Day 51: Along the coast from Bilbao to Tolosa

Disclaimer: All voyages in this blog are being taken safely in the comfort of our imaginations - based on our plans and intentions for travel in 2020. What is reality after all? 

We pondered whether to combine this trip from Bilbao to Tolosa with the account of a day in Tolosa, but thought that there's probably enough to say about each day to make them separate posts. So here's the story of a drive along the Basque coast, then inland to Tolosa, about a half hour's drive south of Donostia/San Sebastian.

The exit from Bilbao was smooth enough (given the ease with which one can get lost), and the first stop on the coast was at the small town of Bakio. We looked down on the town first from a mirador (lookout) in the coastal hills:

These little towns are basically fishing villages, clustered around inlets, though increasingly their attention is paid to tourism and beaches:

On the other side of the town, we could see a promontory, with a stone walkway out to a chapel:

We got further glimpses of it from further along the coastal road:

The whole coast is studded with these little hermitages and churches (is this Romanesque?):

Past Bermeo, there's another chapel on the rocks at Mundaka:

and then the road dives inland, with a wider and longer than average inlet to drive round.  At the head of this inlet, however, is the renowned town of Guernika.  This town is noted, of course, for being devastated during the Spanish Civil War, in a massive bombing raid that was also a rehearsal for Nazi bombings during WW2. We drove round briefly (having visited a few years ago), noting the Museo de la Paz de Guernica:

the courtyard/park with statues of the resistance:

and a little further along, a mural of the famous Picasso painting:

From Guernika it was back to the coast at Lekeitio with its busy beach, the Playa de Karraspio:

There's a small wooded island just off the beach, with a concrete walkway out there at low tide:

But even though we were tempted to walk out there and risk being stranded by the tide coming in (like we've NEVER done before!), we were feeling hampered by having a loaded car, so could but note these things and push on.

Next was the typical town of Ondarroa, jammed in the estuary between hills and sea:

and more dramatic coastal scenery:

With little stops at lookouts, even though all this was a short distance, lunch was contemplated. We'd looked on-line, and thought that a small country restaurant Santuaran, near Deba, might do. This involved coming off the main highway and winding through Deba and then out and over the highway on a minor road.  We could see the restaurant in the distance:

Our choice of this restaurant was largely due to its small terrace:

where we had a view across to the carpark ... just being careful and watching:

Again, as with all things gastronomic on this trip, lunch was a slow and modest affair:

The last stop along the coast was at Orio (well, not really a stop - as we bypassed it) ... and, not wishing to go into Donostia at this point, it was then in-land to the small town of Aia, with its church:

and very typical local town hall:

We were getting close to our destination now, even though this was slow going on small local roads (with frequent stops to ooh and aah), but at Villabona we joined the highway again, running south from Donostia to Tolosa, and it seemed only a few minutes more before we arrived, seeing Tolosa across the Oria river:

Driving into any Spanish town means navigating through canyons of apartments and modern developments before you get to the old part of town. Even though Tolosa is relatively small (a little over 20,000 people), we were grateful for the clearly marked directions to a parking lot:

where we dove underground:

into the recommended parking near to our hotel. A quick trundle of the luggage through the streets, and we were there, in the Euskal Herria Plaza, where at #1 is the Hotel Bidebide (which used to be a courthouse):

Its entrance is in the plaza arcade:

We checked into this very pleasant and friendly family-run hotel, and were shown to our room:

We'd asked for a quiet room, so were in the rear of the building, with a view out to the train tracks (and just the occasional passing train ... but better than a view of the market being set up in the plaza at 5.30 am we'd been told):

We quickly wandered around our neighbourhood, out though the arched entrances to the plaza:

along the quiet streets:

and noted the nearby church of Santa Maria near the river:

 More of this tomorrow - for now, it's dinner at the fine restaurant associated with the hotel:

and gearing up for a busy day in the markets tomorrow.