Spain
Lekeitio

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    • Day 19

      Von Frankreich nach Spanien, aber dann..

      March 25, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

      Heute morgen bin ich bei strahlendem Sonnenschein aufgewacht und hab mir gedacht, schau ich mal ob der Bäcker auf dem Boulevard auf hat. Natürlich nicht, und beim Blick über den Boulevard, weiß ich auch warum. Keiner da, keine Saison. Also Baguette von gestern aufgebacken, ist auch lecker.
      Nach dem Frühstück dann auf nach Capbreton, das nächste Städtchen. Hier bin ich dann überrascht, denn da ist was los bei dem schönen Wetter. In den Markthallen herrscht Samstags reges Treiben und auch in der Stadt ist es vergleichsweise voll. Ich schlendere durch den Markt und die Innenstadt, besorge mir ein Baguette und ein kleines Törtchen... die sahen einfach zu gut aus und es schmeckte auch hervorragend...
      Danach noch zum Strand, an dem erstaunlich viele Bunkerreste liegen.
      Anschließend weiter nach Biarritz, sehr beeindruckende und vornehme Stadt. Ich kämpfe mich bis zur Küstenstraße vor und schlängel mich an der Promenade entlang. Toller Blick, aber keine Chance auch nur kurz für ein Foto anzuhalten. Erst als ich aus dem Ort rausfahren, kann ich kurz anhalten und zwei Bilder machen. Das hatte ich mir anders vorgestellt, aber von außerhalb nochmal rein laufen, dafür ist mir der Weg zu weit.
      Und so verabschiede ich mich von Frankreich und nehme Kurs auf Spanien, Irun als erstes Ziel. Die Strecke unspektakulär aber kaum bin ich hinter der Grenze und in Irun, ändert sich alles. Die Straßen sind verstopft, überall Stau, viele Leute unterwegs. So quäle ich mich durch den Ort und versuche nach Donostia San Sebastian zu kommen. Im Stau suche ich mir einen Stellplatz raus, die Stadt soll schön sein und der Strand lohnt sich auch. Es ist kurz nach Mittag, Timing passt. Je näher ich dem Stellplatz komme umso schlimmer der Verkehr und immer mehr Fußgänger, volle Busse. Kurz vor dem Stellplatz komme ich am Stadion vorbei und verstehe, gleich ist hier ein Spiel und Tausende wollen hin. Der Stellplatz ist am Stadion, perfektes Timing, sowas kann ich gut. Keine Chance hier noch irgendetwas zu retten. Irgendwann schaffe ich es raus aus der Stadt und finde die Küstenstraße Richtung Westen. Gentaria, Deba usw.
      Die Küstenstraße ist eine tolle Panoramastraße und nicht nur bei Motorradfahrern beliebt. Hier ist es bergig und kurvenreich. Ich habe auf der Strecke mehr Motorradfahrer und Radfahrer gesehen, als in den letzten Wochen davor...
      In fast jedem Ort versuche ich vergeblich einen Parkplatz zu bekommen, auf der Panoramastraße gibt es ab und an Parkbuchten, nur ganz selten kann ich kurz anhalten. An jedem Kreisverkehr stehen Polizisten, könnte sein, dass ein Fahrradrennen stattfindet, keine Ahnung, ich entscheide mich für die etwas abgelegene Stadt Lekeitio. Da gibt es einen größeren Stellplatz, sollte also kein Problem sein. Strecke ist wenig befahren, Kurvenreich, macht Spaß.

      Dort angekommen bin ich wieder irritiert, der Stellplatz ist voll, alle Parkplätze sind voll. Mit Mühe kann ich einen normalen Parkplatz ergattern und beschließe hier zu bleiben. Ob hier ein Fest ist, finden wir es heraus und gehen in die Stadt. Schöne Stadt, netter Hafen, viele Leute unterwegs, keine Ahnung, ob heute was Besonderes ist. Ich finde keinen Grund, außer das Wochenende ist und die Sonne scheint. Zum Abend hin wird es nicht leerer obwohl es deutlich abkühlt und die Sonne hinter Wolken verschwindet. Man könnte meinen, es sind Ferien und Sommer....
      Ein wenig geflasht von diesem Unterschied seit der Grenzüberquerung hoffe ich jetzt mal, dass sich das in den nächsten Tagen wieder normalisiert. Wenn ich künftig immer nach Parkplätzen suchen muss, damit ich überhaupt etwas ansehen kann, dann wird das anstrengend und ich muss mir etwas anderes überlegen. Aber ich bin ich Spanien, das klingt doch gut
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    • Day 22

      Golf van Biskaje

      May 23, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      In Lekeitio bereiken we de Golf van Biskaje. Lekkere koffie en een 'tostada' en even genieten van het uitzicht. Even buiten Lekeitio moet een camping zijn.

      De kustweg is hier niet zo vlak als we stiekem gedacht / gehoopt hadden. Bij de camping aangekomen blijkt deze dicht. Oeps, dan maar doorfietsen naar camping Ondarroa zegt de campingbaas, is nog maar 14 km naar volgende camping. Slik, enig idee hoe leeg onze accu's zijn vriend?Read more

    • Day 16

      DAY 15 - Lekeitio to Berlin

      September 6, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      We drove Jez, Sean and Zoe to Bilbao Airport to make their late morning flight. The car trip was slightly uncomfortable for most (pretty much everyone except the driver; Scott). We packed as much luggage as possible in the boot, with three of the hiking bags finding a home on our laps. We got the others to the airport in time and still had a few hours to burn before needing to return our hire car. We decieded to use this time to check out Bilbao CBD.

      As we pulled into town, Meg was feeling unwell and Scott hungry. So needless to say, we needed to find somewhere to park. With street parks near impossible to find, anything would do. We found a garage park, which had as both on the edge of our seats as we drove down the skinny curved driveway. Despite the lack of English, we managed to book a spot in the garage for a couple of hours.

      We walked to the Guggenheim to have a look at the fascinating architecture and large Rose Puppy out the front. If we had a little more time and felt a little more human after the last few days, we would have spent the time to go inside. Instead, we decided to indulge in something equally cultured. Finding the closest Maccas! We ordered far more food than we needed, but the air con and free wifi were very much welcomed.

      We had a slightly long wait at the airport with another minor delay to our stop over flight to Amsterdam. At this point, all we needed was a bed. Thankfully, our stopover was short, and we were in Berlin in no time.

      Our Bolt (ride share) driver dropped us off at our air bnb that we were sharing with Sean, Zoe and Jez. To get to our apartment, we walked a very odd and somewhat creepy shared path within the complex. The apartment was much the same (fair to say they were very particular with what they took photos of). Meg and I ended up with a bed that was very close to the roof and sat above the lounge room. Not to worry, tomorrow is a new day.
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    • Day 15

      DAY 14 - Lekeitio (Goose Day)

      September 5, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      We started the day a little late, walking up to Gal's for some breaky. Today was very clearly the main festival day, everyone wore navy and a sailors scarf other than the main competitors who wore white. Gal sourced clothes for us to join in on Goose Day. We went to a bar that had set up an outside bar for the day (It seemed that most places did this, probably to keep people on the street). The streets were full of people dancing, singing, drinking, and spraying water pistols. After a small lunch, we made our way down to the harbour for the main event.

      Without being there, it's hard to understand the chaos of the event. The competition involves a boat rowing up to the fake goose suspended by ropes running across the harbour. The crew member in white grabs the goose by it's neck and attempts to hold on until the neck comes off. They are flung in and out of the water by a small team of guys pulling the rope from the side of the harbour. It was an experience unlike any we have ever had. During the 2.5hrs event, we stood around the harbour, enjoying a few too many drinks, including some basque liquors. At some point we grew a little tired of the heat and decided to go for a quick dip at the beach (meg and zoe decided to stick to the shade and mind the clothes). After a quick shower it was back to the street partying, which we topped off with a delicious roll. We're certainly not looking forward to the early start tomorrow.
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    • Day 14

      DAY 13 - Lekeitio (Beach Day)

      September 4, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

      We had a sleep in this morning, followed by a small breakfast at Gal's (thanks Matt and Gal). We then put on our finest beach clothes and headed down for Matt and Gal's faux wedding by the beach. Once we got the obligatory wedding photos, we parked up at the beach for the day. It wasn't long before most of us were in the water, doing our best to body surf (rather successfully for the best part). Our beach day comprised of drinking on the beach and a short break to grab lunch (rotisserie chicken, calamari and of course more bread).

      On our walk back from the beach we ran into Gal's sister, who reminded Gal that there was a surprise in line for us tonight at 9pm and that we needed to wear long pants and long sleeved shirts (this had us all thinking).

      Once showered and refreshed we caught up with everyone at a bar along the harbour while we waiting for our "surprise". Just before 9pm a thunderstorm decided to roll through. The storm cleared just before 10pm, at this time we were told to rush to the square for our surprise.

      The surprised turned out to be a group of people running through the streets in devilish looking costumes swinging fire sticks around (more like fireworks - check out the video). We were told that partaking (running under as they spun it above their head) was entirely optional. It didn't turn out this way, as they ran at us up the stairs spining the firework sticks above our heads. Scott and Sean both got a little bit on their heads, but managed to avoid matching bald spots.

      It was a bit difficult with all the people in town to get a table for dinner, so we decided to grab takeaway pizza. Quite unbelievably, this took almost 2hrs to come. Lucky we had a great bunch of people to enjoy a few drinks with to past the time.

      We with Sean, Zoe and Jez tried heading out for a few drinks later on, thinking this would be no problem since every other night had gone past 6am. It turns out the only place open was a very crumby dive bar that we had no time for. We guess that Goose Day is going to be a big day - better get some sleep.
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    • Day 6

      Lekeitio

      October 28, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      Aujourd’hui, réveillé dans un geopark puis il faut prendre la route. Nous voyons de magnifiques paysages tout au long de notre balade. Vers midi nous nous arrêtons à mutriku où se trouve une splendide plage. Nous nous baignons et pêchons quelques crevettes.Read more

    • Day 13

      DAY 12 - Lekeitio (Car trip)

      September 3, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

      Scott and Jez decided to go for an early morning run to the lighthouse and back. The humidity and steps were quite challenging, but the post pool and spa more than made up for this. We (Car 1 - Gal, Matt, Sean and Zoe, Car 2 - Scott, Meg and Jez) got on the road shortly after for our 1.5hr drive to Hondarribia. It was an absolute mission to find a car park as their local festival was running (it turns out most of the Basque coastal towns have their festivals over the same week). Both cars entered a car park on the hill where we spotted a few parks, within a few moments we realised why these were free. Gal was sliding through the mud and somehow managed to avoid hitting any other cars. Scott began to slide but thought better and decided to try his luck parking elsewhere. Thankfully someone pulled out of their park, which Scott quickly snapped up. Hondarribia itself is an old, wealthy and beautiful beach town bordering France. We sat down in the square for a drink before walking down the main street through the festivities. We eventually made it to the beach where we planted ourselves for the next few hours. We enjoyed a swim in the ocean water with a view of Château d'Abbadie in France. Sean, Jez and Scott decided to swim out to one of the bouys roughly 80m out from shore (thankfully everyone could swim, as the Spanish lifeguards didn't look particularly observant). We then went down to the main street for some lunch, which turned out to be quite difficult with all the people. Gal somehow managed to find us a table. On our walk back to our cars we noticed a large crowd and even larger ramp for what appeared to be some sort of motorbike show. We decided to stick around for the start and were happy that we did (apparently one of the riders is the current 6 time world champion, as translated by Gal). Our next stop was the better known and picturesque San Sebastion. Whilst here, we walked around town (including the beach) and grabbed some dinner. We ate a handful of tapas before grabbing a traditionally Basque cheesecake from the shop that invented it, which we ate down by the sea wall. After our lovely day, we arrived back in Lekeitio with bed on our mind. We have nothing other than a day at the beach planned for tomorrow - we're excited for some quality rest and relaxation.Read more

    • Day 12

      DAY 11 - Lekeitio (time to relax)

      September 2, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      After a sleep in, we headed down for our paid buffet breakfast. Much to our surprise, the buffet was over (apparently, this ends at 11 am despite the concierge saying 12). This was no issue as the hotel we able to prepare breakfast for us. We sat down lking out over the harbour and ate our breaky with Laura before having a dip in the hotel pool and spa. The three of us met up with the Sean, Zoe, Jeremy, Matt, and Gal for calamari and patatas bravas (cubed potatos cooked in oil with hot sauce poured over it). Matt then took us for a walk around town. We didn't quite make the lighthouse, largely due to humidity making us feel like we had just jumped out the shower (minus the feeling of refreshment). We bar hopped for a little before heading to the pizzeria to grab dinner. Meg decided to unburden herself her loose change by playing the pokie machine inside the pizzeria (turns out Meg's luck is no better here). Meanwhile, Scott avoided using the sink as there was water leaking from the light fixture above the sink. We went back to Gal's to enjoy our pizza and leftovers before heading back to the square for another round of bumper cars. We grabbed some sub-par churros before heading back to the hotel for a swim. Unfortunately the hotel facilities were closed, so we called it a night. We're back on the road tomorrow for a day trip to check a bit more of Basque Country.Read more

    • Day 37

      Day 37 - Sad to be our Final Full Day

      July 17, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      We woke up to our final full day in Spain, which felt quite sad. Not helped when I missed out an opportunity to work this coming weekend.

      After coffees and showers we lugged all our usual beach equipment down the hill to the beach for one final time. We did our best to make the most of our final rays of sunshine & our final lunch in the beach taverna - a mixed salad, gorgeous ham and cheese croquettes & supplemented with a couple sausages left over from the previous night.

      At 6pm we said a sad farewell to Lekeitio and it’s beach & lugged all our gear the 1.5 miles back up the hill. We treated ourselves to a beer at the top.

      That evening Jackie made bacon butties, then we packed up what we could. Whilst doing so we were approached by a couple of Dutch lesbians who we had said hello to previously. They were keen to know about our travels and the UK after Brexit. They were able to confirm that the Tour de France had actually passed along the road immediately outside our campsite. If only we could turn back time!

      We finished the evening with our final bottle of wine on Spanish soil looking out to sea & reminiscing on our trip.

      Song of the Day : Sad Song by Oasis.
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    • Day 11

      DAY 10 - Lekeitio (mildly inappropriate)

      September 1, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      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

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Lekeitio, Lequeitio, 48280

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