a circle accompanied by drums. We watched for a while, then went and had wine in a bar next to a bronze statue of Hemingway.
Tomorrow we are renting a car and setting out towards Bilbao, San Sebastian, and possibly into France. Likely won't be on the Internet until we get back to Jason and Helen's apartment.
We drove on to Bilbao, and Jason and Helen headed back to their apartment. We went to the Guggenheim museum, which architecturally was very impressive.
After lunch, we drove along the coast to Laredo. We checked into a hotel, and then walked the beach to the old town.
On the way back drove through Congas de Onis, where they have an old "hump back" Roman bridge. Then we had lunch in Arriondas - 3 sandwiches and 2 glasses for 4.5 Euro total.
We continued driving along the coast, until the road went inland. Then we took the freeway to San Sebastian. We drove around a bit trying to find the coastal road, and places mentioned in our Michelin guide. We never found the road, so just got back on the bigger road to Hondarribia. From there we easily found the small road up the hill call the Jaizkibel Road, with an overlook back to town and across the river to France.
We found a nice hotel in Hondarribia, checked in, then walked into the walled old city. Inside the walled area is a huge castle turned into the Parador Hotel. We walked in and took a picture.
We drove to Irun, and up a road along the river. At one point we drove into France, just to do it, and because our car rental place said we couldn't.
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