basque

Collies crossing the Border

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Ola! Blog here,  International Travel Dog.

Day Two of the Camper Van Experiment has seen us cross the border into Spain. Landing initially in San Sebastian, a picturesque seaside resort on the Atlantic coast.  VW_sanseb_11

Arriving in the centre, it immediately felt too urban – cars, people, businesses, busyness. We stopped at one end of Bay of La Concha and took a walk to look back at the town. Cracking view, and we were rewarded by a sculpture called The Wind Comb.

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Happening upon a small coastal road that ran above the cliffs, we continued westwards and stopped at a place called Zarautz. This was more like it. Smaller, quieter, with a beautiful beach and plenty of grass.

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It has to be admitted that we opted for the ease of a camp site – with luxuries such as toilets and hot showers. Bliss (for the humans). The parking spot was on a headland overlooking the sea and the beach, with the mountains on the other side. Gorgeous.

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And – deep joy, we could be let off our leads – hooray!

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The camp site was practically deserted, just a few other camper vans – all MASSIVE compared to ours. Most folk seemed to have a doggie or two with them. All this running about is thirsty work – time to investigate the local bar, check out the cervezas and the basque tapas, of course. These are called pintxos.

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And work out what we do tomorrow (to be continued).

 

California Dreaming

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California tossing and turning more like. We are just back from an Experiment, namely : Can 2 x humans and 2 x border collies live in comfort and harmony, on the road, in a VW California camper van for a few days?

The conclusion seems to be ‘mostly’.

VW_van_1A pristine, white camper van turned up last Tuesday, and I quickly commandeered the back seat. Excellent viewing possibilities -paws on the kicheney bit, good view through side window – hail all oncoming white vans and lorries. It was also to be my bed. Very nice.

Genepi was consigned to the floor, and took up position between the driver and passenger seats – either of which she later used as her bed.

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Once loaded with a surprisingly modest amount of stuff, off we set, heading west into the Basque Country. Plus Point No 1 for campervaning is that we can head off wherever we like – there does not have to be a Plan. We headed off to the sunshine.

The van came with a guidebook to something called France Passion, which lists all sorts of stopover places – all free, and in places like vineyards and farms. Dallas decided we should head for St Pee sur Nivelle – Genepi thinks this is hilarious. And we found the site, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, up high on a sheep farm.VW_pee_2

Minus Point No 1 is that we seem to have to stay on our leads. We were in the middle of the countryside, nothing but fells and rivers, precious little traffic. Just herds of sheep grazing peacefully. They seems to be able to roam freely – why not us? Dallas mentioned something about a video clip called Jesus Christ Fenton  (https://youtu.be/3GRSbr0EYYU) – and we must stay tethered.

That evening I was taken for my customary wee wee walk, only this time it wasn’t just me who availed myself of the grassy banks. Minus Point No 2 (for the humans) is that the camper van lacks some basic facilities.

It was all VERY peaceful and quiet. They enjoyed beers and saucisson as the sun set over the Pyrenees, and Dallas whipped up dinner in the mini kitchen. As darkness fell, the two camper van novices started fettling their sleeping quarters.

This is the upstairs bit of the van – opened up electronically, and the bedding fed up above the cab. Clambering up there was not a lesson in grace and modesty. Glad I was downstairs. Especially when the wind picked up and could be heard whistling through the rafters.

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Anyway, they emerged from Above the following morning – and we were all soon off on another wee wee walk. Breakfast prepared, it was time to break camp and work out where to go next.

Lets go to Spain – y viva espana    (to be continued)…