Deba is a village, population roughly 5,500, on the coast north of Azpeitia. We had to take a bus from here to Zumaia on the coast and then a train from there to Deba which is two stops further up the line which runs between Bilbao - SanbSebastian. And why did we go there - because we can - and also because we had arranged to meet up with the kiwi girl we had met in Vitoria and spent time with in Barakaldo and here after the induction days. She is living in the next village up the coast from Deba, called Mutriku, so we decided to spend some time together in Deba.
We met up at the railway station and decided to begin the day with a coffee so into the nearest bar we went. It just so happened that in this bar was a teacher that Bri, (short for Brianna) our kiwi friend, works with so we were invited to sit down with the teacher and her friends. We had a really great time chatting in a mixture of Spanish and English. So many people here are trilingual, at the least - Basque/Spanish/ English or French. Suddenly they jumped up and said they had to get to the shops before they closed. Yes, siesta time was looming! Bri's teacher gave her some hurried instructions and rushed off.
We wandered off to explore the town. First up was the church (there's always one) and this one is called the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción and it is a Basque Gothic temple from the 16th century. We wandered in for a look . It was 'churchy' with an unusual feature hanging high in the dark near the ceiling. Here's a photo albeit a rather dark one
Can you see it? It's an old sailing ship which I guess it's a tribute to the huge ship building industry that used to be all along this coast in the days of sailing ships and also the huge fishing industry that existed around here. Apparently Basque fishermen were 'the best'.
Here's Barry and Bri discussing who knows what outside the church.
This church is on one side of the town square and there are cafes and shops on the other 3 sides. We got a real sense that the square is actually still the centre of the town and that the town has grown around it. Azpeitia has grown along the flat land along the river in one direction because the old town end has big hills beside it. This means that the town square is no longer the centre and it does seem a little left behind as the town has grown away from it.
We headed for the beach to feel the sand beneath our toes. It is a long time since I've had sand beneath my toes. A few winters in a row has meant no beach time for me. So here we are on the Atlantic coast with the town behind us - 3 kiwis together in Deba!
with our feet in the Atlantic Ocean
A house
another house at the beach end of a street
It was twilight and I liked the loght.
Jet streams
We spent a bit of time hanging about here. This is the walk/ bike path along the coast
?????? maybe the signs not big enough!
Pedestrian tunnel. I love this kind of thing
We wandered around the town, took all of 10 minutes and then it was beer and pintxos time and a discussion about what the teacher we met in the cafe had told us to do. From what Bri understood she had asked us to go to her house after we'd looked around. The trick was to find her house from what little was understood of her instructions - " from the town square go down the road and over the main road and behind the houses there is a house." Off we went to find the 'house behind the houses' We felt like we were on a treasure hunt following cryptic clues. Eventually we were on a street behind some houses and the only problem was that it was a row of houses/ apartments not one house stood out. We walked past a place which had an open gate and I thought maybe she's left the gate open for us so Bri and I worked put what we'd say to whoever opened the door and then knocked. A lady opened the door, we said what what we hoped was asking if the teacher lived there. No, she didn't but the lady said "follow me" so we did, down the road a little bit to a locked gate so clearly this wasn't the house. By then both Bri and I had got our Spanish language tongue working and were able to tell her more about this teacher so it was "follow me" again. This time we went to the other end of the street across the road, across the park, across another road and up a path. Bri and I thought it was a really funny but Barry was hanging back scratching his head. The lady pushed a button to speak to someone in an apartment in the building and then followed a shortish conversation which, from what we could understand, we began to think that this was the place. The conversation stopped amd around the corner came the teacher. We were so surprised - it seemed like a miracle - from the open gate to the teacher coming around the corner - well, there is magic in the universe!
So up to her apartment we went. Unfortunately, what wasn't understood was that she wanted us to come earlier so we could wander around together and then all have lunch together. We then felt really awful and awkward about the situation. However, she and her lovely husband insisted on making us lunch - 1st plate of salad, cheese, salami, bread, tomatoes, tuna; 2nd plate of artichokes and a potato thingy, more bread and then dessert of fruit and cheese - along with a bottle of red wine and some good conversation in a mixture of Spanish so we could practice, English so she could practice and Spanglish when the going got tough. All in all a very good lunch and a very nice, interesting afternoon. It was a shame that we mucked it up because to walk around a place with a local is a completely different experience to doing it as a tourist, just looking. Also, getting to know another local is always a treat. On the other hand, we were totally amazed by how we got to the right house.
She walked us to the bus stop for Bri and then the station for us and we were on our way back to Azpeitia.
We want to do more exploring along the coast and have been told that a famous chef from the Basque Country has his restaurant in another coastal town not far from here so that is now on our 'to do' list.
Here's a couple of photos taken while we had a short wait for the train in Zumaia.
I just can't resist chimneys. The coast is just at the end of the row of houses with chimneys.
That's it for now, there'll be more soon
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