Pasaia

Pasaia harbour

Pasaia is made up of four separate communities, the focus is the harbour and it is a real working harbour not a quaint tourist resort. I love this about the place. The image above was taken from the ferry boat that crosses the harbour enabling me to avoid the long double bus ride around the harbour.

Pasaia Donibane is one long street with the most gorgeous stone buildings- worn sandstone everywhere. I have tried to be dispassionate but this little town enters into the blood stream and demands to be loved.

Humilladero de la Piedad, shrine 16-17th century originally carved from the rock face 

Pasaia from the tiny ferry

There doesn't seem to be strict town planning like more northern Europe. Beautiful stone facades are overrun with electrical conduits and external plumbing. Everything is jumbled together. It is part of the charm but it must make it more challenging to live in.

hot fog

From yellow to turquoise, I landed in Bilbao en route to San Sebastian and it was suddenly over 30 degrees centigrade. As I journeyed through a Basque countryside in dusk all took on hues of blue turquoise.

Days of weather changing from over 36 degrees centigrade to a cool 18 with a fog that came in. It was a hot fog: warm, enveloping but strangely secure. Above 15 metres and things started to disappear. I'd not experienced warm fog blankets like these before.

outskirts of Pasaia harbour

slices of fog slipped over the road.

The lighthouse Pasaia San Pedro

I walked the two hours to San Sebastian wrapped in sea fog and dipping into sun pools-when the strong southern sun broke gaps in the clouds. I have taken this walk before or I wouldn't have trusted myself to make it over the tree roots and stones and slices of vertical cliff face.

canola fields

These were days of yellow, there were so many canola fields in full bloom. They glowed warmly against the grey skies. I was staying outside Oxford for a few days with family. It was beautiful but the cool weather was intimidatingly cold for May. 

Dusk over canola fields on the bus through Oxfordshire

I'm using a hand me down "Blackberry" that has become a new favourite camera because it has so many limitations and an almost random shutter, that takes the image at an unexpected moment. 

rushing past canola fields during day time, photograph taken from  the car

Suburban housing from the train to London

These travels were literally about that: traveling; the journey was part of the entire experience. When I reached Paddington station en route to Heathrow they were still doing building work. The blue wood hoardings splashed color over the cool white painted steel.

temporary rain shelter under building work at Paddington station