I've just been to the Basque Country. I tried blogging whilst I was away but my technical ineptness left me floundering so I spent my time drinking Rioja and eating pintxos instead. So guess I'm just going to have to chat about rioja and pintxos:
We tried to get to La Rioja but made the mistake of trying to go from San Sebastian, a place which just isn't designed for the budget traveller. Someone there thought that 245 Euros was an acceptable amount for a day trip to three vineyards. For the record it isn't. Not when the wine itself averages about 3 Euros a bottle and there were vineyards within walking distance of Zarautz, where we were staying for the bulk of the week. The vineyards were Tzakoli, a quasi-fizzy white wine, rather than tasty tasty Rioja, but they had pretty good views and enough grapes to tick a box. For the record, when we got to Bilbao we found a Rioja tour for 20 Euros, so if you're in the region...
Do you know what pintxos are? They're the mid-point between tapas and meals and just hang out at the bar all day, waiting to be munched. When we first arrived they seemed like the greatest invention ever; by the end of the week the novelty had warn off somewhat. Man cannot live on jamon Iberica alone.
So yeah, we based ourselves in Zarautz and bobbed along the Basque coast to a scattering of places (Deba, Getaria even San Sebastian) which, whilst superficially touristy, seemed off the Brits abroad radar. We topped and tailed the trip in Bilbao and Guggenheimed it right up; Bilbao's a city that's better in the sun - I'll tell you that for free.
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