Back in sunny Spain...well, it was for a day!

We woke up to the rainiest day we’ve had so far, which quickly developed into cyclonic conditions. The rain pelted down flooding the rec room where I was sheltering while Ross tried to find the laundry. After half an hour of walking around the park, and finding the marked laundry unavailable, he discovered a laundry right next to our camper, not marked on the map we had been given! Poor Ross!

After washing and drying the clothes, we decided to head off, anywhere to get out of this pelting rain. We did plan to head north along the coast, which would have been a pretty drive in good weather, but changed our plans and headed inland towards Zamora.

The rain persisted and we climbed higher and higher into the mountains, until we entered the rainclouds. The rain wasn’t quite so bad, but we couldn’t see more than a few metres ahead! At last the clouds seemed to clear, as we entered sunny Spain. It didn’t last long though, and soon enough the rain started again.

We managed to locate a Maccas in Zamora to try to get wifi, so I could call my bank in Australia on skype, as my account is doing weird things! There were kids’ birthday parties in progress; the noise was indescribably loud. No point in trying to place a call to the bank now, so we sat up until 11pm playing cards, and went back to maccas only to discover the noise had unabated; the place was now filled with teenagers. When we left at 11.30pm, (the time the Maccas closed), there were still a lot of people still eating and ordering! And after all that, I couldn’t get through to my bank! (We did have a couple of McFlurries though; they don’t have thickshakes here!)

Ross found a huge Eroski supermarket come department store where he bought in order of importance, wine, water, milk and some fruit, as well as some gadgetry he’s been looking for.

We woke to a beautiful sunny day, but cold- well, not exactly cold, but the coldest we’ve been so far- 8.6C- and headed off on a lovely drive to Bilbao. We pulled up in Mirandela for a coffee and a stale Portuguese tart; I couldn’t drink the coffee; but Ross polished his off admirably. Beggars can’t be choosers. I’ve been saying that a lot lately.

Still a beautiful sunny day when we arrived in Bilbao, we located the Guggenheim easily. The hard part was to follow. We simply could not find anywhere to park; we drove round and round and round and finally spotted a place on the side of a street. There were a few witch’s hats which Ross cleverly avoided, and parked beautifully. As I was just about to climb out, a gentleman approached and told us we weren’t allowed to park there- in English, so we couldn’t pretend not to understand. He said it was reserved for government vehicles. When we asked where we could park, as we wanted to visit the Guggenheim, he explained the directions. He must have seen the puzzled look on my face as he said, “Just follow me,” and we did, right to where the buses park underneath the Guggenheim. We gave our knight in shining armour a little koala as a small token of our appreciation.

This spot will do us! We are a small bus, right? We put up all of our Australian flags all over the camper to try to avoid a fine, although everyone parks wherever they want to in Europe- in the middle of the road- anywhere!

We paid our entry fee for seniors- so sad I wasn’t questioned as to my age!- and wandered through the huge expanse of the building. I liked the tulips and the stainless steel spheres, but many of the “exhibits” evaded my comprehension.  I found out when scolded by a guard that photos weren’t allowed so set off on a mission to get as many “illegal” photos as I could.  I was aided and abetted by Ross, who engaged one in conversation while I took the shot. Heavens only knows what it was I was shooting!

Back to the camper with thankfully, no fine, and on our way to San Sebastian. The GPS tried to direct us out of town, but unfortunately the street it was trying to take us was blocked with hundreds of people demonstrating or marching or something. Anyway, we couldn’t get through, but the GPS kept trying to take us back to that spot! We then had to use our sense of direction to avoid that part of town and somehow get on the motorway. I spied a sign for the motorway and Ross waited for a break in traffic to get over into that lane. On the motorway again as night fell, we found a small pull-off area with lots of garbage bins, an abundance of cute kittens (real cats!) and an automatic toilet where we parked the night. We had a lovely cheese platter with champagne and peach juice, and played cards again. I’ve finally got the knack of this game!

After 11 hours’ sleep, we set off for San Sebastian, drove round and round looking for a parking spot, found none, took some photos while driving, and kept going.  For a change, I decided to get off the motorway, not Ross, and take a short trip to Hondaribbia, where Ross parked illegally, put the hazard lights on, while I walked around the area taking some photos. Very pretty spot on the estuary! I assume it’s the border between Spain and France.

St Jean-de-Luz had been recommended to us so we thought we’d pop in to check it out. A very pretty old town on the beach with dozens of restaurants and patisseries, which would be bustling in summer, but now was almost deserted with most places closed for the winter. We walked right down to the beach in the rain before heading back to see the church; the least ornamental one I’ve ever seen; maybe it was hiding its beauty inside.

I spied a shop selling woollen hats for half price, but couldn’t find one that I liked. I want one to replace my gorgeous maroon beret that Max bought me for Christmas in France four years ago. I wore that beret to death last trip! What I did find was a lovely soft pair of black leather gloves! The leather gloves I’m wearing at the moment have seen better days. They’ve served me well; I bought them at the markets in Prague 4 years ago!

While I was shopping, Ross had found a “salon de the”, where we had coffees and raspberry tart (me) and a Crème Basque tart (Ross) before heading off to Biarritz where we’ve parked in a Maccas somewhere in the suburbs. It’s a huge shopping centre with heaps of restaurants, but I’m not hungry!