Day 22 - Our Day in Lekeitio

Day 22 - October 22, 2013


This afternoon it was a trip to Lekeitio, Spain, another small fishing village within the Basque Country of Spain.  Again there were two bus options, one that would be the quickest using the expressway to get there, or the longer coastal route.  We chose the later.  Unfortunately there wasn't  much coastal scenery until we got to the village just before Lekeitio.  The route did take us through some mountainous areas bordering the coast.  Our bus driver was a very pleasant guy and  experienced at this route because there were many winding, narrow turns and parts where he would squeeze through some enclosed passageways just barely missing the wall or side of a mountain.  We both were gasping at these points of the drive.  It was a cloudy day but temperature wise very pleasant. 

Looking back along the coastline as we drive to Lekeitio

 

Piers and docks at the village before Lekeitio

The port of Lekeitio, Spain

Arriving at the bus station  in Lekeitio, we notice that the village is like a ghost town.  It's around
4PM and if we saw 30 people, that was a lot.  We first made a call to Avis in St. Jean de Luz to reserve a car for our day trip in the Pyrenees tomorrow.  That was easy enough.  So we got our bearings and started walking to the village center and port down the main street.  As we walked, we came upon a grocery store that we stopped in to see if we could fine the cosmetic here that my daughter wanted me to get.  We both kind of laughed because this town is so small but stranger things have happened.  Sure enough, they had it  and the color she wanted and it was 1 Euro cheaper than in San Sebastian where they didn't have her shade.  Couldn't believe we found it here.  Now that's done finally.  We asked the woman cashier where the Italian restaurant/pizzeria that Terry found recommended on Trip Advisor was.  She told us it was by the port but most restaurants were closed now until 8 PM.  Oh, there's a surprise.  She recommended another smaller place that was a bar that serves pintxos and somewhat directed us there speaking only Spanish.  Well, we couldn't find it so we just decided to walk to the port.  There wasn't much of a town center, in fact, the port was probably it.  On our way we came to a very prominent looking church located at the entrance to the docks by the port.  It was quite massive for such a small village.

Main street in Lekeitio heading toward the port

Basilica of La Asunción de Santa María

Detailed elaborate entrance to the church

 

Back of the church

From here we proceed to the large plaza at the port which was right ahead of us.  It's a quaint looking area with colorful buildings and boats of all kinds.  The village is surrounded by rolling hills and a small island right in the port.  The hillside is beautiful. The island is pretty bare and really not much to look at.  The trees on it even look a bit dreadful.

Colorful buildings lining the port

The dock of fishing and pleasure boats

The rolling hillside surrounding the port

Edge of the hillside

The island in the middle of the port.  Notice the scraggly trees I mentioned

We had been here now about an hour and were a little hungry.  It was 5 PM and our bus wasn't due back until 7 PM so we had two hours with nothing much to do. Still hadn't seen many people, but we found a little "Irish" pub, Willows Tavern, that was open and still serving food.    We sat down and ordered a couple of beers and two smaller plates of food.  I had an Iberico ham and cheese plate, while Terry tried a fish special they had which was squid, cooked in the black squid ink sauce that had a clam taste to it.  It was actually very good even though it may not have looked appealing.  As we ate our food, looking at all the boats docked at the port, we were wondering what these people could possibly do for a living here.  All of a sudden we noticed more people walking through the dock area.  Most were men, and of the women, most were pregnant.  I guess that's what they do.

Willows tavern (center) located next to the bar at the far left in the picture

 

One of the large fishing boats docked in port

Small fishing boats docked among the pleasure boats

We still had quite some time until the bus came, so I called my mom to see how she was doing.  She indicated she was fine, that's good, and that they were going to possibly do surgery tomorrow or the next day depending on how the new antibiotics they gave her were doing.  We talked for about twenty minutes and it made me feel better about the situation.

Now it was about 6:15 PM and Terry and I made our way leisurely back to the bus station.  Once there at 6:45 PM, the bus was already waiting there and it was the same bus driver!  We left at 7, and  it seemed as if he was flying back to San Sebastian.  It was now getting dark and he was taking those close turns again within inches!!    Made it back to the apartment around 8:30 PM and we were a bit tired. Found out that my mom was definitely having the surgery tomorrow.  I'm not happy about not being there with her but know my daughter is handling things very well in my absence.  She keeps us informed of everything and would let us know if we really need to come home.  At this point, everything is under control and that makes me sleep  better at night.  We had to get up early the next morning for our day trip to the Pyrenees in the French Basque Country tomorrow that we were looking forward to.  It was going to be a great day weather wise too. I also didn't have to worry about my mom because we would be back at the apartment before the surgery would start.

In conclusion, Lekeitio is a nice little village but really not much to see or do there.  In our opinion, Getaria is a much better choice.