A Visit to Oleta

My blessed, fantasy life continues to evolve with fabulous adventures.  This summer had its share of adventures including three weeks in Europe.  I travelled to London where my husband had an art show!  Then we went to northern Spain for two weeks, driving along the coast from Biarritz to Santander.  There is a remnant of a town in this region, a few of my family members have visited in the past decade.  My father was originally told about the town by a mexican man he was doing investments for.  It is in the Basque Country, a state on the northeast corner of spain.  The Basques have their own culture independent of Spain.  They have a language, Euskadi, commonly spoken today.  The names of most towns and cities in this region are Basque names.  Or if it has a predominant Spanish name, like San Sebastian, it is also known popularly by its basque name, Donostia.  The Basque have also there own traditions, sports, history.  Oleta is the name of the town in Basque, Olaeta is the name of the town in Spanish, and the family story is that our lineage comes from that name, changed over time to a current spelling of Oleata.  As it was located almost directly south of the world-famous super wave, Mundaka, in beautiful countryside, I found it quite simple to feel from this land.  As I got to know the people, see their faces and experience the quirks of their personalities, I kept feeling, Yes!  I am Basque!

The rode to Oleta consisited of meandering through the coastal forests and then travelling deeper inland into the mountain peaks.  We summited a big peak and stopped at a lookout for a picnic lunch.

Oleta was located just a short distance from the summit.  We dropped down about 15 minutes to find the town.  It was a cluster of big stone and brick houses weaving along the road for a few minutes.  They were spaced with big plots of land, grass cut for the fall, horses grazing.  A stream ran across the town at the church and there was a beautiful stone cross.  The town had a restaurant and one sign for cheese for sale.  That was about it.

The view back at the peak from Oleta

The church was closed but it had a very old keyhole, big enough to look inside, that's the view above.  Next to the church was the farmhouse with a small sign out front for cheese for sale.  As we walked around the church, peeking through the gate of the cemetary to read the names inside, I saw a big farmer lady washing big metal canisters for storing milk.  I asked her if she was selling the cheese and told her I'd like some.  She walked us around the property to the front, walking through her garden towards the front of her house.  First we passed a barn and I spied a bunch of chickens.  I asked if I could take a look, but had to be careful as there were about 8 wild hunting dog tied up inside as well.

She left us in the front room of her house while she went deeper inside.  I snapped a couple quick photos of the interesting farm tools on the wall and her little altar/repository of emergency supplies!  I spied a classic photo of a joyful olympian biting down on her medal.  When she returned with the cheese I asked her about it, it was her sister who won bronze at the London Olympics last summer!  I took a photo of the newspaper cover on the wall at the restaurant.  She sold me a half round of her milder sheep's cheese and then I let her get back to work!

At the local bar/restaurant they were cleaning away the dishes from a large family just completing a leisurely lunch.  We got some cold beers at the bar which featured prominently two large jars of honey for sale.  I was beginning to laugh at all my hobbies displayed for me in Oleta, chickens, cheese, gardens, and honey!  I started conversation with the young bartender, asking him if he was form the area.  He laughed and said this was his house and his family owned the restaurant.  I told him why I was visiting and he told me about a Mexican doctor who had passed through the area a few years before for the same reason.  They pulled a topographical map of the area off the wall and showed me another Oleta just north of us on the ocean, just across the river from Mundaka.  Later on our trip we tried to find this town too.  We got very close but couldn't quite find our way.