Bilbao

We are In actual fact anchored in the harbour of Getxo ( the x is a 'ch' sound, so pronounced getcho) . Bilbao, the city  itself is about 10 kilometres up the river. We spent most of our first day just lazing on the boat and then we blew up the inflatable dinghy to go ashore. There are three marinas at Getxo, we tried the biggest first to ask if we might leave our dinghy on their pontoons. I'm afraid the language barrier proved insurmountable.

At the second marina however we had a stroke of luck, the man running it, Alvero, turned out to be the port officer for the O.C.C. ( Ocean cruising club) of which I am a member and couldn't have been more helpful. He allowed us to land at the marina and also gave us instructions to a chart agents in the city to buy some local charts. He also gave us some rivets to try for size to fix our broken boom vang. 

We had a quick look around and returned to the boat. There are some good reasons to dawdle in Getxo, one is the proximity to Bilbao and its many museums and galleries, but for fans of heavy engineering like me, ( I can't help it really I'm from Fred Dibnah country ), the big attraction has to be the Bitzkia Bridge.

This marvellous thing is a transporter bridge and for a small charge you can walk across the top span, Lynne wasn't very keen initially but said she would think about it! 

So I had a plan! The following day armed with Alvero's instructions I went ashore leaving Lynne to wash her hair, and made my way to the underground station at Areeta, the local stop, the entrances to which are quite striking and known locally as 'Fosteritos' after Norman Foster who designed them.

I managed to negotiate the self service payment and found my way to the tiny shop in the centre of Bilboa that held the all important charts. Manolo the owner was very helpful even offering the advice that if I was going to be sailing in Spain for any length of time I should really learn to speak Spanish. I had to agree......

Returning to the boat having had success with the charts I also bought bread and pan chocalades so Lynne was in a good mood and agreed to accompany me on the bridge.

Of course we had to have lunch first!

The Bridge was opened in 1893 and was the first all metal bridge of its type to be built, Portugaleta at the time was a big producer of iron and steel, it's been earning its living ever since. We have a longer one at Runcorn but first tops most things!

We took the elevator up one of the upright sections and it's interesting to see how closely the structure is integrated into the town. Then came the bit that Lynne had been quietly dreading as we stepped out onto the walkway above the river.

It's really not that bad and the views are tremendous.

In this picture Gatxo is on the right and Portugaleta is on the left, Dark Tarn is anchored in the bay top right.

Or just behind Lynnes head on this picture.

We had arrived in Portugaleta at lunchtime which in this part of Spain lasts from one o'clock until about five in the afternoon so we had some time to kill.

We discovered a fascinating collection of old buildings and alleyways full of shops ( all closed for lunch) 

As the town is built on a very steep hill there is quite a bit of climbing involved luckily the local authorities have been kind enough to install escalators to help weary pensioners!

There is a church which is very conspicuous from the boat that we were keen to have a look at, the Basiica de la Santa Maria. Of course it was closed until five! However it was a good excuse to find a cafe and discover how much our afternoon coffee habit would cost us in Spain.

We were pleasantly surprised to find it was cheaper than France,

In the late afternoon we wandered up the hill to the Basilica. It's so crowded in on the hillside I'm afraid I couldn't get a decent picture of the whole church on my phone but it is a typically Spanishe construction in a lovely honey coloured stone, this is the entrance Portico.

The present church dates largely from the 15 th century and has some marvellous things from the mediaeval era inside, not least of which is the magnificent carved alter piece.

It's the work of two different artists and it's possible to tell the difference between the right and central panels and the left.

There are also beautifully decorated alter pieces in the many side chapels.

There were also many paintings and statues, this one is is of St Roche, the local Saint, not one either of us is familiar with but I wonder looking at the sea shells whether it's another name for St James? We are on the northern pilgrimage route to Santiago de la compostella. A fascinating visit. We noticed many religious statues in niches on various buildings throughout the old town. It would take some time to explore properly.

However we had to return to the boat and as we crossed the marina bridge the water was alive with fish.

Later we were sat in the cockpit watching the nightly vigil by over 20 small boats who come out at dusk to fish, I couldn't help but wonder if the fish had discovered that the safest place to be was where the fishermen had just left from!