Leaving Benavente to the north coast

So - last nights meal we waited whilst drinking some very nice wine, there are obviously no tourists here, or, that even venture here.  The very helpful barmaid who spoke no English at all served us well, but in the evening in the restaurant there was no menu ! We are used to that kind of situation so had what was on offer, there were only two choices, paella or pork, and as we had filled up on a few tapas decided on the pork, which was very nice with salad and chips that were very crisp.  The bed in the room wasn't terribly comfortable and no air conditioning but in the morning it was quite crisp and clear with a temperature of only 15 deg.  So, blade on to the coast found us going through the asturias mountains, very spectacular, like Scotland, and as cold.  Temperature went down to 12 deg and we had to put the heating on !  The roads as usual have hardly any traffic (apart from the underground motorways in Madrid). So it's very pleasant to drive.  Looking at the map towards Gigon and turning the heating off as it was now 23 deg we decided to come to a place called Ribadesella for two nights in a self catering apartment for 65 euros a night - we only have 2 nights left and as we drove so long yesterday need some time off.  Santander is 100 km away so can be reached in an hour on Monday, the roads are so quick here and nothing like the UK.  These apartments are very nice and spacious, I'd recommend them for a few day's stay at least.  The are called Las Vegas apts.  There is a river than runs out towards the fishing port and there is a big fish market here and some fishing boats to look at.  They mainly use trammel nets for fishing but there are some stern trawlers. There are lots of cafes and restaurants in the old town and there is a museum and cave with stalactites situated over the river which the proprietor told me about in great detail in Spanish I had a job to keep up with his speed of lingo.  we may go and look at the cave or museum tomorrow.  also the advantage of staying here is that Sunday is a dead day if you are trying to look or book a hotel so just as well we are here.   It's a lovely atmosphere again with no one that speaks English, the proprietor helped us park Bill's car as it was very tight.  Parking is as usual a nightmare but we found somewhere close for a change.

Bill's in siesta mode again snoring as its now 6pm local time an hour ahead of us and again we probably won't eat until 9 or 10 pm tonight.  Still at least we don't have to get up tomorrow for anything or anyone.

Great place, would come back here.  More later ....