After leaving Mundaca on Thursday we headed further east along the coast to
the seaside resort of Zarautz. The drive was quite spectacular on a very
twisty barely used road. Barely used by motor vehicles that is for obvious
reasons as anything longer than Noddy would have struggled, but we could not
believe the numbers of both cyclists and pedestrians. The distance between
some of the little port towns was 15-20km in places yet people were out in
the middle of nowhere going for a stroll. And as for cyclists, we came
across what must have been a school outing of 20 or so youngster who despite
being out horse powered were rather tricky to pass on mostly very short
straights with no certainty of knowing if anything was about to appear at
speed from around the next bend. I think most of the journey for 5km or so
was done in 1st gear at cycling pace. Despite the route being very beautiful
and the small towns pretty it was not very easy to stop and admire the
surroundings with no viewpoints on the roadside or available parking in the
towns. Although saying that we did find one interesting place to park for a
few minutes ... in a tunnel behind a lorry that very nearly got jammed stuck
right in front of us. Thankfully after a lot of arm waving and heated
argument / discussion between the driver and another driver from a truck
behind us they managed to inch the lorry through. Needless to say we just
sat and smiled politely.
Our current home of Zarautz is a largish town and was once one of the 'chic'
places to hang out and 'people watch' out on the promenade. It is starting
to get back the crowds and especially the young surfers who seem to flock to
the surf off the very nice and long sandy beach.
Our main dilemma at the moment seems to be adjusting to the Spanish daily
routine of the 4 hour afternoon nap, not that we find it hard to nap for any
amount of time, but wrongly timing a shopping trip into town can lead to a
long wait in what seems to be a completely deserted outpost. Once the clock
chimes 17h00 however the populace seem to spring from all corners and normal
service is resumed.
We shall reside here for a few days as the campsite is very nice, perched on
the hill just out of town, visiting San Sebastien perhaps tomorrow and then
head off to Pamplona in a couple of days or so.
Quisiera utilizar el servicio de lavado
Hasta luego
M&S
PS bargains of the day ... 1 litro of vino tinto - 99c and 6 pack of
cerveza - 76c ... hic.
Sue says - did a HUGE bike ride today - whizzed down into town down the 1km
hill, did shopping, then had the mammoth task of cycling back up the hill -
did it with about 4 stops, some walking at the end and 3 heartbeats to
spare - ended it off with a vinos tintos (me) and cerveza (matt)
Editor's note - I only stopped on the way back up the hill so that Sue did
not get lonely!!
