After a certain amount of confusion and consternation surrounding parking and the gizmo that takes the money, we are saved by a neighbor who manages to let us know that today is a fiesta day, so we don’t need to pay. This is great, and allows us to head straight for the waterfront and a leisurely stroll through Hondarribia. Everyone is out today. You can buy nearly any kind of knock-off you want, but we don’t buy any. Since today is a Basque holiday, there is a high concentration of handsome men in red berets and neck kerchiefs.

The sight-seeing is fine, and the people-watching is endlessly entertaining. We spend a certain amount of time watching a 2-year-old boy chase his RC car until he’s distracted by a cigarette butt that absolutely must be kicked through a hole in the sea wall. Right across the water is France, and a small ferry will take you there for a few euros.

We take pictures of the local architecture and find a bas relief that may or may not be Juan de la Cosa. Columbus’s flagship The Santa Maria was built in Basque shipyards and was the property of a Basque fellow (called a Bizkaian) Juan De La Cosa who was also its shipmaster. So the question is, was America “discovered” by Columbus? Or by a Basque? The Bizkaians would say by a Basque, and who are we to disagree?

We find a shoreline restaurant and have a relaxing meal of pizzas, salads, and crostini.

 

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