Day 11, Monday 05 November Elizondo
and Baztan Valley
As we are just relaxing this week we will likely combine
several days together unless we venture further afield than just relaxing in
our village. Baztan bread sliced and toasted, manchego cheese, York ham for
breakfast, good coffee.
We need to get a few supplies for the apartment, have a look
see at shoes for McKenzie and in general a walk around town to judge what has
changed within our village. The town seems a lot quieter than I remember but
physically not much has changed. There seem to be a lot of empty buildings.
There are more apartments occupied in Juan Mi and Maite’s building but I suspect
that many are for weekends only.
The newer replacement bandstand is a much better focal point in
the town square than their first attempt which was totally modern and did not
fit in with the town’s character at all. We scouted about for a lunch place ,most of our haunts are closed on
Monday, Eskisaroi is closed for vacation until the end of November,
Trinkete was closed and La Posada etc.
We finally had lunch at Txokoto next to the river, Lentejas, mixed salad, ternera and fries. I
have not adjusted to the damp and cold, my hands and feet are causing problems
and I am seriously questioning our coming here so late in the year. I am having
a hard time relaxing and warming up.
We drove up to the Arizcun turnoff for photos of the hills
and saw a group of Wonky Donkeys in a field eating straw, one of them only had
one eye, only three legs - - he was a
winky, wonky, honky donkey he was with the others in the herd who did NOT mind at all!! Actually he was none
of these things but looked so much like the illustrations in the book that we
could not resist! They all came to see Paul as he took photos and seemed to
enjoy the attention though they were disappointed that we did not have treats
for them.
Monday night was bar Saioa for pinxtos and an early night
again. Damp and sprinkles the usual weather in the Baztan for the fall. Saw
Juan Mari Ondical out front as we entered. He was surprised to see us and
chatted on and on about the post he sees on Facebook of us in Florida. It is
nice to be remembered.
Day 12, Tuesday 06 November Elizondo
and Baztan Valley
Paul decided to cook breakfast: Tortilla Frances Cheese, Onion, Ham bits and
toast with coffee. Then we went off to buy the shoes for McKenzie perhaps less
crowded in the shoe store today. A nice selection but no discuenta though! Mission
accomplished so we set off to see Nekane’s aunt Maite in Santestaban at the
Ford garage. We arrived at nearly 1:30PM and the workers had left for lunch. We
chatted with Maite about the fun we had at Nekane’s wedding two years ago.
Eventually the Jefe of the garage returned from a road callout job, looked the
bumper on our rental car and said that no amount of rubbing compound nor was
would hide the scrapes/scratches. As the bumper is plastic if needs to be taken
off the car, sanded down and plastic bondo applied to hide the damage he
suggested we just file the claim against insurance and enjoy the rest of our
vacation without any further bother and enjoy ourselves. I do like the Spanish
attitude to life without worries!!! He was a very nice man and was impressed with
our Spanish but he did laugh when I told him that no one can figure out what
nationality we are. They always pick French, while I think Paul is the
quintessential American tourist!
Back to Elizondo to find lunch, Bar Juli was the target.
Menu of the day only 11 euros each and very good. I am still cold!
Siesta in the afternoon to rest and do some laundry. Tuesday
evening we had a tapa in the Casino bar, nothing to brag about there. Actually we never get to bed early but it was
an uneventful day, quiet and relaxing. Tomorrow we go to Pamplona with Amatxi
Asun to visit the newest member of the family, La Julia, 3 weeks old!
The valley is quite beautiful, the trees are every autumn
color you can imagine. It is very rural with cows, sheep, horses and so
peaceful that you can actually hear yourself think. There is more traffic than
I remember but I can feel the countryside working its magic on me. Breath,
rest, recuperate, its going to be just fine it tells me. I believe it. The last
9/10 months have been so stressful for us both even though we gave the
appearance of weathering this particular storm, we need this peace and solitude.
We had the most incredible emotional support from our family and friends at
home and to come here and find out that we also had the support of these
wonderful people is quite humbling.
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