Sand Dunes And Dresses

SAND DUNES AND DRESSES

Walking out of the Pyrenees, we headed North and West towards the coast. In those days, Northern Spain was not a tourist destination. It was gritty, dirty, impoverished after many years of neglect and of course was still trying to recover from their vicious civil war, as was the rest of Spain. The British, Dutch and German waves of second home owners had not arrived.

Arriving late one evening in San Sebastian, I noted how friendly the people were. They were all smiles and curiosity. This didn't change for our entire trip through Spain....the people were (and still are) wonderful. Upon our arrival we sought out coffee and tapas. We'd heard the coffee was good and the tapas were mouth watering. Finding ourselves lost in what was a large town, we wandered into an area with many tall tenement buildings...... it didn't look welcoming, at all. Looking up we were surrounded by tall concrete monoliths that were foreboding....however, there was a gaggle of children playing football in the plaza, and they were having a blast. One of them looked up and kicked the ball over to me. I returned it ! The next hour became an international footie event between Spain and England England lost badly. ... There were just too many of them. We were badly outnumbered. We were tired. They had home advantage !!

A couple of the lads pointed us towards the railway station, where, he said we could find our coffee and tapas. We did.

The station held a certain allure to us. We had been hiking for days and thought that it could be fun to take the train along the coast for a short ways. camping in the station that night, we caught a train that was headed to Bilbao.

Rested and relaxed, we settled into our worn out and dilapidated carriage, acknowledging its only other resident. He was a chap who was in his early 20's and looked like he'd been on the road for a while, too. I asked him where he was from using sign language and the occasional Spanish word. He said he was from Argentina, and had a fascinating story about fleeing the dictator there.....if only I could understand everything he said. Oh well !

The trains third stop was Zarautz... we got off and walked into what looked to be an idyllic seaside town. It was only a small town, and it clung to a sea wall that overlooked a sandy stretch of beach in a sheltered cove. It was lovely. A few tapas bars lined the promenade and there were already some people relaxing with a drink and looking forward to the evening. We followed suit and before you knew it, these two English blokes were drinking and chatting with a clutch of animated citizenry overlooking the sea as the sun set.

It was quite an eye opener for us. We had already spent a few weeks in each others company and I have to be honest here..... I/we craved female company... just to talk to, of course. Here, sitting outside, we were being accosted by beautiful raven haired beauties, who found us to be fascinating. Whereas we were in desperate need of a shower and shave, and were wearing cutoffs and T shirts, they were ready for an evening 'promenading' along the seafront, and were beautifully dressed in some gorgeous dress and outfits. The young men were equally attired in smart jackets and even suits.

However, after eating and drinking our fill, one group of our new friends invited us to join them for the 'promenade'. We did. It was sublime and an evening to remember. 

They were great people, but the evening, with all of its colour and conviviality, had to come to an end, and so in the wee hours of the morning, we said our goodbyes as they wandered back to their homes. We stood there in the dark puzzling over where to pitch our tents. We were in the middle of town and nowhere looked inviting, until I noticed some sand dunes nestled under the sea wall, and it wasn't far to walk. ...success. 

We each pitched our tent and slept.

In the morning I awoke to the sounds of excited people buzzing around outside. I threw on my shirt and ventured out into the hot sun, looking up. Jamie was already up...and swimming ! 

Overnight the tide had come in and our sand dune had become an island. !!!!

A girl I had been chatting with a lot, during the previous evening, was cheerily waving down at us. 

I felt humble.... and very much alive !