A Day out in Durango

  

Since we are residing in the Basque Province for at least this year, we decided it’d be a good plan to explore as many towns within this region and really get a flavour of the basque land. Also, considering the trains and buses run fairly well and on time, I coaxed my husband into agreeing with me. Ok, I must confess it’s more of my plan than hubby’s.. *sigh*  I mean, he loves adventure and happily joins me in all my mad ventures but he does find it puzzling how I can walk and walk and walk for hours (without eating!) and pack a whole load of photography and sightseeing all in one go. He’s a typical guy like that! 🤔 Bless him! 

So, despite it being a rainy and a grey day, we decided to visit a town called Durango today. It usually takes around 20 mins by train and so we left to catch the train at 4:09 pm. We were hoping to leave much earlier but as we were expecting a repair guy in today, we got a little delayed. It was still raining a little as we left for the train station but luckily it wasn’t too much of a wait before the train arrived. 

  
As we arrived at Durango, I was really astonished to see the size of the train station. It was much bigger than the ones I had seen at the neighbouring towns (really tiny) and seemed a lot more spacious and well just big! 

I sensed it was gonna be a good day even if it was raining! 

As we walked out of the train station, there was a street vendor selling roasted chestnuts on an open fire. The smell of the roasted chestnuts was hard to miss and we immediately went and bought a small brown bag of these lovely treats. They were so rich and sweet. The chilly weather plus the aroma of the roasted chestnuts burning… Simply scrumptious! 🌰

  

(Hubby with his bag) 

   

 
We found a beautiful spot nearby, it was almost like a big wooden barn.. No seriously.. They had wooden benches inside and it was open.. You could look out onto the streets and see children playing and shoppers going by. Perfect for us as it has started raining a little at this point.. 

  
   
    
 
As we didn’t really have a plan as such, we decided to follow one of the streets and see where it would lead us. At this point, I really was craving a caffeine break, so I was on the lookout for a good cafe.. (There’s really no lack of cafe’s here in Spain!) Luckily, we spotted one and as usual I ordered my “cafe kon leche” or a cup of coffee and “te verde” or mint tea for hubby with some much needed sugar rush! 

  
   
 
We decided to explore the town and see what sights we could see and capture.. Sadly, at this point the day was getting greyer and the lighting even worse.. 

   
   
  
  
  
Durango does have a lot to offer in terms of architectural setting, I’ll surely do another post where the day is bright and where I have a lot more time to really capture those key sights for you. 

As you all know I love home decor, and this shop really caught my eye.. I was hoping to go back and grab a thing or two.. It was chic, bohemian, cute.. such a fun shop! 

   
    
   
After 10 minutes of walking and  window shopping, notice how dark it was getting..  On the way, I noticed a lot of small independent shops.. Also, many Spanish boutiques, jewellery shops, shoe shops etc 

 
  
I also spotted a book shop and a florist.. Both of which I adore! 

  
  
  
  
   

  
 

   
(This is a pharmacy in the above pic but call me old school but doesn’t this remind you of a chemistry lab with all those glass bottles up on the shelf?!) 

I felt like I was being teleported to my old school chemistry lab and that would’ve been a journey and a half.. mind you I was no Dexter! Haha 🤓

As I couldn’t capture anything else on my camera due to poor lighting, we decided to just walk down the streets, look at the shops and take in the surroundings minus the pictures.. We must have walked for around 30-40 mins and decided to head back home as it was getting very dark and chilly and we really didn’t fancy being stranded in a stranger town! All those Halloween movies were coming back to me! 😬
On a positive note, here’s a small glimpse of what I was wearing today.. 

  
It’s a lovely soft grey cardigan from H&M, shawl from Zara 

  
And my colourful feather Zara earrings.. 

Hope you enjoyed a little piece of what Durango had to offer, I’ll be sure to follow it up with a detailed post on a good sunny day.. In the meantime stay warm!