On board the Pont Aven in Santander

A short time on the road this morning brought us to Santander on a new route through the city as I believe they are building a new ferry terminal at the usual end.  The ferry is very busy, Alan and Sue are still queuing up whereas I'm in the bar sipping a glass of wine.  Alan Sue and Bill hit the brandies last night whilst I watched them all get a bit wobbly, funny how they have just text me that they are going for a snooze as soon as they are on board.  Bill is in the cabin doing exactly that.  Their loss as its another sunny if not windy day here, it's lovely and warm.

And at last I can relax - put the phrase book away and ask for ice rather than hielo and lemon rath than limon at G&T time !  Thing is they won't be anything like the Spanish ones.  I need to buy a long handled spoon with a small bowl on the end as I have learnt how to mix a G&T without actually mixing it around, as it takes the fizz out of the bubbles if you do.  A very exact science.

Llanes

So from Ribadasella to here in Llanes. Only some 20 miles towards Santander. The place is much bigger than we originally thought and for a Sunday in Spain is bustling with people and lots of shops and hotels open, and we are staying in La Sablon hotel and have a lovely room overlooking the beach for 50E.  Had a text from Alan and Sue who left Zamora this morning and whilst looking round the town after a spot of light lunch suddenly saw them in their car looking for a hotel they'd booked called Los Molinos which is the other side of the river.  This is a lovely port with lots of little boats and few fishing boats and, I was intrigued to see, the memory cubes that line the sea wall outside the harbour, they are rock armour that have been painted  by a famous artist of whom I can't remember - although I did put one picture on Facebook about an hour ago.

So we have arranged to meet up with them tonight for pre-dinner drinks and a meal, not sure where yet but there are lots of places to choose from.

A delightful place for our last port of call before joining the ferry tomorrow afternoon.

Some pictures :

 

The Memory Cubes.  They remember the sea crashing against themselves !  Still there though.

View is towards the north west.  Our hotel is next to the beach in the distance

 

This was a store for lifejackets and various sea going gear, in tune with the surroundings

 

The other side of the pier, looking south

 

Those all important trawlers

 

The view from our Hotel window

 

View looking south down the river

 

Looking south west towards our hotel

 

View looking directly north to the UK

 

The town was very pretty with lots of shops, bars and restaurants and these buildings

Saturday night

Wandering around the town again just for a couple of drinks put us into a lovely bar tapas with anchovies and peppers and Bill had chicken garlic all chopped up it was lovely and very inexpensive so anyone going to northern Spain you must come here its fantastic very friendly even with children (Tania note) !!!

So now back at the hotel after a lovely evening out with the locals here I do try and integrate, it pays to speak Spanish a bit.

Thinking of going east to San Vicente tomorrow so check in there on this blog.

Lazy day

Bill has either got gout or has something wrong with his right knee, he was in pain most of the night and didn't sleep well.  After going to the car for him this morning and getting some drugs we carry with us for the very same problem, his knee which was very inflamed is now a lot better but of course he can't walk very far.

So today has been a bit of a lazy day just wandering around again, I have done some shopping and the weather is another perfect sunny afternoon.  We had a spot of lunch at a favourite nearby cafe who turn out the best home made beef burgers  I've had in years apart from my own !

We are leaving early tomorrow heading for San Vicente, another fishing port on the north coast before our departure from Santander on Monday.

Ribadasella

It's so nice here we have decided to stay for Saturday night as well.  There are some lovely bars and cafes to suit us for the weekend so we may even stay for Sunday.

We went to the famous Caves today, Tito de Bastillo (google it) named after the mountaineer who discovered them back in 1968. 14,000 to 20,000 years old they found in '68 some old paintings of horses, bison, deers and sexual (they say) carvings and pictures.  It was originally a river and you can still here the old rivers in the background when entering the caves.  The river is called San Miguel !  Beer.... Anyway they are called after Tito cos he died weeks later after the discovery.  It was pretty damp and cold in there but the stalactites and stalacmites were absolutely amazing, I'd recommend anyone to go to this but go to the museum first to find out all the details, as the tour in the caves is in Spanish.  I understood some of it but the guide translated some of the facts for Bill.

So, a gin and tonic later we are contemplating our next restaurant for a meal tonight as the one last night although good was a bit expensive at 68 Euros.  There are many good ones here we just need to select something not on the sea front.

Did a lot of walking today on the west side of the river and saw some lovely architecture and tomorrow we a going to have a look at the small Oceanside beach not far away, but it could be a
bit of a climb.

 

This is a lovely hotel but at 140E a bit steep for us

 

This beach must be heaving in the summer.  There are alot of places closed, obviously holiday homes.

 

The Marina.  I heard recently that they don't allow visitors from abroad (not very friendly, which is something I am surprised about)

 

And again this lovely hotel

So anyway very happy to stay here again although the weather is supposed to deteriorate, but positive heads on.

From Zamora to Ribadasella on the coast

So having left Zamora under a cloak of Bill's hangover (and grumpy at that as well !!) we are now in Ribadasella on the north coast in a lovely hotel called La Marina.

 

This is the sea front promenade directly to the left of the hotel

  We stayed in this town last year at the  Las Vegas apartments just down the road but decided on this hotel as it was conveniently placed and parking was easy.  So went for a nice gin and tonic served in their usual goldfish bowls and then a long walk to the end of the promenade to look out to sea.  Glorious weather prevails which is a big plus, although my mother has just emailed and said the weather at home now is very good for time of year.  Not as warm as here though....

 

Continuing to walk down the promenade, the bay curves to the left where those entwined trees are

 

This was the view from our hotel window, with the promenade starting on the right

 

River entrance

 

There are 3 of these plaques, they tell the history of the harbour from the 17th Century to date

 

Well there had to be a picture of a trawler somewhere

 

Looking round the corner at the end of the prom

 

West of the river

 

View of the town from the entwined trees

We did call Brittany ferries to try and change our date of travel to come home sooner as we are only an hour or so away from Santander but all the ferries are fully booked even to Plymouth.  So we decided to stay here two nights, there are many very good restaurants here and the food is great.

Plan to go to the east of Santander for the last two nights before our trip back on the ferry on Monday, where we will meet Alan and Sue on their way back from Portugal in their car.

200+Kms north to Zamora

So having bought some Iberian meats before we left Placencia took the A66 north to Zamora where I remember a couple of years ago we tried to come here but got lost in the one way system trying to get to this very hotel we are in now.  Called the AC Marriott, very nice room in this 4 star hotel for 70E for the two of us including breakfast, but an extra 13E to park safely underneath the hotel.  After yesterday's experience of not knowing if we had to pay to park on the road, and that was if you could get a space, and being clamped if rules not adhered to, it came as a blessing to know the car is safe.

The drive here was easy with hardly any traffic on the roads as usual, we only had to make one stop for a coffee.

Zamora is a medium sized city smaller that Valladolid but with the usual castles, churches and monuments and although a 25 min walk to the Plaza Mayor from our hotel it was pleasantly warm and lunch consisted of my Fabada which was gorgeous and Bill had a piece of hake that was cooked to perfection.  We had a stroll along the River Douro which the mouth of the river is in Oporto in Portugal.  We are only 50km away from the country.  Unfortunately there is alot of graffiti in the city which spoils an otherwise lively place.

 

These trees are trained to grow into one another, it was quite fascinating to see.  In the next town we went to we saw them working on it.  They literally "stick" them together so they grow into one another.

Not sure if we will stay another night, depends on the outcome of tonight and whether we want to try other places on the second night.

We have been so lucky with the weather it's been hot again today but comfortable.

More later ...

Change of plan - now in Placencia

Our plan was to go north to Lisbon but at the last minute decided to go back into Spain, and we've done about 4.5 hours driving intending to go to Caceres but on finding the city as usual parking was a nightmare and the roads were terrible to find hotels.  So now we are in a town north of it called Placencia whcih was also a nightmare to park, but we managed to find somewhere eventually.  Trying to talk to the locals was intimidating as NOBODY speaks a word of English so I did my best, really only to find out that we had to park in another zone that we were in otherwise we may get clamped.  So I stuck myself in a space until Bill got the Lexus to me and stopped any spaniard trying to pinch it.  And hour of what to do about the car was a bit of stress seeing as we had been  on the road for a long time.

So here we are in this lovely hotel only 50E a night called Hotel Dora bit basic but adequate and clean.  Have discovered a lovely bar with food he called La Pitarra del Cordo where we had fabulous tapas and home brewed wine which Bill liked (not me, just the regular stuff) it was quite potent not unlike port.  Here is a picture of us in the bar :

 

 

Home made wine vats

 

 

Hams hanging from the ceiling

 

A rather dull Plaza Mayor but it did liven up later on

 

A cathedral in Plasencia

The town itself is a walled castle like and narrow streets and we have earmarked a shop where they sell Jamon Iberico as we want to take some home with us and this seems the best place to get it.

We are not sure about where we will go tomorrow, so watch this space !!

Sines

Not a holiday town by any stretch of the imagination, on entering you have a refinery like Fawley and a huge commercial port for tankers and fishing boats alike, but there is a fab beach (empty) and we found a couple of bars to have a glass of or two.  I don't think we would come back here but it was interesting to see what it was.  This hotel is amazing though and I'd definitely come back here and reecommend it for anyone coming here.  Our next destination tomorrow is Cascais which is on the coast west of Lisbon but then we will have to go inland Spain to make our way back to northern Spain - and we a meeting Alan and Sue maybe in Santander or definitely on the ferry as they are catching the same one as us back to England on 21st.

 

 

A lovely little bar that had a very welcome gin and tonic.  The drive was about 4.5 hours to get here from Alan's and although the weather is lovely there is nothing here.  Speed on tomorrow, I think.

From Tavira to Sines

Yesterday found us catching the train to Ayamonte with Alan and Sue, it's on the Spanish border and the tapas bars are very good.  We've been a few times before (on lasy years blog) so knew what to expect.  Ended up back in Tavira and getting a pizza on the way home.

After saying goodbye to Alan and Sue in Tavira we decided to stay in Portugal and drove north to Sines which is a big commercial port but has some history which we are going to find out a bit later.  The hotel we are staying in is beautiful with a pool and what looks like a very posh restaurant.  The journey was a bit bleak with nothg but olive trees or cork trees whe they strip the bark off and use it to make cork items (we think).  At least they speak English here, my Portuguese is not that good.

More later....

Party time !

Sue and Derry joined us yesterday with another friend also called Sue - so we had a party at home.  Pete and I went shopping for meats whilst Alan and Bill sourced some fish for the BBQ.  Lots of food and good company all round.  Discussed and agreed about Politicians trying to run the UK having never had a job or run a business, the usual rants.  Good thing we bought some wine in Bordeaux on the way down, fuelling the party.

Min

 

Sue & Sue

 

 

So Saturday now and Pete and Min left about an hour ago to go back to their apartment in Spain near Gibraltar and we will be leaving on Monday to gradually make our way back to Santander.  Planning on visiting a few places we've not been to but are recommended - Cacares for one.

So now going to Olhao for some lunch and a bit of shopping, more later.

From Zafra to Portugal - At Alan & Sue's in Morenos

At last we are here in Morenos with Alan and Sue, Pete and Min our friends have come up from their holiday in Estepona so it's a right Wheatsheaf get together.  Yesterday we went for a lovely lunch on the outskirts of Tavira at a place called Ciclista, where Alan ordered a huge bass to share with Min, Bill Pete and Sue had Sole and I had clams.  All washed down with plenty of local wine.

It took us 3.5 hours to get from Zafra to here but as the roads are so good we managed to cover another 300+ kilometers without any problems.  Here is the view from Alan's place :

 

Here's Pete reading a book

 

And here's Alan trying to be funny !  Quite clever really, no-one actally saw

him in the nude, but hey it's his pool and I know he never wears trunks. 

I just look the other way............

From Valladolid to Zafra - some 400+ Km

Having left Valladolid this morning after another nice breakfast in the hotel 4 hours later finally made it across the plain of Castella y Leon to Zafra, south of Merida and 150km north of Seville.

Have had problems with wifi so this is late.  Got here and had a much needed beer for him and a gin for me, then checked our bags into the pre booked hotel we went to last year, lucky to get in as there is a big festival celebrating the Saint San Miguel here that ends on 10th.  Lots of beer I would have though ! Have been in touch with Pete and Min in southern Spain and Alan in Portugal and it seems we will be with them tomorrow now in Tavira.  All good !

No pictures I'm afraid !

Valladolid - Monday 7th

Afteer a very comfortable night in the hotel and some fantastic tapas yesterday evening today brought us an overcast morning to a chilly 8 degrees.  After a full continental breakfast (for me, Bill wasn't that hungry and had a fight with a sticky croissant) we decided to go walkabout and do some window shopping.  I had to keep out of the shoe shops and a particular dress I liked was taken away from me....by hauling me away from the window......no really I don't need any more shoes do I ??  Drop dead gorgeous shoes leather so stylish about a quarter of the price you see in the UK and better quality at that.  I may slip out in a minute whilst he's having a siesta....

So by 1230 sitting in a cafe having a coffee there are no clouds in the sky and its a whopping 25 deg and full sunshine so the dress I put on is now without a fleece and its lovely and warm again.

So we ended up having some tapas for lunch in this lovely bar close to our hotel, the Imperial Hotel just off the Plaza Mayor.  The bar is called Zamora and has a restaurant attached to it but the tapas were just so good to look at and the taste is something neither of us have experienced before.  If you are travelling through Valladolid or staying here please go to to this bar it is just so good.

I have some very good photos of the food here but annoyingly cannot seem to post them at this time.

Valladolid - Sunday 6th October

Leaving Hendaye this morning to a bright morning with clouds over the Asturias mountains ahead, we made our way after a very nice French breakfast in the Hotel Bellvue towards the Spanish border and beyond.  Decided take our way towards Burgos, some 220km away but as the roads are so good we were there in just over 2 hours, much better one can cover ground so quickly as we did, so here we are in Valladolid, another 180km south west.  Not easy to find the old town if you have never been before and we had to backtrack some of the signs to the city centre (centro ciudad) to find the Plaza Mayor, the hotel I was interested in staying having read up on it earlier and where to park.  Eventually found the hotel, 4 star, I though with trepidation that it must be at least 100E a night as it looked posh but hey it was only 60E so immediately decided to stay 2 nights as there is so much to see of the old town and the history, and of course, as we have discovered just now, hundreds of very good tapas bars and restaurants.  Just walking into the Plaza Mayor had a very nice lunch of tapas with Serrano ham, egg and chips that are so tasty Bill ordered another portion.  And at LAST.  A decent measure of GIN with some tonic, those French haven't got a clue.  So after a couple of gins and some beers for Bill we are now resting after our 4 hour drive.

 

Bill walking in the Plaza Mayor

 

Municipal building

 

Lovely Rose Garden in the heart of the City

 

 

 

                                                 Lovely Spanish Statues and Architecture

We need to re-sort our bags as travelling to so many different places the boot gets out of hand and as we need so many things just for one night, pills, etc we need a couple of days to sort ourselves out.

So more later, we will probably just have more tapas later for dinner.  We did fill up as sometimes a lot of places close Sunday but certainly not the place we had lunch today, which means that all of the cafes will be open I would have thought in the plaza mayor.  Later...