A Day in Getaria

We stayed late in bed this morning just listening to the waves crashing against the rocks and beach, and then went down for a late breakfast. Spending the morning in the lounge taking advantage the wifi. We are hearing English left and right here. It's apparent the staff was hired to be multilingual. We even hear it out in
the streets. This is obviously a tourist destination... Lots of Brits. Back in Galicia we heard almost no English and most of our communication was non verbal.

We walked around a large promontory, almost an island, that they call "The Mouse". The trail heads up to the top with great views of Getaria and the harbor, as well as Zaururtz to the east and it's long beach. It's all sandstone and there are several fantasy carvings on the way up (mermaid, Neptune, etc.). No photos because I didn't carry my phone. There's an occupied lighthouse at the top.

Because it's Saturday there are tour busses and lots of vendors. We spent some time shopping for souvenirs. The vendors all seem to be a different native culture, seeming like Guatemalans and maybe Nigerians? (Senegalese) There were definitely Guatemalan type clothing, bags, and colors. (pix) Lots of scarves, purses, wallets, CDs and....underwear (!?!) Why would vendors be selling packaged underwear? (maybe cause not everyone washes their clothes and strings clotheslines in their hotel rooms)
(pix)

Paul took a 2 hr hike up into the hills and traveled for a while on "the Way" (or at least some part of the local coastal route that connects to it).

Then we strolled the streets and picked up some fruit, bread and wine. Tonight dinner will be pintxos.

Our room is like a private solarium on the ocean so we don't mind spending time there. All 4 of the large windows open back completely for an open air room. About 100 ft up and 100 ft from shore. Pretty neat. :)

We ate dinner at the pintxos bar (pix) and enjoyed some really good local goat cheese on a few of the pintxos. (Also pulpo, fresh anchovies, peppers and mushrooms. ). Strolled around the streets and enjoyed just being here. Stopped in a bakery and bought croissants and muffins for breakfast; if only we could find coffee to go!

Tomorrow we leave for Segovia, about 4 hours away. We should be driving through wine country (vineyards). We've enjoyed the locally produced white wine here (Txomin Etxanix) which is a lemony fresh wine made from grapes that are only grown along this coast. Most likely unavailable in the US because it's a fragile wine that doesn't ship or store well. It's readily available at all the local pintxos places.

Getaria is a beautiful little town and would be worth spending some time in (except during high tourist season). It's really clear that it's a " local" town not unlike Hatfield. There a several locals-only type of bars. Everyone brings their kids with them. The kids get coke+wine (really). Strollers are seen up and down the cobblestone streets. Evenings are for families. The storekeepers obviously know everyone who is local.

Rain is coming; we've gotten amazingly good weather! Segovia should be a different (hot) climate.