Mari, the main goddess of Basque mythology, in charge of carrying good and bad weather from one side in the Basque Country, lives on the east face of the top of Mount Amboto. It is said that if there are clouds it is because Mari is in his cave and if the sun rises, it has come out of it. Very attentive, I am sitting in a armchair, in front of a window, with spectacular views of Mount Amboto, while the sisters Elena and Lorea Totorica, owners of the Rural Casa Areitio Etxea tell me these legends, as well as everything to do in the area. We are in Mallavia, Vizcaya, very close to Éibar and Ermua. For me area to discover. Silence, nature … Another rhythm. This house, with four bedrooms, with huge living room, fireplace, garden and a beautiful cenor, is the perfect headquarters to explore this corner of Spain. A walk through the Atxondo Valley? It sounds good to me, I told them. The road passes through the old Arrazola train track, where the field is of an intense green, one that I do not see on the plateau (no matter how long it has rained), there are story hamlets and hermitages, such as San Roque. From the list proposed by Elena and Lorea, we continue to pull to reach a typical cider house, Urberu Sagardotegia, in Itziar, Guipúzcoa … where in Run Banks the cuisine of Chuletón and Rodaballo in the grilled leaves you without comparative criteria to return to the fashion restaurants of the Castilian. A walk after eating? Of course, to the Aixola reservoir, a few minutes by car, a light and circular path in which the water is of intense dark turquoise. And from this shelter, a few kilometers is Lekeitio, a picturesque fishing village; Zarautz and his lively promenade; Zumaia and her cliffs … but I stay at home seeing an orange sunset, knowing that Mari, the Amboto lady, has left her cave.
