Josh also converted them to be avid fans of his current favourite place in the world. 'Arancina' - a fantastic Sicilian restuarant down the road from us.. [Great food well priced. They make fresh pizza while you wait (or pre cooked slices of you are rushing) using fresh dough. It's just so good!!! -JM ]
We flew into Bilbao and had to check out the Gugenheim. Didn't go in as the exhibitions did not take our fancy, but just the outside is spectacle enough.. [Jeff Koons' "Puppy" lives here now on the forecourt - JM]
[Fiona had been taking Spanish lessons, and so that morning was spent learning how to count, and attempting to pronounce and remember basic commerce / customer language. My brother Matt quickly got tired of me counting to five. We discovered later that day that while it is usually appreciated when foreigners can make the effort to pick up the language, Spanish (Castellan) is not the language of the Basque country. - JM]
Just as we were noting the stains the water was leaving on the zinc(?) cladding, the heavens opened a heavy thunder shower. (Ironic eh?) We managed to scamper over the bridge and made hiding in the rain fun, taking shelter against the trunks of some plane trees and getting some corny photos.
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SAN SEBASTIAN DONOSTIA
(a Josh entry)
We went there in the second week of September, for a whole week, which was great timing because it was the same week of two great events;
1>Euskal Jaiak Festival / Regatta - mid-September, celebrating the Basque culture, with a variety of events, including a boat race around La Concha Bay, rural sporting contests, outdoor concerts, dancing, street entertainment and basque brewed cider drinking.
2> The San Sebastian International Film Festival - held on the weekend and week following our departure.
So it was a great time for lots of activity and people in a festive mood.
Our first morning we set out with Fiona's Basque friend Ima (seen in yellow below) walking the along the beach to the centre of town to watch the regatta. We were on our way to watch the race, which is very much like the surf boat races in Australia, but here the roots of the racing is fishermen from Basque fishing towns racing out for the first catch. Or maybe it was an 'our fishermen are faster than yours' type deal. A pub bet?
The race took 10mins each way. Thats some serious effort on behalf of the crews, and they were really fast! I wondered if this was a lot longer race than the surf boat races in Australia
Each boat, crew, and their supporters were decked out in their team colours, so the whole town was full of red, yellow and swarms of supporters colours.
The race went out of the bay, past the headland which protects the bay from the seas of the bay of biscay. There were a huge number of supporters all over the headland to barack for their crews. It felt like a big football match!
Most amusing though was the huge number of watercraft following after the racing rowers. 
After the race Ima took us for pinxtos and to enjoy the cider and some beers. He tried to keep us to certain bars as this day is infamous for 'trouble'. Here i will attempt to paraphrase Ima's explanation of what thn unfolded;
Apparently there are pro separatist Basque who apply to the Spanish government for a permit to protest in the town on this event day, and each year the Government refuses, and therefore the people protest. The Government in turn sends in their riot police to control the situation.
While Ima had tried to keep us clear of getting caught up in anything, the protest turned light riot found us. Ima was terribly embarassed to have this happening as he was showing us his country, as it was clear that while the cause may be just, those we saw on the street seemed to be posturing young men more interested in playing games of cat and mouse with the riot police and destroying street furniture and meeting the obligations of peer pressure? (This kind of behaviour in young men can seen all around the world in all sorts of communities)
The narrow streets of the old town where we thought it best to hole up in a pinxtos bar during protest /rioting. This seemed to be the safest place until we had some clarity as to the location of police and protester lines. Last thing we wanted was to be in the street, and caught in the middle. and hey, being stuck in a bar with some of your best mates is not such a bad deal..
A few of us taking refuge in the bar were rubber necking out the door. The mood was certainly on edge, and I was staying well away from the door as protesters would surge up the street chanting, and then would turn and run as the riot police would fire rubber bullets in return to dispurse the mob. At one point a rubber bullet hit the door frame and ricocheted into the bar itself. At this point the doors were closed by the staff and guests.
In time the mob was dispursed , but tension remained. We took our opportunity to get out of the old town and back along the promenade to our beach. By this time the weather had cleared, and there was time for some couple shots. awww... so cute (and very much 'what riot' as soon as we were clear).
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HIGHLIGHT : the pintxios, cafe, and vino tinto
As you can guess we were loving the pinxtos, vino, beer and cider culture, and we quickly established a daily routine. Cafe cortardo and pan de chocolate at the cafe downstairs from our appartment was immediately adopted as the routine beginning each day.
It was over cafe cortado the next morning that we read of the riots which had been happening in the old town following the boat race. These shots looked worse than what we had seen near us.
Afternoons were spent on the beach soaking sun, swimming, playing disc and some intensebeach football competitions.
At sunset we would depart the beach for beers (cana) in the bar under our appartment as, on roatation, each person would go upstairs to take a shower.
A Restaurant recommended by the bar staff at our local..
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We were staying in an appartment just off Playa Ondarreta (Ondarreta Beach)
Within the bay were pontoons to swim out to. Some had diving boards. Ours had a slide. Matt had a waterproof camera (and no one was sucking in).
Zarautz is the next big coastal town west of Donostia. It has a great long surf beach with a cafe lined promenade. Our hosts for the day were Ima and Enocki (We don't recall how his name should be spelt). They took us Eating, More Eating, Beach Football, and finally a Hike to Getaria before sundown. We were all exhausted by the time we caught the bus home after sundown.
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