Day 35 - Hondarribia (09-May-2018)

Took the bus in the morning, was a tad warmer than yesterday, but just, (didn’t make the same mistake as yesterday by wearing shorts) from Errenteria, a short 25-minute ride into this delightful little town very close to the French border, where one of the ways to cross the border is by a 7-minute boat ride. On arrival, made our way to a tiny old town, pretty deserted with the odd tourist about.

That suited us fine. Had a leisurely walk around the cobbled stone lanes with apartment blocks on either side with beautiful balconies and the obligatory flowers and plants. They are built in long adjoining rows (not unlike terrace homes in Sydney’s inner west), but each of the many sections was very pretty.

In the middle of the old town, there was a large town square centre; on the one side the old Castle of Charles V and a little further the Cathedral. It felt like as if time had stood still.

Then, we went in search of Pintoxs bars and there were plenty; it was a tad too early for us to eat so instead we had our coffee/tea and also took the opportunity to call our son, Oliver via WhatsApp; refreshed, we went for a long walk along the promenade protected by a break wall towards the marina and the ocean.

By the time we made our return to the town, we were hungry so headed straight to where the Pintoxs bars were. I had promised Ursi a lunch out, so let her pick the bar of her choice. Choose she did and duly ordered some Pintoxs; we were both delighted with her choices, they were delicious.

We now understand why this little town is considered to have the best Pintoxs’ in Spain; we had plenty, which Ursi washed down with couple of glasses of reds. Happy days. Whilst there, we got chatting to a delightful young Mexican couple, from Manhattan on holidays in Europe exchanging each others travel experiences and what life was like for them in USA under Trump. 

Time to take our bus back to Errenteria and, after browsing around some shops there, headed back home. We are still so full from the delicious lunch that we decided to skip dinner.

It was appropriate that we spent our last day in this cute little town close to the French border, which we will be crossing tomorrow. 

Thoroughly enjoyed Spain, met some wonderful, warm and kind people. Our experience throughout has been fantastico and the same goes for Portugal. So Adios, Spain and Bonjour again to France tomorrow.