Last day in Spain: full of adventure

What a treat that Ashlyn and I were able to at least go check out the basque culinary center. Sadly, we weren't able to partake in the fancy meal the student chefs make because school was not in session. 

We took silly photos just the same!

From there, we went on separate missions. Ultimately, I went climbing and ash packed and took care of the kid. 

We head out tomorrow for Fairbanks. 

That will be a totally different adventure. 

I climbed with Gonzalo on the east face of "dos hermanas". It was supposed to be a 6-7 pitch climb. See below for info. 

But, we ended up on a super challenging climb to the right. One really long pitch of slippery limestone. My climbing shoes felt like ice skates. 

We may it to the top of that pitch safely only to find that there were no more bolts above us. So, we rappel led a short distance down and left and decided to do 2 pitches of the climb we intended to do in the first place. 

Amish more doable! At that point , our daylight hours were ending and we had to head down. 

It was a fun adventure. Gonzalo caught an awesome photo of me when I had dirt in my eye. Do I look hardcore or what?!?!?!

Well, getting back to town at 9:30 made me late for a party keypad frirnd was having and I found my way home in time to eat shower and pack. 

Sadly for me, it's time to leave beautiful donostia and head for Alaska (it would be so nice to stay here a while!). 

Big hugs and thanks for reading. 

Following others around

DI'm thankful to be connected with people while I am here in San Sebastián. 

My friend, juanxu, who took me mountain biking yesterday. 

And Gonzalo, married to one of Ashlyn's coworkers, tooke to his climbing gym. We wanted to go outside, but the weather did not cooperate. 

We did try! He took me a to a place called Santa Barbara just outside of town. It's a limestone crag with short climbs. 

The gym was small, but challenging. Lots of tough routes!

I was invited to enjoy lunch with Ashlyn's friend and family which was so nice. 

From there, i Went to the beach!!!

What a gorgeous beach!!!

And from another vantage point. 

If I only had a camera with me to take a photo of the view from the water...what a beautiful photo it would be!

Well, this town is hopping at night, even on a Tuesday!

So I explored the different bars, but eating pintxos is more fun with others...so I had a tortilla espanola and then headed for home. 

Too hot day 1, too hot day 2

Well, as it happens, it gets hot here, very hot...I had this thought/hoped that the north of Spain was exempt. 

Yesterday we decided to go to the small town of zubieta ("thubieta" if you want to speak like a spaniard). 

We went to play fronton, a basque style racquetball/squash game. 

We were probably there on the hottest day of the year and it was so hot we just couldn't do anything. The babies were crying and we had to drench them in water. Big mistake to leave the house. 

Lucky for us they fell asleep in the car and Kepa had the honor of driving them around for the entirety of their nap. 

Today, we were smart!

 We went to an area called Aralar where we went for a hike and had a nice picnic. The babies slept in the car on the way there making the walk and picnic a pleasant outing. It was much cooler in Aralar:)

From there, We went to a small town of lekumberri where they have an old "rail to trail" pathway and a "camping". 

Lucky for us, there were toys and things to play we in the shade. Exploring with babies is different, very different. -I now have first hand experience as to the whole new dimension of what makes a nice place to go. 

Anyway, it was a smart move because we got away from the heat and humidity of San Sebastián! Phew!

Above, you can see a photo of the old buildings in town and a sweet little garden. 

Can't complain

I I was lucky enough to make a friend on my way from the airport to San Sebastián (donostia in euskera/basque language). 

He has an extra mountain bike and offered to taker out on the local trails. We arranged to go this morning before the heat of the day.little did I know I was going to be in a pretty fancy mountain bike. My bike at home fails in comparison. 

Besides a guide, I had a personal photographer. I got some good photos!!!

San Sebastián is in the north of Spain, almost on the border with France. It has hilly terrain right on the coast. 

Everyone knows about the "camino de Santiago".... But not everyone knows that there are multiple routes. 

The northern route, el camino deal Norte, runs through San Sebastián and the surrounding mountains. 

It is the lesser known route and is often avoided because of the hilly terrain. 

We rode mountain bikes near this route. 

Here is a photo I took while my friend, Juan, was scouting the route. 

After a large vuelta on the trails, we took the quick way back into town. 

I helped Ashlyn by taking the little ladies out for a walk. The main goal was to give Ash some R n R and gets the gals to sleep. 

Success!!!! Two sleeping girls. Twins!!!

The rest of the day was full of shopping, playing eating, washing... 

Thanks for reading!

Copenhagen to Bilbao via Berlin

I'm in Berlin for just half a day. 

Last time I was here, I loved this city!

Coming back to town, I know that with my 3 hours, I want to go explore. But where to go??

I ended up just touring around by the train. It's easy enough to get lost that way. I headed straight to east Berlin after seeing some of West Berlin on my bus ride into town. 

What a dramatic contrast with Copenhagen. The main thing that stands out is the diversity of the people. My goodness---people from all over! Different languages everywhere!

It just feels so different yet they still have an amazing bike system. 

Had I found an easy place to rent a bike, it may have been easier to enjoy exploring. 

Anyway, this city is huge, amazing, and overwhelming, I'm glad to have been here again for a moment but happy to be staying elsewhere. 

Last day in town

I am finally getting to know my way around town. 

The bike friendly paths and the cute playgrounds are my favorite. 

One spot, called "red square" has a leftist theme. With cafe Castro on one corner and a poet trait of Salvador Allende pained on the wall across the street. It is at a point where the bike path opens up. 

In front of this mural are these cool swings. 

Making it a great place to stop and people watch while enjoying the nice outdoor space. The roof directly across the way has something written on it. When I asked Niels what it means, he was not sure. 

This was another art piece that I liked in the open space. Reading the inscription, the goal of the piece was to embrace diversity. I'm not sure if I'm more aware of public art because I'm in a new setting, or if there is just more of it here than at home. 

North coast by bike via train

Bike mishap!!! I went down stairs to get my bike... And it wasn't where I parked it. Sad!!!

How will I tell Niels that his beeter bike is gone???

So, I didn't tell him...until later, that is. 

Instead, I rented a bike, hopped on the train headed north. 

I biked all day along route 47. 

Initially, I was stoked! There were signs indicating every turn. "Route verte, take that!"

The north coast is known for pretty beaches and small towns. Lots of Danes come here for summer vacations. After Biking for 2 hours, I found the northernmost town, Gilleleje. 

This is where I found a larger than life scale bike on display. Of course, I'm in Denmark!

 Besides that, there are many little fish shops along the harbor. I ended up with some tastes of a couple of small things as fish and chips wasn't so appealing. 

That said, I didn't want to eat too much. Fresh Fried fish + bike trip = bad story. 

From there I continued along the coast. My route was not quite as clear as the clouds started to build. The sweet cute towns became sleepier and sleepier as I made my way west. With bad signage and cold weather, I decided to head home (back to Copenhagen) by train from Tisvileleje. 

How nice to be able to get around so easily. It's just what we need in the U.S. Of A but we care nowhere close :(