9/25 -- Explore Guernica and the Biscay Coast

Our first stop today was Guernica (pronounced and spelled Gernika in Basque) which is famous for being the site where all Basque leaders have taken the oath of office under an oak tree for hundreds or maybe a thousand years. It is notorious for being the site of a brutal aerial bombing in 1937, requested of the Nazis by Francisco Franco to punish the Basques for not kowtowing to his  leadership. For the Nazis, it was a perfect opportunity to practice their latest ideas on conducting aerial warfare. 80% of the city was leveled. All that was left was the weapons factories (so Franco could arm his government and Germany's) and the Basque Assembly House and famous oak tree. The latter was saved either because some of Franco's war leaders wanted it saved or because it was in the same area as the homes of the weapons factory owners.

We saw a movie about the city with scenes from the results of bombing and then visited the Assembly House building, which has a wonderful stained glass ceiling depicting the oak tree and other Basque historical symbols. From there we walked over to meet a local teacher who shared with us some elements of Basque history and answered  our many questions. I mentioned to her a book of Basque history I had read, The Basque History of the World, and she was very positive about it. I have it on my Kindle, but I think I can lend it for 3 weeks at a time to anyone with a Kindle or Kindle app. It is a little dry at times, but very educational.

Stained glass ceiling in an assembly room

One end of the library.

Silver voting ball -- you inserted your vote into the ball.

Jim in the Assembly Chambers. The original was built in 1366.
This one dates to the mid 1800s.

The newest version of the tree, planted several
years ago.

The oldest stump still in existence, which died
in the 1860s. No one seems to know when the
first tree was planted because it pre-dates
written history.

A copy of Picasso's famous painting decrying the bombing of
Gernika

Next we had a slow but fabulous rustic lunch that consisted of a large chunk of homemade bread, an extremely hearty vegetable soup (almost all veggies, very little soup) followed by a wonderful stew of beef with roasted  potatoes, and flan for dessert. Back in the bus, we drove along the coast of Biscay Bay. Unfortunately,  it was a bit misty at times, so our photographic opportunities were  limited. However, we did try, as you can see in the following 4 photos of a church on a rock that looks like an island, but isn't.

We ended up at a small winery near Bakio that is also a B&B with 8 en suite rooms. It is run by two sisters, one of whom is voluble and did 99% of the talking. They had similar short haircuts, one was bleached a very light blond, the other was an interesting shade of bright red. They claimed this was done to represent the two varieties wine they make: 10,000 bottles of white and 600 of red. Both are intended to be drunk within 18 months. They were out of the red, but the white was the best I have tasted here, so we bought a couple bottles.

The sisters, Maria and Arantza. The red head is the talkative one.

They have 5 hectares (about 12 acres), now mostly planted
with grapes.

The sisters demonstrate how their hair color matches their wines,

The view from the room at the top of the B&B. You can see
Biscay  Bay

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was 5:30 and we are still full from lunch so probably will not have much of a dinner. Tomorrow, we visit San Sebastian and drive to Pamplona where we will stay the next two nights.