Today we left Onati for Bilbao but first we had a short walk round town and bought some little cakes for the long journey. Ok the journey was only about an hour but the cakes were essential. Though we like Onati, it’s not a place we find a need to return to. We loved the staff at the hotel and the restaurant was pretty good but again, we don’t feel drawn into staying there.

We put our trust in Charles to find a suitable route for us. After one short mountain transit, we were soon on a piece of newly completed autoroute. Unfortunately this sent Charles into somewhat of a spin, the map showing we were driving round a mountain pasture with herds of sheep rather than a three lane piece of tarmac. I began to worry that Charles would forget to pop along with my mid morning aperitif but luckily he found us shortly after we transferred to dual carriageway. Charles has had a stay of execution.

So here we are in NH Duesto, Bilbao. The duty manager remembered us from last year which is a nice thing and we have a sunlit room facing the road. We popped out to explore and wandered round the rejuvenated old docks area.

When we returned to our room, I searched for somewhere to eat and found a restaurant attached to a five star hotel, a short walk away, across the river. Five star hotel, three star food sadly. Frozen ingredients, poorly seasoned and not presented with any flair. The waitress asked if we’d enjoyed the food and Susie had to be honest and say no. I think the waitress really was a bit taken aback but the standard wasn’t what we expected.

Anyway, we strolled back across the river and are off to bed. No plan for tomorrow yet…