San Sebastian

Hi All

I thought I knew what stress was when trying to cycle out of Santander a few days ago but we have now experienced a whole new level when cycling around the industrial wastelands of east side San Sebastian at 7 o'clock in the evening, running out of options on where to stay and the heavens open up !!! but more of that later

The day started in our tent at 07:00 in torrential rain so hung about for a bit. A quick break in the weather enabled us to get all out kit into the laundry room which the site manager was not too chuffed about but hey, we cant speak spanish ??. We did make a bit of a racket but that was us being childish, being as the other residents insisted on partying until the early hours. They didnt seem to care that four tired cyclist needed their beauty sleep, then again, they are on holiday as well :_)


We left the site at about 09:30 and managed the scary hill down followed by more ups and downs until we reached Deba for our elevenses where we found a great place on the beach front serving tapas in a bun so we had a few of those, plus sticky cake and two coffees each. Then off again alternating between lost in cloud cover then back down to sea level as the weather was pretty grim with minimal views.

Got to Orio for another bite to eat with more bun styled tapas (bit wierd having an omlette in a bread bun but still yummy) then last major climb of the day towards Monte Igeldo on a quiet country road. Pretty spectacular views or would of been if we had not been stuck in cloud cover.

It was a good way into San Sebastian, avoiding all the main roads in where we met a friend for coffee (thanks Dan, it always taste nicer when someone else pays!! good to see you again) The sun came out for the hours we were in the city centre and it is a beautiful city and definately worth another visit as we did not have anytime to do it justice.

Then the nightmare began. We decided to get out of the city on the Sunday evening as the hotels in the centre looked very nice and pricey and we also wanted to get out before the heavy traffic of a weekday morning. As a result, we took the N1 direct out of town. If you can imagine cycling out of London on the A40, well that was us except we did not know where we were going to stay at the end of it. Having reached Lezo, it was obvious that there was no campsites in the vicinity as we are still in the industrial area but we did get a hotel pointed out to us on top of a hill across the busy N1 dual carriageway. By now, the rain was in full flow and we made our way across into Errenteria where after asking directions from at least half the population, we finally found it at the top of yet another 2 km climb. This uphill lark is certainly loosing its appeal.

Anyway, we struck lucky in the Berry Versalles hotel which is very nice although we do have to get across that lovely N1 in order to get back on our nice quiet road onto Hendaye and beyond into France.

These late finishes are getting a bit much and we are looking forward to ending our daily travels about mid to late afternoon and having a mooch about a bit. Might even have time to upload a few photographs then

Still getting all your messages of encouragement and they work a treat so keep em up

Thats yer lot for today so tune in tomorrow for the next mildly exciting monologue

cya

A & G

xxxx