The Basque Country, Spain
Location of the Basque Country 1. We docked in Getxo, Spain, about 7 1/2 miles from Bilboa (both noted with Red dots).
Sunday, June 5th we docked in the port of Getxo, Spain, about 7 1/2 miles Northwest of Bilbao, Spain, surrounded by green mountains. Bilbao is the de facto capital of Basque Country. Basque Country is located in the western Purenees, straddling the border between France and Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. The term Basque Country refers to a collection of regions inhabited by the Basque people, and includes seven territories (see map above).
We took a 3 hour excursion through the “Basque Country”, in the region of Bizkaia. We saw a lot of beautiful terrain, cute villages and had a couple of stops, one at the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve and one with a view of the monastery that was used as the location of the Dragonstone Castle in the Game of Thrones.
The Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve is a 12-kilometre stretch of sandbanks that UNESCO has declared a world Biosphere Reserve (1984). One of its main attractions is the diversity of birds that inhabit it.
In season two of Game of Thrones, the island monastery of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe was showcased in the iconic shoot of Daenerys’ dragons flying over it.2 John and I got photos with it in the background.
After our excursion, we had lunch then came back to the room for nap, us old folks! We then relaxed on our balcony enjoying the views and the mild weather.
We docked with the port on our side of the ship, so got to watch the docking of the ship in the morning and leaving the dock in the evening which is always entertaining.
Tonight John was given a free bottle of wine at dinner from the casino.
John went to the show “88 Keys”.
Weather was partially cloudy and cool.
Getxo, Spain and the Basque Country Photos
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Note:
The translation of the plaque on the rock. Translated Basque to English:
“This stone comes from the Gautegiz-Arteaga quarry and was donated by the Town Council of this town. It is the Karenharrie of Ereño and preserves samples of rudist fossils [Expired molluscs]. These fossils are windows into past life on Earth.”
- Edited by Pat Burns Attribute: Location of the Basque Country: This image has been made by Zorion (User:Zorion) and released under the licenses stated above. You are free to use this image for any purpose without restriction as long as you credit me as author, follow the terms of license and cite Wikimedia Commons as site. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, would you mind leaving me a message on this page in English. Thank you. - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12399081
- Obtained Game of Thrones info from #3 at https://goldenvisasinspain.com/blogs/5-game-of-thrones-filming-locations-in-spain-for-seasons-1-to-7.