Back in Spain - Madrid to Poo de Llanes (Asturias)

Back in London now and time to catch up with the last month of our travels.

Day 33

Slow start, had a massive breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Go the buffet! Packed the car then time to head north! We dodged the motorway and drove through stunning mountains even up to 1800m! Our first town on the way was Segovia.

A very beautiful town along the river, well preserved and even better restored! They have done a really good job here. There is an amazing Roman aqueduct in perfect condition from the 1st or 2nd century, with no mortar to hold it up. Those Romans are bloody amazing! After some more strolling we were off to Alcazar, a garrison built on the hill. In perfect condition we had to go in. We just happened to tag onto a tour explaining all the amazing artwork and tapestries. Cam even made friends with a local knight!

They had an artillery museum there also which gave an interesting history on cannons used by the Spanish, although all in Spanish, loved the pictures! Some more walking around town and we were off North again to try and get close to San Sebastian by night fall. It was still a fair way but got to a town called Vittoria-Gasteiz the capital of the Basque region. It was a pretty little town with many restaurants and shops. Found a pension recommended by our Rough Guide which had parking. A lovely lady named 'Loli' was running the place.

Went to a restaurant close by as recommended. The dinner although not quite what we expected was still quite tasty! Lamb for both of us was just what the doctor ordered. Off to bed.

Day 34

Had a local breakfast (croissant and coffee). One of the best coffees we have had so far. Walked around town discovering how beautiful it really was! We were the only tourists that we could see! Off to San Sebastian. We desperately needed to find somewhere to stay.

Struck some free internet as we were driving along. Dropped Nat off with the laptop at the beach, while Cam parked the car. Found a pension near to the beach, but only available for one night. Everything is so booked up due to a bank holiday this weekend! We walked around town trying to find somewhere to eat. We were starving by then but almost nothing open. Hardly anyone wondering around, we must of struck Siesta! The weather was looking more miserable as time went on. It was quite cool and the clouds had rolled in. We had no map or any idea where to go, eventually we found a local restaurant with ‘menu of the day’ or 'Menu del Dia'. Great value if you can find a good menu of the day, because you get starter, main, desert, wine & coffee for about 12 euros! A good laugh when the menu comes out, as its all in Spanish.

Out with the dictionary and lots of guess work. Could end up with anything really! The food was very tasty and great service! We collected our car and parked the car. Went to the pension and unpacked our stuff.

Had a bit of a siesta then headed out to get a taste of night. Found the bar/restaurant area and had some tapas during peak hour with the locals. San Sebastian is famous for it's tapas bars. Going off! Then went to a pizzeria and enjoyed a big bowl of pasta. Yum! Off to bed.

Day 35

What a difference a day makes. Sun was out today and the beach was going off! Went for a big walk right around the point up to the ocean pipes. Great sculpture with blow-holes that Cam experienced first hand. All the young kids were having a laugh, standing on the blow holes. But Cam being Cam, had to be the big kid and try them out for himself. He found they really have some grunt! Check out the video! Hilarious!

Cam was completely soaked! He knew the blow holes were grunty, but didn't expect a big wave to come in and completely drench him! We walked back, with Cam dripping wet, around to the other point. Checked out the port area. Tried to locate somewhere with some nice seafood, but the prices were way out of our league. We settled for a burger place and enjoyed some beef and local wine. Great value lunch! The beef kicked in and we were both ready for a siesta. We had walked around town in the beautiful sunshine for hours and our feet were tired and both a bit sunburnt. Got back to our pension and rested. Had a quiet night in and booked our accommodation for the next week or so. Off to bed!

Day 36

Woke up early today to avoid more parking charges. Left San Sebastian and headed up the coast, avoiding the motorway, through some beautiful little fishing villages. The scenery was amazing.

Bright green rolling hills and rugged coast line. The curvy road would drop down in to fishing villages and head back up in to the mountains. Stunning! We stopped in a little town called Ondarrora for lunch. After some scouting for some cheap meals, we ended up in a restaurant recommended by the tourist office, with tourist prices, minus the tourists! We were the only tourists in town!

We dined in this lovely restaurant and had a fresh salad and some local seafood. Nat had a massive 2 inch Hake fish steak and Cam had a fat Monkfish and prawn skewer. It was absolutely delicious! Washed down with some local white wine, its got a slight fizz to it, and is quite dry, perfect with seafood! After lashing out for the fish, why not have dessert too! Nat had a tasty chocolate mousse cake and Cam had a champagne sorbet. Wow! What a lunch! This would be probably our best meal the entire holiday.

We headed further west along the coast and stopped in a town called Bermeo. We went to the tourist office and they located us an agrotourism place only 5km from town. We were quite lucky, being Friday night, many places were booked up.

We drove up to our place, which is located in a mountainous area with gorgeous green paddocks. It was a little more than a farmhouse, with several rooms and a restaurant/cafe downstairs. They even had free wifi!! What a bonus!

The room was lovely with great character. We watched the sunset over the hills with a glass of wine. Cam decided to crack open a local cider (sidra). The trick is to pour from a great height to get some fizz and more flavour out of the cider. It is a lot different to Magners/Bulmers etc, in that it is quite dry and no carbonation. An acquired taste would be the word! Check out the photo! After another amazing day, and so many lovely sights, we called it a night.

Day 37

A beautiful warm day today, the sun was shining so we decided to hit the coast further west. For some crazy reason, we decided to do this walk up to the top of Juan Guadalupe? A monastery/chapel built on the hill. We missed the turn off to the carpark, without realising, as we got stuck behind a stupid tourist coach. We stopped at the next carpark which was really big and a had a restaurant.

We walked the track down, which was like a steep goat track. Nat struggled in her runners, wishing she’d chosen to wear hiking shoes instead of running shoes! Still not steady on her feet after spraining her ankle in Fes, it was a real challenge getting down the track. Once we had a brief rest at the bottom of the track, we struggled up the many stairs to the top. Check out the photo!

After a few too many wines and not enough water yesterday, Nat was feeling very fatigued, but made it up the top to enjoy the stunning views. It is gospel to ring the bell three times for good luck outside the chapel up top. So we rung the bells, took lots of photos and started heading back down.

Cam decided to take the goat track back up, Nat opted to take the road back up. The goat track was tough to get up even for Cam, and Nat struggled up the steep road, almost making it to the top before Cam arrived to pick her up! What a lovely husband! We were both famished and hot and dehydrated. We went to the next town hoping to get some lunch. But being 3.30, no restaurant would serve us, yet there were no supermarkets open, so we had to settle for a drink and junk food to get us by.

We weren’t happy, but Cam had a beer and an ice cream, Nat had a coke and some popcorn. Gees, can’t believe we have to wait until 9pm for dinner! Its only 4pm! What better way to relax and waste some time, lie on the beach! The sun was shining and the beach was so busy. The water was freezing! After putting your toes in for a short time, they were frozen! Cam braved it for a few minutes before giving in to the freezing water temperature. After a few hours in the sun, we headed back to our place for a quick shower and headed to the restaurant down stairs.

We sat on the veranda and enjoyed a lovely cold beer. We ordered steaks to treat ourselves, we hadn’t eaten all day, so it was well earned! The steak was so tender and tasty. Very satisfied! Served with fresh home made chips too, we were very happy. When you order dishes up hear you usually only get that piece of meat or whatever and any sides have to be ordered separately, racking up the price. But the quality is great. Off to bed not long after that magnificent feast.

Day 38

Today it was time to farwell the Basque country as we head towards the Asturias. On the road quite early our first stop would be Bilboa for a look around before heading to our agro tourismo in the Asturias.

We left our place early, stopping off in our beautiful fishing town Bermeo for a few pictures and one of those heartstarter coffees! Next stop - Bilbao. We checked out the amazing Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. It is an architectural achievement this building, its pretty spectacular. The outside of the building is sheeted in Titanium, making it really gleem in the sunshine. See photos.

We walked around the museum and took many photos. After seeing so much art previously, to have a look at the outside would be enough for us! We headed back to the car and scored some free wifi. We managed to call our parents on Skype, the first time in ages we have been able to call home. From Bilbao we hit the road West. We arrived in the Asturias region, and we are staying in a town called ‘Poo’ in village Llanes. We discovered this town is involved in a pretty big bike race. The roads were heavily marshalled by security and Police, but unfortunately they were speaking in fast Spanish, so we had to guess what they were trying to tell us. Pretty funny, Cam just nods and says ‘Si’ yes and drives on!

We got lost trying to find our place, our laptop was dead with our GPS, so we drove around for a while, but found ourselves winding our way up the road in the mountains, with spectacular views! The clouds were sitting so low in the mountains. We saw cows in the fog and some old stone houses. The trees looked mysterious in the thick fog. We even saw a farmer herding his horse and foals up the road. In this area, even the horses wear cow bells!

We stumbled upon our place by pure chance and were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the hotel, its absolutely gorgeous! On the website it was only rated one star! But the place is fairly new and so well decorated. Its pretty quiet here, we haven’t seen any other guests! Open the window, and all you can hear is the sound of cow bells! We had a rest and headed in to town for dinner. We went to a restaurant recommended by our hotel, when we arrived at 8.00, we were too early, dinner doesn’t start until 8.30! We had a beer and checked out the menu.

Unfortunately the prices were out of our league, so we headed out and stumbled upon a bar/restaurant that had a day menu of only 10 euros each! We weren’t expecting much, being so cheap. We were quite sceptical really! But our starter was fish soup which was very tasty. Cam even decided to pour it down his trousers! While trying to peel a prawn, the bowl tipped over and he had to wear fish soup on his pants until we got home! It was very funny, but Cam was rather embarrassed! Luckily no photo evidence of this... For mains, Cam had a well ironed lamb fillet and Nat had a salmon steak. Our meals were really tasty! Could be one of our best meals so far! The salmon was so fresh and beautifully cooked. Cam’s lamb was also very tender and really nice. Dessert Nat had crème caramel. The best value, only 20 euros for dinner and 6 euros for a bottle of local wine! Happy with our budget priced dinner we were off to bed!

Next entry is the Asturias and Galicia region (The Northern and North West) of Spain. Some of our favourite in this magnificent country.

Cam & Nat