AMAZING BASQUE COUNTRY....

...now where were we, ah yes, we're heading west along the Basque coast and to say the scenery is beautiful would be an understatement in the extreme.

Our ultimate destination is the sleepy village of Corao in Asturias; Don L figures we'll get there by 8:00pm but exhaustion and a haywire GPS mean we won't get there until 11:00pm. We pass through the coastal towns of Ondarroa and Lekeitio as we surge towards our first destination - La Foret Peinte, The Painted Forest of Oma. We park at Lezika restaurant and set off on the walk to the forest - it's the only way to get there.

It's an 8km round trip up a steep and winding dirt track that finally ends in the extraordinary grove of trees painted by Agustin Ibarrola. Commenced in 1982, it took until 2000 to complete, and is a maze of pine trees that challenges perspective and geometry. It was truly worth the visit to see his completed vision, to get some robust exercise, and to think of home as we strolled past eucalypt forests (no koalas though!).

It's only another 20 minutes to the landmark town of Gernika, its history scarred by tragic events from 70+ years ago, and immortalised by Picasso in his anti-war masterpiece La Guernica. We didn't have any time to spare and with an unhelpful tourist centre thwarting our efforts to quickly visit the famous Oak Tree of Gernika we soldiered on. After passing through Bermeo we come to the amazing destination of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe (Don L has wanted to visit this shrine since first reading about it). Here on a rocky outcrop is a 10th century hermitage that scholars believe was visited by St John.

Indeed, it is alleged that his footprints are still to be seen on the steps and that these imprints have curative powers. In 1334 it also served as a safe haven for Basques from the army of Alfonso XI, although in 1593 Sir Francis Drake did successfully sack it. The hermitage also houses offerings from sailors who have survived shipwrecks.  However, what makes this place most spectacular is the extraordinary staircase one must scale to reach the church on high. Firstly there's there's the 200 irregular steps leading down followed by 237 (and I counted them!!) that snake their way to the top; and yes, there's only one way to get there so you've gotta walk back. It is exhausting and spectacular - an absolute 'must see/do' for anyone who visits the area.

Heir apparent to Quasimodo

Spectacular Basque coastline

As time flies by we realise that we  only have time to fleetingly stop in Bilbao. It's the home of the Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim Museum and, most importantly, the 40 foot high floral dog created by artist Jeff Koons in 1992! There was a Yoko Ono exhibit on display, but the dog was much better value!

It was dusk as we left and with the GPS sending us everywhere but the right direction, we crossed Cantabria and finally made our destination, exhausted but having experienced two extraordinary sights along the way. Interestingly, we couldn't help notice that the temperature had dropped quite significantly and the following morning as we gazed upon fog shrouded mountains (we had no idea where were were whilst driving in the dark) we reflected on what a land of contrasts Spain is. Let the Asturian experience begin......