Blog 11: Zumaia, Bermeo and Guernica

We finally left Hondarribia and motor-sailed along the coast with the Bay of Biscay looking benign, but still grey and cloudy.

We decided to stop at San Sebastián for lunch, anchoring behind the little conical island of Santa Maria in the middle of the bay. It’s a lovely anchorage on a calm day like this, but actually not very sheltered if there is any swell rolling in from the Bay of Biscay.

It seems it’s always sunny in San Sebastián! Once underway again, the weather reverted to being grey and cloudy!

We had a fairly uneventful trip to our next stop, Zumaia, except that the ‘mainsheet traveller’ suddenly disintegrated and scattered dozens of white plastic ball-bearings all over the boat, rather like hailstones! The mainsheet traveller runs on a track across the boat allowing us to adjust the position of the mainsail according to the direction of the wind.

Without it, we had to rig up a temporary solution with rope which you can just see going through the block at the bottom of this picture. We were glad the wind was not too strong. We’re still finding ball-bearings here and there weeks later, even though we’ve now got a new ‘traveller’!

This is the fairly narrow entrance into Zumaia between the green mark on the left of the picture and the large red beacon (this photo was taken from the land a couple of days later).

This is the long approach channel up to the town and the marina. The walls on either side are always busy with walkers, joggers and cyclists, particularly walkers. It seems to be a ‘destination’ for local people to walk to one of the lighthouses or navigation marks and back.

This is the marina at Zumaia with the town behind. From this view the big Church looks quite impressive towering over the town, but up close it’s quite an ugly, blocky building!

We walked up this long avenue …

… to the main town beach, Playa de Itzurun.

From here we walked over the cliffs to see the famous and impressive ‘Flysch’ geological formations – layers of rock formed when the Iberian and European continents collided and the sea bed and all its sediments were forced upwards, forming the Pyranees mountains.

Along this coast you can see the layers of rock (Flysch) really clearly.

Spectacular views

This is the highest point on the promontory – quite a drop on either side!

Another spectacular view!

This is the 16^th century Chapel of Saint Telmo, the patron saint of sailors, which is situated on top of the cliff and is dedicated to seafarers.

Back in the town you can see the rather ugly Church looming over everything!

It’s the Church of San Pedro and I suppose it is quite impressive, but really not attractive. It’s described in the guide book as ‘very austere and resembling a fortress’ – yes, that’s about right! It was never open when I went past.

After all that climbing up and down cliffs we needed a beer, of course! Several bars looked crowded and noisy, but we were able to get a nice cold glass of San Miguel at a quiet little bakery, of all places – how civilised!

A nice view from the town of the long channel out towards the sea with the marina on the right.

This is quite a large factory fishing ship being built in the shipyard in Zumaia, and we wondered how they will get it out of the narrow entrance, which has quite a tight corner just before you reach the sea. But I guess they must have thought of that!

The weather is beautiful here so I headed for the other beach, Playa y Dunas de Santiago.

I went via the one art museum I would have quite liked to see, but it was firmly closed – turns out it only opens once a week and that was yesterday!!

I cycled through swirls of blossom which seems to fall off the trees all at once on a single day and lies like snowfall on the street.

There is an area of protected dunes and a nature reserve behind the Playa de Santiago.

Looking towards the marina and town at low tide from the dunes.

This is the Playa de Santiago which was my favourite beach and very close to the boat. I came here several times to swim, read and picnic. The water is surprisingly warm and it’s clean, uncrowded, with beautiful soft sand, pretty idyllic really.

Zumaia itself is not perhaps an especially attractive town although there is a small old part which is quite nice and I took myself on a self-guided walking tour through it.

This blue and white building is typical of the architectural style in this part of Spain.

This is the theatre.

This is the Zumaia Palace at the heart of the old quarter and very close to San Pedro Church. It doesn’t look much like a palace to me, but it was the seat of one of the richest and most powerful aristocratic families of the time.

There are still parts of the original 15^th century building remaining, such as the tiny pointed arch entrance which I would have to duck to get through.

St Joseph’s Convent was founded in 1609 and the building reflects the rules of sobriety of the Carmelite nuns. The only signs of grandeur are in some elements of the façade which were added in the early 20^th century!

The Town Hall, dating from the early 18^th century.

This is called the Olazabal Palace – a 17^th century building with a sandstone front and the coats of arms of the family carved out of limestone. It was built by the Accountant General of the Spanish Inquisition’s Supreme Council!

Quite an attractive apartment block …

… I especially liked the tile detail around the doors and windows.

This is the Ubillos Palace – the left hand tower is the original, but in the 16^th century the central building, right-hand tower and wide entrance were added. It now houses the Zumaia School of Music.

We are beginning to get used to Spanish time – long siestas and late lunch and dinner. Eating as early as 9pm is almost unheard of, and often people are still arriving for dinner as we’re leaving at 10.30 or 11pm!

This is the view from our boat around sunset when we’re just going out!

The town of Zumaia by night looks rather attractive as we return to the boat after dinner.

The next day we set sail for Bermeo.

It was a picture-perfect morning.

We had a lovely trip along the coast to Bermeo, but the wind was in the wrong direction so we had to motor much of the time.

Nice fluffy white clouds over the land – a spectacular coastline.

It’s a bit early in the season, and at Bermeo they had not yet installed their summer ‘Visitors Pontoon’ in the harbour so we had to tie up to a diving boat on the commercial quay.

At least it was free of charge!

This is a view of Astraia at low tide from the quay high above – the diving vessel has gone out to work for the day. To get ashore you have to climb up a vertical steel ladder set into the harbour wall – you can just see the top of it on the left hand side.

A rare photo of Astraia taken when I’m not on board – Charles was moving to a different quay, and I was on shore ready to take the ropes.

Bermeo has a pretty little harbour for small boats, but Astraia is too big to get in here.

We had a little wander through the town …

This building is the Old Guild of St Peter – the Fishermen’s Guild. It is no longer used for this purpose, but its siren (which used to convene fish buyers) still sounds on fiesta days and also to warn fishing boat owners if there is a dangerous situation at sea, such as undercurrents.

This is the Iglesia de San Francisco and adjoining monastery and cloisters.

This attractive old building is now a smart restaurant.

Wrought iron balconies are popular.

The Two Fountains – these public drinking fountains are ancient and of historic interest, dating from the 16^th century, but are still providing fresh drinking water. There are drinking fountains all over this part of Spain, you never need to go far to find a drink of water.

From a distance it’s hard to see how people access their houses and apartments up on the hill overlooking the harbour – they look so close together and all piled on top of one another.

The answer is very steep, narrow winding steps in between the buildings – it must keep them very fit!

This is Lamera Park, built on land reclaimed from the sea. It is a place for leisure, mostly paved and used for ball games, tug of war, tennis, badminton, walking and chatting – all sorts of activities. It must have been siesta time when I took this photo as there’s no-one about, but in the evening it was very busy. Public parks like this are where people congregate for communal outdoor activities and to socialise. Perhaps more people here live in apartments without gardens – or maybe they’re just more sociable than we are?!

A nice view of Bermeo and the inner harbour.

One of the main reasons for visiting Bermeo was to take the train to Guernica – well worth the twenty minute trip along the coast and through pretty countryside.

Some beautiful views from the train.

The first thing I saw when I got off the train at Guernica was a cod shop!!

I have never seen a shop before which sells nothing but cod! It’s dried salt cod, which is much used in cooking here and doesn’t need refrigerating – you can see it all laid out in this shop window. It is delicious when soaked overnight, well-rinsed and cooked with other tasty Spanish ingredients.

Guernica (spelled Guernika in Basque) is very interesting, famous because of the atrocity during the Spanish Civil War which took place on 26 April 1937. The town was bombed on market day by the Nazi Luftwaffe in support of Franco in order to crush Basque resistance which was centred on the town of Guernica. Many innocent civilians were killed and the town was virtually destroyed, and the attack was widely denounced because it involved the deliberate bombing of civilians by a military air force.

Guernica has been rebuilt very attractively, and the people seem proud of their town and give a warm welcome to the many tourists who visit.

Quite elaborate decoration on this building, with mural panels, columns and carvings.

The public school was one of the few survivors of the bombing.

The lady at the Tourist Office was very helpful and worked out an itinerary for me to ensure I didn’t turn up to see anything that was closed for siesta!!

My first stop was the Assembly House and the Tree of Guernica which are important symbols of the Basque people’s history.

The Assembly House is the seat of the historical parliament of Bizkaia, one of the provinces of the Basque Country (Euskal Herria in the Basque language).

The Tree of Guernica is the best-known symbol of the Basque people. Originally the meetings of the General Assembly were held under its shade. This current oak was planted in 2015 when it was already 15 years old. Its predecessor witnessed the Guernica bombing in 1937.

This oak is referred to as ‘The Old Tree’ and was planted around 1700.

Inside the Assembly House …

The Assembly Room was conceived as a Church-Parliament that could bring together political and religious functions, which is why this room has some features of a Church, like the altar in the apse.

Originally assemblies were held under the oak tree which can be seen through the elaborate wrought-iron and stained-glass window at the other end of the Assembly Room.

I think the Room of the Stained Glass Window – actually a ceiling – is the most impressive feature of the Assembly House. It was originally designed by the architect as an open air patio. The enormous stained glass ceiling was crafted by hand and completed in 1985.

It is a graphic representation of the symbolism of the Tree as a meeting point for the different districts of Bizkaia, with images of monuments from different places throughout Bizkaia surrounding the Tree itself.

My next stop was the Euskal Herria Museum, or Basque Museum, which was quite interesting about Basque customs and way of life. It is housed in the palace of Alegria, a 1733 baroque reconstruction of an ancient medieval building, which survived the 1937 bombing.

But the most interesting display was a 3-D black-and-white photographic exhibition of life around 100 years ago in the Basque country taken by Eulalia Abaitua (1853-1943), quite a pioneering photographer of her time. The 3-D glasses certainly made the photos come to life.

The lovely gardens behind the Basque Museum turned out to be ‘The Park of the European Nations’, containing large sculptures by Eduardo Chillida and Henry Moore.

This is ‘Our Father’s House’ by Eduardo Chillida, his homage to the Basque people – it was commissioned for the 50^th anniversary of the bombing.

This is one of Henry Moore’s last sculptures, made between 1985 and 1986 – it was installed in 1990 to mark the 53^rd anniversary of the bombardment.

Picasso’s famous Guernica painting has been recreated in tiles.

Back in the town, I went to visit one of the Air Raid Shelters which were situated under the arches surrounding Pasealekua Square.

In Air Raid Shelter No 2 you can experience the realistic sound effects of the bombing and the total darkness of the shelters!

Finally the Peace Museum. There was a simulation of the experience of being bombed set in a room with 1930s furnishings, plus images of the aftermath of the bombing.

But the main message of the museum was to promote peace and there were various exhibits about peace efforts around the world, both in the past and the present day.

Back on board, we set sail for our next stop – Bilbao.