The longest weekend in the year in Spain (5 days) is the perfect excuse (do we need one?) to travel. This time was the turn for Euskadi or Basque Country. Well-known region in the world, but totally unknown for me.
First stop in the last trip to the North of Spain, Burgos welcomed us with a white landscape.
Beautiful city crossed by the Arlanzón river (I have a soft spot for the cities with rivers) and really good food. After getting warm with a soup, we took advantage of a couple of advices from a “burgalés”, and enjoyed some good tapas, made of the typical black pudding.
From the touristic point of view, there are several monasteries worth the visit, and very good spots. We went to the Real Monasterio de las Huelgas, and took the guided tour which I really recommend to see the different rooms and the two cloisters.
Then, it was time for Vitoria. It is the southernmost province of Euskadi, and also the least known one. Just a couple of hours there were enough to visit the old town and get a feeling of the city, accompanied by a local friend. The first stop in Euskadi started showing us a pattern in most of the cities in the region: polished streets and lively old towns.
Bilbao is one of the biggest cities in Spain and one of the most industrial ones in the region. Yet another city with river (did I mention I like these?), full of warm people which made us not notice the wind and rain that accompanied us during our visit. You cannot miss here the “Ensanche” (where you can still find some jewels in form of old palaces in the middle of tall buildings), the city centre is also really nice and full of people who actually live there.
The surroundings are also worth a visit. The famous “Puente Colgante” de Portugalete links Las Arenas de Getxo and Portugalete over the river. Constructed by a pupil from Mr.Eiffel, it is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage.
Last but not least, one can enjoy nice food (anchovies, tuna,…) with a great Txakoli wine in the Old Port of Alkorta together with an amazing view from Bilbao, the river, and the very close mountains behind the city.
After having visited Bilbao, it was time to drive east towards San Sebastián. The best option if you can afford one day here is to invest it in enjoying the coast between these two big cities. There you can find lots of scattered towns in a breathtaking orography. Some of the places we stopped in were Bermeo, Mundaka (beloved by the surfers due to its almost perennial wave – not when we went, though!), Elantxobe (so small that the main square needs to turn to let the bus turn around!), and the night caught us before getting to Getaria.
And finally we arrived to our last stop: Donosti/San Sebastián. In opposition to Bilbao, Donosti is open to the see. There are two mountains in each corner of La Concha beach, which are also surrounded by the water and when the wind blows from the north, the water hitting the rocks everywhere offer an amazing spectacle… or at least that is what the travelguide and the locals say, because (lucky us) when we were there the wind blew from the South, which meant no wave at all, no water hitting in the rocks, etc.
(Even) More pictures in this slideshow.
Marrakech has been the southernmost city I have ever been, and also the first city in Africa I visit, and I am not really happy about it, I must say. I did enjoy the trip because of the company, but I did not fall in love with the city. I guess some externalities helped to this too.
First, for the whole first day it was pouring. Generally, I do not like rain when visiting a city, but Marrakech is definitely not the place for that. Come on, it is “Sahara’s Door”, and what did we get? Rain!
Secondly, political relationships between Morocco and Spain led to a demonstration in Casablanca during the weekend I was there against some Spanish decisions… People from all around Morocco attended that demonstration and the Zoco in Marrakech was mostly closed for one day (the sunny one to make it worse).
Last but not least, it is a touristic city, and hence many people live with a bunch of euros they get from the tourists. Fair enough. The problem is how some of them try to get it. They really push for offering you any kind of service and do not understand a “no” unless you repeat it 15 times… Too much for me.
Anyway, I am looking forward to a new trip to the south… but it will probably be more nature-related, and avoid the cities for the moment… 😉
More pictures from Marrakech in this slideshow.
Long weekend in Spain, and a pending invitation to visit Paris. I was there a couple of years ago, but Paris is always nice to revisit. In fact, revisiting was the perfect plan for this trip, as I wanted to take it easy. So, a lot of walking around this beautiful city, getting some insider’s tips and information about life in there, and enjoying the French cuisine at an affordable price.
Of course, the walking included all the typical spots…
… and also meetups with some friends living or visiting the city, making a good usage of the Parisian terraces. I like the fact that they are intended to make customers look to the rest of pedestrians, instead of the people sitting with them.
