Hi all,
Left the coast and drove into the hills. Stayed over in the Urkiola National Park and completed a challenging walk up onto the Anboto ridge. Tough climb/scramble onto the ridge but rewarded with stunning views. Lots of wild horses, cattle and sheep. Also spotted huge Griffin vultures and a couple wild mountain goats. Next day did a fairly gentle walk along the Rio Ayudi from Okina. Lovely gorge walk to a once deserted village that is slowly being restored. The weather broke and it was generally cloudy with a couple of heavy showers. Stayed the night in Vitoria-Gasteiz a nice city with an old town on the hill. There are outdoor escalators on both sides of the hill to take you up to the old town. Had a delicious meal which included fried baby squid and a whole turbot.
Next day headed out of the city into the Izki National Park and stopped over on the carpark for a few nights. Really spectacular scenery. Spent a few days walking and biking. We did a fantastic bike ride along a disused railway line which included a rather eerie 1 mile long tunnel to navigate through. It was intermittently lit but in some places it was complete darkness as you cycled!! We would have stayed at Izki for longer as there was more walks and bike rides to do but we ran out of food and drink and couldn't find a shop in any of the little villages we explored. The bar in the closest village was never open when we wanted a drink. We tried three times and it was always shut! We asked the lady in the tourist office when it opened and she said when the owner felt like it! On the Saturday after our long bike ride we were sure it would be open as it was a sunny day and there were quite a few people parked on the car park. But no, at 4pm it was shut. To add insult to injury it had been open as there were empty glasses on the tables!! After all these years we still can't get our heads around the Spanish timetable. We always want to eat, drink or shop when everything is shut! Still love it though! Having a great time, hope all is good in the UK.
Love Dawn & Mark xx
