San Sebastian (Spain)

We were told this was a nice place. We got to see the train station and a few shops and streets on the way to the tourist office. The place was packed out and we couldn't get accomodation anywhere. So it was on the train  back to Irun which we had already passed to stay the night. Earlier that afternoon I had begun to get bad cramps in my chest and it got so bad that when we were out later looking for somewhere to have dinner we had to call a taxi to take us back to the hotel. I had to lie down for ages until I felt well enough to go out and eat. We had a lovely spanish meal that night when I was feeling better. The other guests at the restuarant were very friendly (even gave me a rose) and tried to help us understand the menu. I had to breastfeed Zoe halfway through the meal and then I put her under the table on her blanket to sleep while we kept eating. This arrangement works well from time to time. People stared at us, talked among themselves and kept smiling and looking at Zoe under the table. I don't think they'll forget the NZder's for a while!!!

The next day we went to the doc as I still wasn't feeling well. To cut matters short I was told not to carry heavy things as this sounded like my problem, so now I don't carry any packs, Lyndon carries one and the other goes on the back of the buggy that Zoe sits in. (The buggy was lent to us by our friends in Holland, it has been invaluable). Our day in Spain was looking for the doc, and  finding accomodation again in S.Sabastian to no avail. We went to the train station which was packed with tourists and the que was miles long. We hopped on another train back to Irun where we booked a night train for that evening to Lisborn in Portugal.

Lisborn (Portugal)

The night train I must describe. We went 2nd class. In the sleeping cabin there are six bunks three high on each side. We were fortunate to have nice companions. The air conditioning didn't work and it was very hot  as it is the middle of summer. Six people in a small cell type room with the door shut to stop noise and others smoking fumes out, makes for a very hot disgusting night! Never again I say. It was a 14 hour ride and once it was morning and we figured out that the window did open - the scenery was very beautiful in many places. It seemed like a poor country with homes looking rundown etc.
On arrival there was a guy at the station advertising his hotel etc (some train stations have people like this) it was resonable so he drove us there and we had a room with no window but at least it was somewhere to stay. We caught this tram thing up into the city type area (Lisborn is sprawled down steep hills) and sat at a cafe overlooking the bottom of the city and Alantic ocean. We met and American couple and they chatted to us about Lisborn. The food there was so so but the people were friendly and even though they couldn't understand us they took the time to try. We caught a boat to the other side of Lisborn the next day and then took a bus (the long rambling one we discovered later) to the beach we had been told by Aussie was great. We were also looking for a camping ground but they turned out to be full everywhere. We found the beach. I was expecting trees, grass, lots of sand and water. Well there was water alright, but there were highrise buildings right across the road no trees or grass and people packed like sardines with their umbrellas on a cold overcast day for miles. We sat down amongst it all. Zoe started playing in the sand and immediately dug up old ciggerette, plastic and bottle tops plus the odd bit of glass. What was really amusing was so many young people who were trying to play soccer in their individual groups squashed on the beach with everyone else trying to do the same thing. We caught the fast bus back to the boat and stayed another night in the room with no window. The next day we caught a train to a small town outside of Lisborn and spent the afternoon there. Zoe and a wash under the water fountain and loved it. I found the postoffice and quickly wrote some last minute postcards. That night we caught a train (first class this time) to Hendaye on the French and Spanish boarder.

Hendye

This night train ride was much nicer. We had a meal in the dinning car, it was an experience. We did OK but other people spilled their food as the train jerked from side to side and soup is very tricky to eat on a train but we did it. Zoe enjoyed playing with the plastic flowers stuck in the plastic vase - no point having the real thing now, as one would be drinking flower water and eating flowers petals! We arrived in Hendaye on a rainy morning. We did the usual thing that we do on first arriving. I looked after Zoe and the bags while Lyndon got info on places to stay and exchanged money and all that. We found a place close to the train station. This is always a good thing because it is easy to walk there and organise the next trip and we can carry our bags there without to many problems. People here were quite rude and because we didn't speak more than a few words of french we were the brunt of their rudness on several occasions. We found the supermarket, the laundry mat and the main eating area and shops. We spent an afternoon playing minigolf and watching people set up for a big food and music festival that lasted for one evening. We waited around for ages for things to get going but got tired so ended up returning to the hotel early with Zoe. That was the only place Zoe woke up in the night around 2am and decided to stay awake. She speaks loudly - well it sounds loud at 2 in the morning, she began saying all the words she knew and we didn't know what to do. We turned on the TV but that didn't work, I could hear other people coughing and opening and shutting their doors and knew our room was the noisy one that had woken  up others. Hotels are not really private when it comes to sounds as we have been woken many times by late arrivals, showers going on at unearthly hours and generally other loud guests. In the end we gave Zoe a dose of pamol and that did the trick. I don't like giving her  medicine just to get her to sleep but sometimes  you get desparate. I think we stayed there two nights. We got on a night train (was supposed to be first class but we had to share with an American couple who were trying to have a romantic holiday away from their five children - poor them they got us with Zoe!!!!) that night which took us to a town just around the bay from Monarco but in Italy.