Exploring Basque Country (Day8)
We woke up to a persistently drizly morning which made going for sunrise a moot point , so we slept a few extra hours under the blanket in the top most room. It was almost 9am which is when we got ready and started our hike/climb up to Gaztelugatxe church.
It started as a cloudy day with occasional rain and strong winds and when we got to the top we had to wait for quite some time under the church roof edge because suddenly it started raining really hard; but the walk up the stairs was quite spectacular though with views of the bay on both sides.
When it finally stopped raining, we started our walk back to Gaztelu Begi pausing at various viewpoints along the bridge. As we got to the end of the staircase, the clouds cleared up and the shining sun showed their face completely transforming the view. It was absolutely marvelous in every direction we looked and we stopped at different junctions of the remaining steps to take in the view. It simply went from soggy, grayish to completely breathtaking in a matter of minutes.
We were already thinking of the grand day ahead of us and looking forward to spending the day in San Sebastian while visiting a couple of tokaji wine shops on our way there and finally ending the day at the Parador de Hondarribia. It seemed like it would be a glorious sunny day,little did we know what was about to come.
Once we got back to Gaztelu Begi, loaded up our car, checked out and drove to the intersection we were told that the last bicyclists of the Tour de France were going to pass through that stretch of the road.
That was only one road out of there and the local police had blocked it, not letting anyone leave until 4 or 5 more hours. We were absolutely devastated because all our plans fell through. We just sat at the bar, having multiple pinchos, coffee and vermouth and entertained ourselves by looking at the photos we took. Time and again, we would go to the road-block area and check with the police when they would open. The frustration was overwhelming that day!
At about 3.30/4 pm they finally opened the roads and we were the first few to rush out of there. We had planned to go to a couple of tokaji tastings but unfortunately they were closed at the time. They would reopen much later in the day or there were no roads to get to the shops because of more road closures for the Tour de France. We were made to take various detours and it was close to 6 when we finally reached the city of San Sebatian.
We had been looking forward to visiting Pablo and Christina of Lurka craft chocolate (friend of choccoffewine befriended over instagram). Unfortunately, Christina had left for the day but we got to chat with Pablo, enjoying coffee, tea and some delicious cheesecake and cookies at the bakery. Pablo told us all about Lurka, his award winning bars and his Mexican heritage and we left super happy (finally!) after buying some bars. He also recommended that we should dine at their favorite restaurant there - the Gastroteka Danontzat.
We hung out in the city for a little bit walking along the river and the beach but quickly made our way out of San Sebastian towards Hondarribia. It was a 40 mins drive that became so much longer because of construction going on in the town and we had to eventually call the concierge at the Paradores for directions to help us get to the hotel. We had to drive through some meandering and narrow cobblestone roads to finally reach there.
The Parador de Hondarribia is a stone's throw from France, on the very border of Spain and was actually Charles V’s castle ,a10th-century for military defense on the River Bidasoa, which explains the thick walls and the height of the building. This castle was where various Catholic Monarchs, Emperor Charles V, Philip IV and V, and even Velázquez himself stayed. It is also famous for historical treasures such as the tapestries designed by Rubens on the theme of the History of Achilles.
It started drizzling again as we approached Hondarribia and it seemed like it would go on for the whole night, which killed the notion of watching the sunset over water. To top it off Danontzat did not have an opening for the night and the Parador de Hondarribia is the only paradores in our trip which did not have a inhouse restaurant.
We first went to Restaurante Sebastian by Gorka Irisarris (same chef as Danontzat), which is a newer restaurant and serves local basque cuisine. Unfortunately, we were turned away since they were completely full and we did not have a reservation. So, we went back to Danontzat about two blocks away hoping that at least they would be able to seat us. It was the same scenario - they were full too. So, we asked them if they could do a take out meal for us to which they asked us to wait for a little while. Finally, some luck shined upon us and they were able to seat us. We had a lovely innovative meal and thoroughly enjoyed their gastronomic menu consisting of fresh foods and local wine. Long dinner continued past midnight when we returned to our room and fell asleep to sweet dreams of food and fresh ocean air.
