Holidays with friends.
Trip Start
Oct 27, 2008
1
15
17
Trip End
Jan 22, 2009
Lasarte,
Basque,
Spain
Monday, December 29, 2008
celebrated with Nere's family. We hiked from Lasarte to Hernani in time to
visit at their house for a while before the parade started. There were dancers, carolers,
and of course, Olencero (the Basque Santa). The people on the floats threw out
candy and roasted chestnuts, which we scurried to retrieve. There was music and
groups of carolers throughout the streets. We caught a ride with Nere and
Alberto to her parent's house in Zubieta. Begona had prepared an excellent meal
for the 11 of us and we ate and drank until after midnight. I am extremely
fortunate to have an adopted family here in the Basque country and they made
being away from home during the holidays much more bearable.
On Christmas morning we opened presents
in our pajamas. As always, Santa/Olencero had brought me a flannel shirt (dad
when he came earlier) but the best gift was a pair of socks hand made by my
aunt. Thanks!! After breakfast we took the hour and a half hike to Hernani to
use the internet and call home. Everything was shut down in the towns so we took
the day to relax and make connections back home. From here we took the train to
Donostia and then another train from there to Lasarte. That night we started my
favorite new addiction, a card game called 'Nerts.'
The day after Christmas brought rain. None
of us had our umbrellas but thought we could tough it out. We took off for the
beach and went to visit the 'wind combs' with an intention of walking the
length of beaches in Donostia. We hit the one blue spot in the sky and thought
it was going to be nice... and then the real storm came. It had been raining
pretty hard but on our way back from the 'wind combs' it was pouring and windy.
Our waterproof jackets helped but didn't stop the sideways rain from drenching
our pants. As soon as we could get to the bus stop we went back home for some
dry clothes, hot drinks, and card games. It cleared up later that night and we
sat by the river eating bread and cheese with a bottle of cider.
For the 27th we took the bus
to Tolosa. It is one of my favorite trips and I had wanted to show Denise and
Tyler the market. I was also in search of cabbage to make my mom's famous soup.
Turned out I couldn't say 'no' to the old lady selling cabbage and I bought the
ugliest cabbage of the whole market for 1 euro! (Despite burning it a
little{had a smokey taste} it boiled down very well.) But I did get some
visiting in with several of the vendors I'd previously encountered. They have
started to wonder why I'm here and what I'm doing. I try my best to explain in
spanish and chat about the weather and the holiday season. We took the train to
Donostia with better weather than the day before to walk along the seaside
before returning back to Lasarte again by train. There was a music festival
down the street and we attended for a while. I was hoping for some traditional
Basque music but it was a little more punk than I was hoping. We pretended to
rock out for a while before calling it a night and playing some cards. :)
Early the next morning we set off for
Orio by train to hike into Pagoeta Park. Every Sunday at 11:30am there is a
free tour of an old iron mill. Nere and Alberto had suggested it so we packed a
picnic lunch and went. The park does not include any well-communicated towns so
we knew we had to walk, we just weren't sure where. Once in the town we headed
in a general direction and stopped a car to ask. It was a father and son
couple, very nice, and helped us out. We took an early turn and climbed up to
the top of a mountain where the trail dead-ended. But from here we could see
the trail we should have taken. We chalked it up not as being lost, but as a
"necessary scout trip" and continued along our journey. Good thing we started
early because we took yet another scout trip. We were getting closer and came
upon one of the parking lots leading to the iron mill with a sign indicating it
was closed until after the 6th of January. No guided tour but it was
still neat to see and a great day for a hike. We ate our picnic lunch at the
mill and took another path to a botanical garden. The information center here
was closed also and we asked around about walking to Zarautz. Not sure on the
distances but we made quite the trek this day and ended at the beach in Zarautz
for an hour before our train trip. It was amazing to see the change in landscape
from the coast to a mountainous park and back in less than half a day walking.
When I think of Basque Country this is usually the land I picture: very green,
mountainous, sheep, fishing villages, white houses with the red roofs... and that
is what we saw. A great day of sunshine, scenery, and company! Que suerte!
(What luck!)
