Wednesday 27 August 2014

Casa Rural Ozollo, review, and the right location on the map!

So, finally, we were on our way out of San Sebastián, climbing up Mount Igueldo before snaking down again towards the coast. I kept to the coastal route, heading towards Ea. Really, we should have stopped over at Zumaia, a town famous for having one of the world's longest set of continuous rock strata. I'm sure it would have been a more interesting stop than Ea, a town where there is a beach with supposedly beautiful views of the sea.

We had a quick walk around town, and didn't see any beach, let alone the beautiful views. It was 3.30pm, and we didn't want to arrive in Ozollo too late. So, we didn't bother asking anyone, and decided to have lunch.

Errekaize was where we chose; they had  a set menu for €12. When we first saw it, it was empty - we didn't know at that time that they had more tables upstairs. Unfortunately, by the time we went in, it was full. A film crew - I didn't know what they were filming - had reserved a large section, and we had to wait for a few minutes for them to set up a table. I said "them", but it was just the one waitress, and she had to handle a full restaurant.

Food was average. We had minestrone soup for starters, and I'm not exactly fond of this dish. Second was supposed to have been fish, but they'd run out of it - the film crew had got there before us, and we were offered chipirones instead. Sorry to say it, but I've had far better ones. I've just seen that they have a Facebook page should you have the urge to look at it.

So, all in all, our disappointing experience of San Sebastián continued. By the time we finished, there wasn't enough time to take a look at Elantxobe, and after this experience, it was a risk not worth taking. Straight to Ozollo we headed.

I have no records of the time we arrived, but you can have a rough idea from the fact that we arrived in Ea at 3.30pm and had lunch, which wasn't a fast one, although, on paper, Ea to Ozollo was a short drive.

It wasn't easy. In the end we had to get the directions by phone (see the reason why at the end of the post). The landmark to look out for is the castle, Castillo de Arteaga. We wanted to have dinner there later in the evening, but it was closed by the time we got back. Just before this castle, there was a small track turning to the right. This was the turning we had to take to bring us to this charming, quirky cottage...

Casa Rural de Ozollo, Gautegiz Arteaga, Basque Country
Casa Rural de Ozollo
I loved it! My allergy didn't, but that was the price I had to pay to be among greenery. And I could just imagine that it was going to get worse. The triple room cost us €68, including breakfast. Fast forward to the next morning... Breakfast was served in the garden because it was a fine day, but I had to have a sweater on. It was a cold breakfast - croissant, sweetbread, juice (not fresh, but good), coffee, tea, chocolate...

The room was small, but much bigger than the one we had in Isabella's. There wasn't any table, but I saw other rooms which had one. The double bed was huge! It was either a queen or king-sized - never know the difference, anyway. There was wifi, but it wasn't terribly reliable. It was a big cottage, so I guess it just depended on where we were with respect to the router.

There was a kitchen and a living room which could be used, but we were there for only the night, so we didn't have the need.

Gemma, the lady of the house, was very charming, very sweet. I'm sure if I had asked her for certain things, she would have obliged. For example, there was shower gel, but no shampoo. I didn't bother asking because we had some sachets. The breakfast didn't include toasts, but perhaps it was possible - I didn't ask, but I did ask for tea, which she obliged.

There was a car park in front of the house, on the edge of a large field. Our room, unfortunately, faced the back, which was the side you'd see first, coming from the road. Anyway, for just one night, it was no big deal.

We hurriedly dumped our bags, and made our way to the car. We had to hurry because it wasn't early. Later than 5pm, for sure.

Casa Rural de Ozollo, Gautegiz Arteaga, Basque Country
Façade, Casa Rural de Ozollo
Name: Casa Rural Ozollo
Address: Ozollo Auzoa 3, 48314 Gautegiz Arteagako (Auzoa means barrio - district - but Google maps don't recognise it; all the maps I've found on the Net are wrong. The map below is the one you want although I'm not sure about the postal code).
Websitehttp://www.casaruralozollo.com/
Verdict: Highly recommended!




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