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 ...