We had a great excuse to visit Pamplona, famous for the annual “running of the bulls” festival, as our friends Gary and Sarah from New Zealand were there at the same time.
We couldn’t resist the staged photo session.
After Pamplona, we reached the North coast of Spain again, on our way towards catching the ferry back from Santander.
We visited a number of sights on the north coast. First is Zarautz.
Next was Donastia San Sebastian. The Basque region felt different from other parts of Spain. Not least, the Basque language written alongside Spanish on signs etc. Basque is a very old and isolated language, unconnected to any others.
Basque language Pincho (tapas) menu
Next stop on the coast was Getaria, with its lovely beach.
Then was Zumaila, a fishing port.
This boat needs a little TLC
Other boats in the marina
The next place we stayed in the caravan was Gorliz / Plentzia (two towns separated by a river).
From there, a trip to Armintza.
A number of people had recommended Gaztelugatxe. It was nice, but we didn’t think it quite lived up to the hype.
Small hermitage on an island
We drove past the Lemoniz nuclear power plant. Although it was virtually completed, it was never operational. It was bombed a couple of times by ETA, the Basque separatist paramilitary group, and was dropped due to political changes.
Next stop was Bermeo, another fishing town.
Then back to Gorliz – Plentzia.
We stopped at another bar on the beach on the way back to the campsite, and watched the beautiful sunset.
The next day we had to catch the overnight ferry from Santander back to Portsmouth.
Arriving into Portsmouth
And that was then end of an amazing Iberian adventure in the caravan.
