Getxo, Bilboa
As we approached Bilbao
we could see the massive outer breakwater topped with a row of wind turbines
from several miles away. It’s a busy port and as we got closer we could see a
dot on the horizon which looked like it could be heading our way, we kept
watching as the dot grew larger and it became obvious that we were going to
reach the entrance at pretty much the same time. We carried on watching it and
followed all the ColRegs (regulations to avoid collisions at sea) and basic
common sense, keeping over to the correct side and keeping our fingers crossed
as a Brittany
ferry thundered past us to meet its waiting pilot escort. If we had been
sailing and further out ColRegs would have given us the right of way, however
common sense dictates that it’s wise to stay away from something that would
turn you to matchsticks without even noticing the bump…
Once through the first entrance the harbour opens up, from
the outer harbour wall to the mouth of the river is 4 miles, so for us that is
roughly an hour of looking out for tug boats and other shipping before we
reached the marina we were aiming for. The weather was not particularly pleasant
as we arrived and getting wetter so we were all quite soggy by the time we were
safely moored. The marina itself is nice though and being on the outer pontoon
we have lovely views around the bay.
Having passed through Cantabria into the Pais Vasco, it was time to visit a
chandlery to buy a new regional courtesy flag. The Basque flag is currently flying
below the Spanish flag after carefully studying other boats in the marina. It
is politic in this region to watch carefully and do as others do as it is easy
to cause offense to Basques, non-Basque Spaniards or both without care in such
things as flag etiquette, we will be careful!
Having finally started getting a grip with Spanish
(admittedly poorly with reading notices, finding opening times, saying hello
etc, deep conversations or understanding exactly what someone says are still
beyond us) we are now plunged into a bi-lingual area with a completely
different accent making even the Spanish speakers sound very different. Most
signs are written in both Spanish and Basque but the order varies and very few
words are similar enough to recognise as being the same, we’ve picked up a
couple of words so far, there are a lot of z’s and x’s in everything.
We had a couple of great walks to the old harbour and around
the fishing quarter to explore its tiny streets which crawl their way up the
hill away from the water. There are some fantastic views from the top and a
lift joining the beach below and the shopping area above if you don’t fancy
walking the tree lined paths which run up and down the steep hill. It’s a
really lovely area with some quirky little buildings and as with much of Spain some nice
public areas with gardens and benches.
Fishing quarter |
Transporter bridge |
We have had some good wanders around the Gexto Getxo area which
was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries with the gentry
for their summer houses, so there are lots of big mansions designed by famous
architects all trying to outdo each other, many were supposedly influenced by
English country houses and most of them have been built in locally quarried
sandstone. They are all lined along what used to be the Las Arenas beach
overlooking the water until the currents were changed by construction and the
beach mostly disappeared, the houses are still nice though.
Having not done a ‘proper’ shop for nearly two weeks it was
time to stock up but supermarkets were proving hard to find, small and
expensive. Finally finding out about a Lidl we set off one morning for a walk
up the river. The boys loved the working areas of the river and we found many
more lovely buildings. A long stone wall alongside the road was home to lots of
common wall lizards basking in the sun so we played spot the lizard for quite a
while until we reached the shop. After an ice cream it was a quick trip back
home on the metro to unpack all the shopping.
A trip to the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao itself was high on
our to do list so off we set one afternoon on the metro, we were originally
just going for a wander round the city and to find out opening details but once
the boys had seen the outside the decision was made to go on in. It was
certainly an amazing experience with a range of sculptures, art installations
and paintings. The Kitchen utensils installation and one involving poles of LED
lights were particularly popular as well as the enormous sheet steel spirals
and walls ‘The Matter of Time’ which you walk through like a maze, there was
also an interesting exhibition on art in war whilst the curves and swerves of
the building itself – both inside and out - really impressed us all.
That brought us to the end of a week since we had arrived at
Gexto Getxo. With several days of strong winds predicted, toothache for Mark and more
to explore in this area we made the decision to stay on for a bit longer before
moving on to pastures new.
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