photos: euskadi 2011 (part 4)...
Technically the city of Bilbao is not a seaside city, but the metropolitan area Gran Bilbao stretches along the river from Basauri until Santurtzi (left riverbank) and Plentzia (right riverbank), where the Ría de Bilbao joins the Atlantic. And with the introduction of the Metro Bilbao, getting to the beach became really easy. One of the most popular beaches is at the final destination of the metro line 1.
7. Plentzia
Plentzia is a resort town in Bizkaia and located around 30 km outside Bilbao. It shares a beach with two neighbouring towns (Gorliz and Barrika), and seems to be very popular with owners of boats, for whom the Ría serves as a parking lot. XDD
The first thing you see when you exit the metro is this huge bridge that takes you into the city.
The bridge is called Geltokiko zubia ("station bridge") for obvious reasons.
The story of the bridge can be read in Spanish...
... Euskera...
... and English!
Walking across the bridge, turning right...
... and left! This is where the boats are. Tons and tons of them.
See what I mean? ;) You can walk along the riverbank to the beach and it's really fantastic there, especially when the weather is that great. :D
What you can also do in this great weather is canoeing. XD
DUM DUM! XD
A particularly nice-looking house in Plentzia.
Stairs that probably lead to the town centre. (I have no clue. XD)
We preferred to walk along the river instead!
I assume this is the town hall.
It amused me greatly that the flag of Plentzia was there, the Basque flag as well, only the Spanish one was missing. XD
More boats!
Yet more boats in the marina!
This is how far we've come already!
We're approaching the mouth of the river...
Not far from the beach I found this restaurant that also offers lodgings. bibi_bloom, is there something you haven't told me? XD
Plentzia and Gorliz pretty much melt into each other. ;)
The open sea is right behind that bend!
But first we encountered this anchor and this headless statue.
And another anchor!
Yes, I took a lot of photos of this river. XD
Compass! In the tiles! I was ecstatic! :D
Finally, we reached the beach of Plentzia! As you can see, the temperature of the sea was still about 20°C, and it was the end of September already! We didn't go in because we hadn't brought any swimwear, but I think that it was on that day that we decided to take complete advantage of our stay in San Sebastián and go to the beach every day! XD
In Plentzia, we walked along the quay...
... and had a good look at the beach that I had already visited once before with xurda87, her sister, and blue_eyed_miss in February but that looked completely different back then!
Around 2pm, we took the metro (no, the final destination was not named after Aritz Aduriz XD) to our next destination.
8. Getxo
Getxo is the third largest municipality in Biscay and mostly a residential area for people who are pretty well-off. There's a large beach and a marina as well as the tourist attraction Puente Vizcaya at a close distance. We got off the metro in Algorta, one of the five stops in the town.
The marina of Getxo and the Ereaga beach.
Look, it's the sea!
A closer view of the beach.
Fish!
To get to the beach, you have to get down from the hill, for which purpose the people have installed a lift.
I don't know what this statue is supposed to mean but I liked it!
These are the tracks of the lift.
The waves in Getxo were a lot bigger than those in Plentzia on that day.
The lift from the other side.
In front of the exit of the lift, they had these hilarious boards that told a story about a grandma wearing a superman costume. XD (The grandma of Óscar de Marcos? XD)
Ereaga! And a water temperature of 22°C! *wistful sigh*
The marina of Getxo.
More boats!
See the Puente Vizcaya in the background?
A lot of rich people live in Getxo, owning houses with a sea view.
Some of them even look like little castles.
Yes, I wouldn't mind living there either! XD
The marina at a distance. You can walk around this little harbour basin towards the Puente Vizcaya, which we did because we couldn't find a metro station that was closer by and had to walk all the way to Areeta. XD
Beautiful, no?
Stay tuned for more photos! I'm not done yet! ;)