Rain in Hondaribbia

We all slept well last night because it was both quite and cool. It helped that we were relaxed from a lot of good food and alcohol in the evening. Sleep is what we needed.

As I write this outside the hotel under the cover of their outside bar it is 5:45 pm and pouring rain. We woke up this morning to heavy rain but by the time we got moving and had some breakfast the rain had moderated to drizzle.

Wait....a choir is singing in the plaza. Wonderful, but the rain has increased in its intensity and is covering their sound. Still lovely and reminds me of Rome. I'm drinking a Spanish brandy and smoking a Cuban cigar and listening to a choir. Two years ago in Rome while sitting in a courtyard drinking Grappa and smoking a Cuban cigar, a choir at the church in the next square was singing. This means that brandy and Cuban cigars equal music! I'll have to try this when I get home.

Back to my writing. We had breakfast in the hotel, coffee, tea, juice, some cold cuts, bread, and jam. We surfed the web, checked emails, read Hondaribba travel info and took it very easy. when we finally got our rears in gear we went to the local Tourist office and picked up some maps and asked some questions then wandered down into town and to the marina/beach area. There was something of a demonstration going on by the family of ETA prisoners. They were demonstrating in an efforts to bring ETA prisoners in Spanish prisons back to Basque country so that they could be visited by their families instead of being held far away. Desires for Basque separatism are strong here. They do not want to be part of Spain but want to be independent. Peg was excellent at asking questions of a family that was there and they filled us in on what was going on.

We walked a bit more, but as I was the only one not really equipped to be walking in the rain, the damp was penetrating my cotton jacket. Lee and Peg headed towards the light house and Sharon and I headed back to the center of town in search of a warm dry refuge and some cafe and tea. We ended up in a cafe bar that. was filled with locals drinking and eating tapas.

We joined in and had Vino rosado and a couple of tapas while we waited for Lee and Peg. It was nice so we had seconds on the vino before the wanderers returned. Then We ate a late lunch - Lee and I had cidre and calamari sandwiches. Peg had a jamon sandwich (sandwiches are bocatas?) and Sharon had a fried egg, hamburger patties, and fries. All good. Then it was back to the hotel with plans to go to Irun for some shopping but naps called for everyone but me. I washed some clothes and Sharon and I talked to John and Kristie and left a message for Kathy and Kevin. Now I am typing away. When I go in I will copy pictures to Picasa and add a few to this blog.

I ended up with a short nap after uploading some pics, went down for a cafe solo and met Lee and Peg and all of us headed to dinner. Our target dinner spot was booked but we walked into a place down the street and had a great time and a great dinner. We left there at 10:30 full and happy.