DAY 10 - Lekeitio (mildly inappropriate)

We met up with the others, plus Matt and Gal at Gal's family home a few minutes from our hotel for breakfast. Afterwards we went for a walk along the picturesque beach, to the island (we dubbed lizard island) and along the harbour. The people on the streets were starting to build, not to mention the offensive costumes (which is somewhat the theme of the day). We walked around town drinks in hand and embraced the Basque culture. Meg enjoyed some vodka with freshly squeezed orange juice and Scott a traditional basque Calimocho (a mixture of red wine and coke, which was surprisingly tasty). Gal put on a lovely lunch for us and a few of his friends. We then put on our costume (Meg a nun and Scott a monk) and headed out into the streets. There were people everywhere and the streets were electric. We went to join the parade, but after standing around for 15mins for the parade to start, we decided to head down to the square. There is a weird tradition where a mannequin travels along a cable from the church to the town hall to kick off the festival (even Gal doesn't know what this is meant to symbolise). Without going into too much detail, the festivities were more than we ever expected and certainly not something you would see back home. Later in the night, we took a spin at the bumper cars, which was an absolute laugh. Before finishing our night of wandering the streets, dancing and drinking, we grabbed a delicious sandwich and headed back to the hotel. We are looking forward to a bit more of a relaxed day tomorrow (we will certainly need it).Read more