Category: Spain

Travels in Spain

April 11, 2025 Orio SP

We decided to have a laid back day today so we did not plan to leave Orio. We spent the morning doing some light chores around François before heading into town for lunch.

Part of the old town in Orio.

Our neighbor had recommended a restaurant to try, and about 1:45 we started into town to get lunch as it is served later in Spain than we are used to at home. We arrived and ordered a three course lunch with a starter, a main course, and a desert for €13. The waitress spoke limited English, and I can read limited Spanish, she left us her notebook with the options (there were 4 starters, and 4 main courses to pick from), between the three of us we eventually figured out the options and we were served an excellent lunch. After we placed our order the waitress asked us if we wanted water or wine, when we said wine she returned with a bottle of wine and put it in the center of the table. It was included in the €13.

If my Spanish is correct this is a ceramic factory across the river from the center of Orio.

After lunch we decided to take a stroll thru town to burn off some of the food. We also unsuccessfully cased another grocery store looking for Basque Vermouth. On our way back to the campground we saw 2 oxen yoked together with red masks covering their eyes being led from a barn. There happened to be a bench nearby so we sat down to see what was going to happen. Eventually, they hitched the two oxen to a sled and placed a couple of large rocks on it, then a grandfather and we presume his grandson got on the sled, and the boys father led the bulls down the field.

These two oxen were being trained for a Basque sport called Idi Probak.

The bulls were being trained for a Basque sport called Idi Probak. The contest consists of having two ox yoked together at the horns, (if you look carefully at the picture you can see their horns are interlocked.) then heavy rocks are put on a sled, and the ox have to drag the rocks, the sled, and a driver around an oval for 30 minutes to 2 hours. The problem is that the way the ox are yoked together makes it difficult for them to pull in a straight line unless they are well trained, so the driver and another person who walks in front have to work hard to keep the ox on track and moving. The winners are determined by who covers the most distance and carries the most weight in the time period allotted.

The ox off on their Idi Probak training session.

After we returned we took it easy for the rest of the day. I spent some time chatting with our Irish neighbor about life while Ton watched some movies on Netflix.

April 10, 2025 Orio SP

We took our time leaving in the morning as we were hoping that the traffic in Bordeaux would die down. We have experienced more traffic jams passing thru Bordeaux than any city in France including Paris. So we lingered around the campground until 10 am hoping, but we still ran into a lot of slow traffic in Bordeaux. It wasn’t as bad as some of our other trips but it was slow crossing the city.

Ton was up for sunrise.

Once we broke out of Bordeaux the remainder of the trip was smooth sailing and we arrived at one of our favorite campsites in Orio Spain about 1:30. We had made reservations in advance, so check in was smooth, and we were settled in by 2pm. Our neighbors were Irish and English so we had a chat. with them.

Sunrise from our campsite. Not bad for $15.

Later in the afternoon we had a stroll into Orio for some recreational shopping. When we returned we were invited by the Irish neighbor to join him in the campground bar for an after dinner beer.

Ton loves the wide sidewalks in Spain. She calls them three generation sidewalks as often you see three generations of the same family out for a stroll together.

The drink turned into several, and we had a nice time learning about his very interesting life as first a Catholic Priest, and then a teacher in Ireland. Just as we were about to leave, our English neighbors arrived so we enjoyed some more time swapping stories about life in general and traveling in Europe. It was a late (for us), but enjoyable evening.

The port in Orio across from our new campground.

November 7, 2023 Roses SP

We were up bright and early as we had a 9:30 appointment at the repair place. It was an easy drive and we arrived to find a real polyglot operation. Initially they greeted us in French based on our plates, when I asked for English the person immediately switched to flawless English. She then got on the radio to have the technician come to the office and spoke what I thought was German to him, but I thought I had misheard and it was probably Catalan, later I learned it was German. The tech and I went out to the car to look at the problem and he was speaking in French until I asked for English, and he said oh good and also switched to flawless English. After a few minutes discussion in English Ton said to me in Thai that she thought he was German based on his accent. It turns out she has a good ear as he was indeed a German who had settled in the area. All of this talk of languages is because the repair itself was quick and easy and took all of 10 minutes. We now have a new latch and light for the refrigerator that seem to be working, as well as an admonishment to put less stuff on the refrigerator door shelves.

The welcome sign to Roses.

On the way to the repair shop, we saw a grocery store advertising the cheapest fuel we have seen in about 3 years. So we stopped and filled François up and probably saved about €20 over what our average fill has been lately. The gas station was attached to a large supermarket, so Ton ran in there for a few minutes while I was filling François. Well a few minutes turned into 45 minutes as we had discovered the largest Catalan owned grocery chain, and it was full of cool and cheap Catalan and Spanish food.

Downtown Roses on our way to lunch.

Ton had spotted a seafood restaurant yesterday that she wanted to try if it was open. Yesterday it was closed, but we hoped that was because it was Monday. Unlike the restaurants that are closed for the season, this one still had tables outside, and the inside tables were set with plates so we were optimistic. She even knew what she was going to order. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open. So we tried a Moroccan restaurant just up the street. We enjoyed the food, and the tea, so while disappointed that we didn’t get the seafood we wanted we still had a nice meal.

The Roses Express, using a Case or John Deere tractor for the engine.

Every town in Europe now seems to have a little train that you can take to see the sites. We have taken a couple of them over the years. The one in Roses was exceptional as the “Engine” was a big Case or John Deere tractor instead of a little modified truck like most. We had stopped and looked at it yesterday, but there was no one there. Today when we walked by there was someone manning the booth. We were intrigued so we signed up for the one hour Cap De Creus tour.

The harbor in Roses with the Cap de Creus in the background.

The tour was mostly thru narrow streets full of vacation homes, and once again I was impressed as the driver navigated this farm tractor pulling two trailers down streets I would have cringed to take François down. The tour was narrated in French, German, and English, but not Spanish or Catalan. When we signed up for the tour they asked where we were from, so I suspect there were no Spanish on the ride today.

Looking back towards Roses from the Cap de Course.

We climbed up quite a hill, and then dropped back down towards a less built up area which was part of a Spanish national park. For a short part of the trip we were on dirt roads, which is why they are using the tractor to pull the “train”.

Looking inland from the Cap.

On the tour they mentioned that the full time population of Roses is 20,000, but that during the peak of the summer when all of the hotels and vacation homes are full an additional 120,000 people are in the town! We both agreed that we were glad we were here when the population was closer to 20,000.

A loan sailboat anchored off of the promenade. All but one of the hotels in the background are closed for the season.

Tomorrow we are heading north as we only have 6 days until our flight home. We are planning to cover about 300 kilometers a day, which should put us into Amsterdam with a couple of days to spare. So today was our last day of traveling without a plan, unfortunately.

Beach soccer with the Cap in the background.

November 6, 2023 Roses SP

As much as we liked Perpignan we had to leave today as the campground we were staying at is closing for the season. We looked at our options and everywhere North and East of us had rain. I pointed out to Ton that we were only about 30 minutes from the Spanish border. One of our favorite memories in Spain was a meal we had in Roses, so that’s how we ended up here in the town aire. I told Ton that we should leave early as the recent reviews kept referring to it being sold out. We arrived about 9:30 in the morning after a quick drive down the freeway and claimed a good spot. I went to get rid of some trash around 5pm and they had just sold the 70th and last spot for the night to a RV from Iceland.

This Gnome thing is in front of a now defunct amusement park called WOK and Park next to where we are staying. It looks like it could be a good setting for a horror movie.

Our memory of Roses was of a very lively resort town where we had our first and most memorable Spanish meal about 6 years ago. It was a three course meal with both an aperitif and a glass of wine for €13. We were hoping we would recognize the restaurant and see if we could replicate the meal.

The not very bustling seaside resort of Roses.

This time instead of a bustling seaside resort with lots of shops and restaurants, we found a bit of a ghost town. Out of season 90% of the hotels and restaurants shut down. We had the beautiful seaside promenade to ourselves most of the way. We found our favorite restaurant but unfortunately it was also closed for the season.

Ton likes the way they trim the trees in France and Spain.

But we did find a restaurant where we could get a three course meal for €17, but this time the wine was extra. But, the meal was wonderful, and Ton was thrilled with her first course which was a giant plate of mussels, and her second course which was a very meaty fish called a monk fish. So Roses continues to meet our expectations for good meals.

Still a beautiful place if a little cold and blustery.

We are going to spend another night here in Roses as we have to get a little problem fixed on François before beginning our trek north. A part of the latch on the door to our refrigerator has cracked. The door closes fine, but the door ajar alarm keeps going off because some circuit is not being closed. It is quite annoying to be woken up every few minutes by an alarm, sometimes it goes off continuously and sometimes it will be quiet for a few hours and then suddenly go off for no apparent reason. So tomorrow we are off to try to get it fixed.

June 8, 2022 Urragne FR

There comes a point in every trip that marks the beginning of the end, and that is the day where the first priority in deciding where to go is moving us closer to the airport. That day was today for this trip. Todays destination was based on getting us about 300km’s closer to Paris, and hopefully finding somewhere interesting.

We are located close to Biarritz which is a famous seaside resort in southern France. We are only about 20km’s north of San Sebastian in Spain which is one of our favorite cities. We decided to check on the French side of the Basque country to see how France influenced Pinxtos which is one of our favorite foods.

The campground here had the most elaborate water play area we have ever seen. I expect you would need a platoon of lawyers to write the required waivers before you could use it in the US.

The only problem was Spain had spoiled us with perfect weather for so long that we didn’t check the weather forecast and about 100 km’s before we arrived it started raining heavily and didn’t let up. So our investigation of the influence of French cooking on Basque cuisine will have to wait.

May 16, 2022 Portonovo SP

While we were sleeping a pretty good storm rolled in. We had planned to go to Vigo but neither of us were terribly excited about it so the weather gave us an excuse to just lie in for the day.

This was as close as Ton got to the beach before the blowing sand drove her back to the road.

About noon the rain finally let up, but the wind was still blowing hard, we decided to head down to the beach. When we got there sand was blowing so hard that Ton decided we had better find somewhere else to walk so we headed into town. Things here seem to be very summer oriented. There are multiple hotels facing the ocean most of which looked like they were closed up. The ones that were open looked very quiet. I can imagine during the summer when all of the hotels are full, and all of the second homes are occupied that it would be teaming with people, but right now it is very quiet.

It was a rough day on the bay, it was hard to hold the phone still because of the wind.

Ton was cold so she headed right back to François, I extended the walk and found a really nice headland with a view of several off shore islands that are part of a Spanish National Park. I tried my hand at a couple of pictures but they are not up to Tons standards.

May 15, 2022 Portonovo SP

Sometimes its a small world. Today we parked early in a nice motorhome aire near Portonovo because the weather is atrocious out. What we thought was a passing thunderstorm last night was actually a front moving thru so it rained most of the night and into the day. We made an effort to visit a town on the coast but as soon as we got about 400 yards from François the skies opened up. We were just far enough away to get a good soaking.

Our original plan was to look for a winery to visit, but the weather canceled that plan. This vineyard was across the street from the campground.

At that point we decided we would hunker down for the day and get some laundry done. As we were setting up François Ton noticed another Asian lady in a RV across from us. Just as we finished the laundry we bumped into her on the road and exchanged smiles, then she gave Ton a Sawadee Kha. So in a tiny campground in a pretty remote part of Spain two Thai married to foreigners crossed paths.

We spent the rest of the evening chatting about our travels. Meow and Gerd live near Dortmund Germany. Ton enjoyed an evening speaking Thai, and we stayed up much too late. Part of the fun of traveling are the interesting people you come across. Ton was truly amazed to find another Thai and for one night there were more Thai in the campground than any nationality except the Spanish.

May 14, 2022 Pontevedra SP

We made a short move south to a somewhat undiscovered medieval town called Pontevedra. With an early start we arrived about 10 am to an already full RV parking area so we guess it is not that undiscovered. We pulled into the last available spot and I was really proud of myself for getting here early.

The medieval bridge is still in use today as a pedestrian bridge and is surprisingly wide for its age.

After we finished our coffee we headed out to take a look at the old medieval town and the market. Unlike the market in Santiago yesterday the market here was really bustling when we popped in. It is primarily a seafood market and there were all kinds of interesting and very fresh fish, crabs, and shrimp on display. Ton regretted we did not have a good way to prepare fish in François so we moved on to the old town.

Part of the market in Pontevedra most of the stalls are owned by women.

As we were leaving the market a bunch of people emerged from a building with a bass band. Leading the band was a young couple who danced along to the music. We guess it is a local wedding tradition.

This young couple was leading the band down the street as part of a wedding tradition we think.

It was about 11:30 and we were surprised how quiet the streets were. At one point we came across a small tour group of Americans who were also surprised that the streets were so quiet but appreciated it after the hustle and bustle of the other stops on their trip. The guide said that they are happy to have tourists but do not want to be overrun with tourists like other towns. As the day wore on we were surprised that the most common language after Galician and Spanish we heard was American accented English. So at least the Americans are discovering Pontevedra.

We have been seeing these crosses all across northern Spain. Eavesdropping on a tour today we learned they served to orient visitors to the town, Jesus always faced inland, Mary faced the ocean, and the other figures represented services in town and the rough direction they could be found.

Ton had picked out a bodega which in Spain is a wine bar for us to try some Gallician wines. We sampled a few and had a nice sausage plate to go along with the wine. We took a turn thru the town as the locals began to go about their weekend business. Like all Spanish towns Pontevedra is extremely pedestrian friendly. We are constantly impressed how easy it is to move around on foot in Spanish cities. It was pretty warm today and the wine and sausages starting kicking in so it was time for a siesta.

The coat of arms of the city in the ruins of a 14th century church in town.

Later in the day we joined the rest of town for the evening walk before heading back to François for dinner. We were surprised when a thunderstorm rolled in and doused us for about 25 minutes but it did cool things down.

We liked this chapel on one of the main squares. It is a way station on the Portuguese trail to Santiago. This group of bicyclists had stopped to get their trail passports stamped, according to the sign they are only 67 km’s from the end of the pilgrimage.

Asturias-Cantabria

We spent three days crossing the provinces of Asturias and Cantabria in Northern Spain. In Asturias we discovered another from of Cider that was different than the Norman and Breton ciders we had grown fond of in France. While the visits were short we enjoyed the two cities we stayed in.

May 9, 2022 Gijon SP

May 10, 2022 No Comments

We were really enjoying Santander and were somewhat reluctant to leave even though we need to get moving towards Galicia and Portugal, so we compromised

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Galicia

Galicia was on our trip itinerary for 2022. It is a region of Spain that is heavily influenced by Celtic culture, and like several other regions has its own language that is commonly used.

It is home to the third most holy city in the Catholic church, Santiago de Compostela. Santiago is a pilgrimage city and every year thousands of people complete walks thru the countryside to the city, there are pilgrimage trails thru out Spain and France that terminate at Santiago.

Outside of Santiago it is not high on the tourist trail for foreigners, so it feels a little more authentic. It is a mountainous region with the mountains often going right down to the Atlantic. We enjoyed our time in Galicia a great deal.

May 15, 2022 Portonovo SP

May 16, 2022 No Comments

Sometimes its a small world. Today we parked early in a nice motorhome aire near Portonovo because the weather is atrocious out. What we thought

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May 13, 2022 Santiago de Compostela SP

We decided that Santiago deserved another day of exploration. But it was going to be a leisurely exploration so we slept in, and had a nice breakfast before heading towards the town.

A nice stall in the market at Santiago.

We started the day by heading towards the market. Ton had read last night that Santiago was trying to match the Barcelona market. It is a nice market but it has a long way to go to catch Barcelona. We poked around for a while and Ton was thrilled to find a paprika we had bought on our last trip. She loves this paprika and had just run out before we came, so now she is restocked with Tres Hermanas paprika.

This is a Santiago Cake, it is a simple cake made from Almonds. Simple but quite good.

My goal today was a churro. The Churros in Spain are quite a bit different than the ones we have in the US that we imported from Mexico. They are fried bits of dough but without the cinnamon and sugar, what they come with is a thick cup of hot chocolate to dip them in. As I enjoyed my churro two American women came in, one asked for a coffee to go which was greeted with a no problem, the other asked for a red wine to go which confused the girl, but she finally said she could do it, but only in a plastic cup. Ton yelled over to the one lady did you really ask for wine to go, and she came over and said it can’t hurt to ask. We struck up a conversation while there coffee and wine to go was prepared and they are on a Carnival Cruise and were from Indiana. It was a short conversation but the one lady was a character, and we got a couple of tips about places to visit in Portugal.

A nice garden on a square near the cathedral.

We decided to head over to the cathedral for some more pictures as today is much nicer than yesterday. The town is full of school groups visiting the area of all ages from kindergarten to High School. On the way we passed a busker playing a traditional Galician bagpipe just as a group of about 20 kindergarten kids went by. The teacher stopped them and told them to dance to the tune, most of them did a variation of what I guess is a traditional local dance, but one little girl decided that did not suit her and broke into an enthusiastic twerk instead, much to her teachers chagrin. The busker loved it as nothing attracts a crowd like a bunch of cute kids and adds to the tip jar.

An interesting statue in the old town.

After getting more shots of the cathedral, and a quick turn thru the old town we headed back to François for an early dinner.

May 12, 2022 Santiago de Compostela SP

The highlight of any trip to Galicia is a visit to Santiago de Compostela. The cathedral in Santiago is the end of the pilgrimage for all of the hikers whose paths we have been crossing over the entire trip. It is the third most holy place in the Catholic church after Jerusalem and Rome. The minimum distance you have to walk to be considered a pilgrim is 100km’s, though many walk hundreds of miles, and a few thousands. There are pilgrim trails that originate all over Europe and end up at Santiago de Compostela.

One more picture of the Hercules Tower. I enjoyed my morning coffee looking at the light at the top, but forgot to get a picture.

Our night in A Coruña was quiet with the Atlantic Ocean acting as a very relaxing white noise machine in front of François. We woke up around sunrise to take a look outside and see how the ocean looked, but there was a marine layer in place so the views were not very photogenic so the photographer (Ton) went back to bed, and I went out to enjoy my morning coffee in front of a 2000 year old lighthouse that is still in use. I wonder what the Romans who initially built the lighthouse would think if they new it was still in use 2000 years later. I expect they would be astounded.

Since we were up and ready to go we decided to head over to Santiago early and hope the campground would let us in. After fighting our way thru A Couruña’s rush hour we finally got onto the Autopista for our short 70 km hop to Santiago. We arrived and got our spot early, which turned out to be a good thing as when we arrived back from the city later in the day the place was full and people were trying to stuff very large RV’s into very small spots. It was our evening entertainment.

Groups of pilgrims covering the last few hundred yards to the end of the pilgrimage at the Cathedral.

After a quick breakfast we made the 2km hike into the old town joining in with the pilgrims for the last bit of the walk. The old town is quite large and maintains its medieval feel, but with the addition of modern tourism. There are lots of small shops and restaurants lining the old streets that wind thru town. We wandered around without a plan for a while, before finally consulting the iPhone to guide us to the cathedral square.

Another group of pilgrims near the end of the trail.

Twice a day they close the cathedral to tourists so that a mass can be held for the hikers to celebrate completing their personal pilgrimage. While we were waiting Ton enjoyed wandering around shooting pictures, and I took a rest in the shade.

Bicyclists in the cathedral square, they have to cover 200 km’s to get credit as a pilgrim.

The cathedral is not as large as I expected considering its status in the Catholic church, but I kind of appreciated the relative intimacy. While smaller than a lot of cathedrals we have visited in Europe it is still quite ornate on the inside.

These angels with their gold clothes reminded me of similar figures you often see in Buddhist temples in Thailand.

We spent about an hour walking around looking at the cathedral. They had many side chapels that added a unique character to the cathedral and I think we spent more time in them than the main cathedral.

The scallop shell with a cross is a symbol of the pilgrimage, and you see a lot of the pilgrims with shells attached to their packs or walking sticks.

The Catholic church has learned from theme parks and museums so the exit from the cathedral is thru the attached gift shop. Ton decided that our tourist gifts should come from there as the proceeds help preserve the cathedral so we spent some time picking up a few gifts before heading out.

The entrance to the cathedral.

We decided that a lunch was in order and Ton wanted to try a local specialty which is pulpo (octopus). There were multiple restaurants to pick from so we spent about 30 minutes window shopping before settling on a place.

Grilled octopus which is a local specialty.

We have tried a few meals now in northern Spain and have found the food to lean towards hearty. Things are simply cooked with minimal spices and often both meats and seafood are grilled. Meals are served with heaping amounts of potatoes. It serves the purpose but we think other regions of Spain have more interesting food.

Razor clams grilled in olive oil, simple but delicious.

May 11, 2022 A Coruña SP

Today we reached our second target for this trip. When we were looking at options for this trip it turns out both of us had Galicia in mind, so today we jumped on the freeway and headed to one of the most famous places in Galicia.

The Tower of Hercules. The rectangular part of the tower is about 120 feet tall and is Roman. The smaller part on top is from the 1700’s.

The Tower of Hercules in A Coruña is the oldest Roman light house still in use today. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. The lighthouse was built around 100 AD, and has been in continuous use since. It is built on Cape Finisterre, which the Romans believed was the end of the world. Since it has been in continuous use for 2000 years it has gone thru multiple modernizations, but the core of the first 120 feet of the tower is the Roman construction. It got its name from the myth of Hercules who is said to have slain a giant named Geryon who was preying on the local people. Geryon’s head was buried at the site of the tower and Hercules told the people to build a town here and A Coruña was born.

A sculpture of Geryon, the giant killed by Hercules.

The grounds are nice around the lighthouse with some artwork, and lots of wildflowers. A Coruña itself is not particularly inspiring architecturally, and most of the buildings look like they are from the late 20th century. The main square looks like it is from the 1800’s.

The main square in A Coruña.
Part of the “road’ Greta Garmin decided to send us down today. We fit pretty easily.

We are parked in a parking lot tonight facing the ocean adjacent to the Tower of Hercules. Getting here was a bit of an adventure. The total trip was 278 km’s and the first 274 km’s were a breeze on a good Spanish freeway. The freeway ended near the city center and we were following Greta Garmins directions when I suddenly noticed all of the cars turned left. The lane we were in looked ok, but I suspected it might be a bus lane, but at that point we were committed so I continued on, she had us making a left in 150m’s (for an American think 150 yards). When we got to her left turn it was a pedestrian mall so we couldn’t go there! Luckily there was a roundabout just in front of us, and as we came to it I saw a sign saying buses only in 50m’s, so we went around the roundabout and doubled back to where all of the cars had turned left. As we approached the turn there were three cops near the intersection so I thought we might be in trouble, but they ignored us. Just as I was thinking everything was ok, Greta demanded a quick right turn. The road was narrow but one way, but I had a bad feeling. As soon as I looked at the map on Greta I knew the turn was a mistake as it was clear she had directed us into the medieval part of the city, where we had no business. Fortunately after ziging and zaging around and squeezing down one narrow ally we finally made it to the nice modern road we should have been on from the beginning and arrived at our parking place. Greta has been struggling the last couple of days, as the only way she would send us to the campground yesterday was the wrong way down a one way road. I’m going to have to keep an eye on her in the future.

Our free view for today from the front of François. Definitely worth the trouble.

May 10, 2022 Gijon SP

Yesterday was a day that we had low expectations for and it turned out to be a great day. The walk to the market was strenuous but the return was fun because of the moving sidewalk. The drive over to Gijon was quick and easy. The campground lunch was cheap and we learned about another kind of cider, and it ended with us meeting a great couple that we spent several hours talking about travel and life in general. Because we had so much fun we decided to extend here another day.

The view going up to the cidery was beautiful, though I didn’t get to enjoy it much as the road was a bit narrow and the drop offs caused a few gasps from Ton.

The plan was to visit a local cidery that had good reviews to learn more about cider and have a lunch. It didn’t open until noon so we planned to sleep in. Yesterday afternoon there were a couple of pieces of construction equipment on site in the afternoon and it was a little noisy. Today about 9 am an entire road construction crew showed up to begin resurfacing the roads. On top of that they were doing a lot of maintenance on the shrubbery around the pitches so our quiet morning was interrupted by the sounds of heavy equipment, and power tools around us.

We headed over to the cidery a little early to get away from the bustle of the campground. It was a nice drive up into the mountains, though the last couple of km’s were on pretty steep roads. The place occupies multiple buildings in a small village. We wandered around for a while until we found the restaurant. We asked the first person we saw if they were serving lunch, she said yes and pointed us into the dining room. When we entered, there were a couple of waiters scurrying around, but when we asked about lunch we were told no. So we were a little confused, so we moved on. Ton said that there was supposed to be a store on site so we went off looking for it, and eventually found it. In the store we found a helpful person who told us that the tour we were hoping to see was only done on the weekend this time of year, and that the restaurant should be open. We bought a couple of bottles of cider from her, and then debated whether to go back up to the restaurant or give up for the day.

A sample of the sausage aisle in Al Campo.

We decided that we would use today to go shopping instead. We found a giant Al Campo supermarket where we killed about an hour shopping around, before heading back to the campground/construction site. We were both famished having had a very light breakfast expecting a huge Spanish lunch, so Ton whipped up a wonderful early supper and we settled in for the day.

No one does ham like the Spanish.

Yesterday far exceeded our expectations, and today missed our expectations. I guess that is life on the road.

May 9, 2022 Gijon SP

We were really enjoying Santander and were somewhat reluctant to leave even though we need to get moving towards Galicia and Portugal, so we compromised by deciding to go to the market here, and doing our driving in the afternoon.

Our destination for the morning the market in downtown Santander. We didn’t realize it involved a 4oo foot climb and then descent to get here.

They have one of the old markets here in town that includes fresh fruit, meat, and fish stalls. Ton really loves these markets, so we decided to head there for the morning. Ton always asks how far things are away when we are walking, and Google maps told me it was 1.8 kilometers which is not too bad.

What Google maps didn’t show was it was 1 km straight up a steep hill, and .8 km down the same steep hill. It was a pretty invigorating way to start the day, but we eventually made it there.

A meat stall, you can tell this is Spain by all of the hams hanging. The Spanish love their ham.

A lot of these old cast iron marketplaces have been turned into major tourist attractions, with more tourists than locals looking at the wares for sale. But the one in Santander is not on the tourist itinerary. I would guess we were the only non-locals in the place. It is a little worn down, but we did enjoy browsing around looking at the different cuts of meat, and interesting vegetables.

Cheese selection, luckily for us you can tell the type of cheese by the animal on the label.

On the way down the hill I had noticed on one road they had embedded escalators in the sidewalk to move you up the hill, so on the return trip to François we rode most of the way up the hill on an out door escalator. Ton thought this was brilliant.

Thanks to the city government of Santander for the moving sidewalk on our return trip uphill.

Our destination today was based on traveling a good distance, and we selected a campground based on convenient access to the freeway. Greta struggled to find the entrance to the campground, but after some circling and a short dash down a narrow ally we arrived, just in time for a late Spanish lunch.

Todays 3 course lunch set us back €10 each. Again when asked what we wanted to drink with it we asked for red wine expecting a glass, and again today we received a bottle. So for €20 for the two of us we received a 3 course meal consisting of a seafood soup, or a ham salad as the starters. Calamari or a pork cutlet for the main course, and cheesecake or ice cream for desert, plus a bottle of water, a bottle of wine, and a coffee. I’m not sure where you could get a deal like that at home.

The starters for our €10 lunch.

This is cider country also, and while we were eating we noticed everyone else had cider with their meal. In Asturia you pour the cider by holding the bottle at arms length from the glass as you pour it. We were guessing it was to aerate the cider, but it just might be a cool thing to do.

A couple of local ciders.

Ton found a cidery near the campground we can visit, so we decided to spend another day in the area to check iy out. In the evening we went down to the bar at the campground where I tried pouring the cider at arms length, most of it made the glass.

As we were walking back to François for the night we ran into an Irish couple we had exchanged Holas and then Hellos with earlier. They waved us over for a chat, and the next thing we new it was 11pm, and we had made new friends while solving many of the worlds problems.

May 8, 2022 Santander SP

We enjoyed our break in Orio but it was time to move on. After a couple of days of debate we decided to head to Santander as it looked interesting to both of us. The drive was uneventful, though the Autoway thru the mountains was very impressive with several long tunnels thru mountains.

Ton loved the colors in this little lagoon.

Our parking app warned us that the very well located aire here fills up early, and they were right. When we arrived there were only 2 spots available out of 24. After a quick break to finish our coffee we headed into town.

A statue to Neptuno Nino (baby Neptune) off the beach in Santander.

In a country of great beach side promenades, we think Santanders might be the best we have seen. The area behind the beach that is usually filled with hotels and expensive condos is a park here. So not only do you have the view of the beach but you have trees and various art projects on the shore side of the promenade. Combined with glorious weather this was one of the best walks we have taken.

One of the 4 beaches we strolled along today.

At the end of the beach on a bluff overlooking the harbor is an old royal palace with its grounds intact. We climbed to the top to take in a super view of the coast with cliffs down to the sea, and long beaches in between the cliffs. Ton mentioned that this place does not seem to get the international visitors that the Mediterranean beaches get and she can’t figure out why, though I suspect it has something to do with the weather.

More days like this and all of the foreigners will show up in this part of Spain too.

Having put in a good walk we decided we would treat ourselves to our first big meal of the trip, and settled on a 3 course set piece lunch. At first we were dealing in Spanish, and when he asked us what we wanted I answered in Spanish that I wanted a beer and Ton wanted a red wine. The waiter came back with a small beer for me, but a full bottle of wine for Ton! He must of knew it was mothers day in the US. Later in the meal Ton saw a cask on the wall and asked me what I thought it was and I told her it looked like vermouth. The manager/owner saw our interest and confirmed it was vermouth and asked if she wanted one. Ton laughed and pointed at her wine bottle, so he decided to pour her a sample which was half a wine glass. When all was said and done we had a three course meal, a beer, a vermouth, and a bottle of wine for €40, which was the advertised price, so all of the alcohol was included for no extra charge. This is the Spain we remember and love.

The old Royal Palace overlooking Santander.

After lunch was done we weren’t up for much besides a rest, so we headed back to François for a well deserved siesta. While I was resting both of the boys called Ton to wish her a happy mothers day.

May 7, 2022 Orio SP

Today is going to be short and sweet. We decided to take advantage of the excellent facilities here at Orio Kanpina to take care of some chores. So today consisted of cleaning the inside of François, and wash our clothes.

Ton liked this Basque fellow in town.

The highlight of the day was a trip into town to pick up a light load of groceries. Otherwise we spent the remainder of the day lounging around watching the Spanish families enjoying their weekend, and watching movies on Netflix.

May 6, 2022 Orio SP

We picked Orio for our destination because we like the campground, but also because it is a convenient place to visit San Sebastian-Donostia. This is our second time here, last time San Sebastian was one of our surprises of Spain. Neither of us had really heard much about it, and we really enjoyed it. It was our first exposure to the Basque Pinxtos, which are small bite sized sandwiches which we really enjoyed. Ton remembers the Pinxtos in San Sebastian as the best she had in Spain. Ton often says that the real test of a place is if the second visit is as good as the memories of the first. We were going to test that today.

The harbor at San Sebastian-Donostia.

The weather was much better than forecast so that was a good first step in the test. The stroll down to the waterfront was pleasant, and the beach was pretty, though less crowded than last time because it is about 15 degrees cooler. To make up for the lack of crowds there was some cool beach art in the sand. Our primary target for the day was the old town and Pinxtos. We spent about an hour exploring the old town looking for the perfect Pinxto spot. The old town here has a very nice character and is a great place to stroll and people watch. We enjoyed ourselves, and both of us noticed that for the first time since we left Paris, we heard other Americans as we walked down the street.

We really liked strolling around the streets of the old town searching for the perfect Pinxtos bar.

The place we settled on for Pinxtos did not disappoint. The big change from last time is that they no longer put the Pinxtos right on the bar and you go along and pick what you want self-service. Now they are under plexiglass, and someone has to pick them for you. We assume this is because of covid.

The entrance to our Pinxtos bar, it was as delicious as we remembered.

The bottom line on San Sebastian, is that it passed the second visit test. We were not as aggressive in our plans as the first trip when we explored both sides of the river, and climbed the hill above town to the fort. But, we enjoyed strolling through downtown and the old town, and the Pinxtos were still delicious.

The church in the old town of San Sebastian. Ton took the street photo above with the Cathedral in the background from the steps of this church.

Mission accomplished we headed back to the campground. What a difference a day makes. When we left the campground it was mostly empty. Today is Friday and when we got back from our trip to San Sebastian the place was rapidly filling with Spanish families. By the end of the evening the place was nearly full. There is a live band playing on the beach, the population has gone from mostly seniors, to young families with kids, and all of the grills at the campground are going full tilt at 9pm.

Cool street art in Orio, the scales of the fish are Sardine cans, and the gold heads and tails of the fish are from the tops of the sardine cans.

We are enjoying it, so we are planning to spend another day to enjoy the weekend scene.

May 5, 2022, Orio SP

In honor of Cinco de Mayo we decided to move to a Spanish speaking country. The next stop on our plan is Galicia in Northern Spain. Last night we had a debate as to whether to get on the road and jump down to Spain where rain is forecast for the next couple of days, or stay in the Bourdeaux region in France where the weather is supposed to be perfect. After a lot of debate Spain won.

François departing Chateau Marquis de Vauban.

The drive today was about 330km’s that was uneventful. It took a little longer than planned because we ran into a full on urban traffic jam getting around Bourdeaux. It took roughly an hour to cover about 18km’s (12 miles). After getting out of Bourdeaux our route followed the A63 which is like an interstate, but with tolls. The key is that it is only tolled in some areas. So Greta would jump on the A63 when it was free and then have us use local roads that ran parallel when it was tolled. By doing that it saved us €27 in tolls over about 200km’s. Just as I congratulated her for doing a good job, she suddenly decided to route us right thru the heart of Bayonne and Biarritz where we slowed down to a crawl. When I chastised her for her bad judgement, she retorted that if I wasn’t such a cheap skate and willing to pay a toll we would be tooling down the A63 at 95kph instead of crawling thru Biarritz at 15kph.

A nice side road in France on our trip to Spain today.

We arrived in Orio Spain about 3pm. We are in a campground that we had fond memories from our first trip to Spain. It is a small town with a nice beach and a relatively modern city center. The old town is quite small and completely dominated by modern buildings and infrastructure all around it. Despite that we enjoy the vibe of the place.

One of our favorite things about Spain is the sense of family and community you see when everyone comes out in the evening for a stroll and conversation.

This is Basque country thru and thru. There are virtually no Spanish signs in town. The conversations are again almost exclusively in Basque, even amongst the children and walking around town we heard as much English as Spanish being spoken. Basque is a tongue twister of a language and Ton and I had fun trying to pronounce the names on the signs.

Ton said the laundry on the balconies reminded her of Hong Kong. The sign is for a fruit stand.

Catalonia

This section covers Barcelona and the area around it.  Once again another city we really enjoyed, it seems to be a pattern for us in Spain.