Monday 10th September

The food on board the Pont Aven, of which we had to queue an hour to get a booking, wasn't terribly good on the way over and the breakfast buffet, the hot food was cold.  Coffee undrinkable.  Still, we made our way out of the terminal in Santander which has changed since the last time we were there, you now drive all along the docks to get out.  The  signposting although good for our destination of Bargos was ok for a short while, I had to look carefully at the map to navigate in the right direction for the N632 which is a non-motorway route.  The scenery of the mountains, greenery and wildlife were stunning, and I was lucky to see some Vultures high up in the mountains flying on the thermals.  It was around 29 degrees so had the air con on for a while.

We stopped in a small sleepy village en route, one of many, for a cold drink and some Serrano ham which was delicious.

On arriving in Bargos via a new road that wasn't on the sat nav we drove around to find out first hotel.  As we arrived in siesta time the traffic was thankfully quiet, so after about half an hour of driving around we decided to stay in this 4 star hotel, a chain called NU, Palacio de Merced which is next to a very old church.  On walking to find a gin and tonic we came across this beautiful cathedral not unlike the one in Barcelona.  A suitable watering hole was found nearby, whilst we sat in the sun the waitress delivered two large bowls  with thick stems full of ice and plenty of lemon, then proceeded to pour a very large gin, then poured the tonic in and had a handy spoon ready to mix it.    Sometimes you just can't replicate something like this in the UK.

The rough guide to Spain I'd bought with me is invaluable for information on local cuisine, history and of course the architecture.  We are going out tonight to an area where it's been recommended for tapas bars, and we have looked in on a breakfast place for tomorrow as we won't have breakfast in the hotel as it wasn't included in the 85 euros we paid for the room !!!

Not sure of our plans tomorrow, there is a lot to see here, but Almeria is a long way away and if we are to get to Portugal as well to meet all our friends we may change our plans.

Hopefully wherever we are tomorrow I will have the free wifi again for the update.


Free wifi in this hotel is brilliant but you only get a 24 hour password.