General Alava Vitoria-Gasteiz

... when we grow up, we want to be like that...!!) (ha, only kidding..)

Signing off for now, thank you for all of you who have taken the time to read our blog,,, hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed reflecting and writing it.

Ciao for now.. Til Bali.......

Annabelle & Lym

... our first surfing destination to dip a toe or two into a deserted Atlantic which Lym thoroughly enjoyed, however which led Annabelle to looking like an extra from a B-grade vampire movie; this following her surfboard and her face becoming rather intimate. Enough for one day, onward to our campsite at historic Santillana del Mar.

... to the Guggenhiem and took some photos, but left the visit for tomorrow.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Today was a full day. Did the Guggenhiem, went up the "Funicular" up the moutain, found a nice “asador” (grilling) restaurant, took a nap and made it out for pinchos (not to be confused with “pinches”). Pinchos is the Basque version of tapas. Stopped at 5 places and had ...

Bilbao, the capital of Viscaya in the county, with the nice weather and climate that is milder than in most other parts of the peninsula, rarely falling below freezing in winter or rising above 35 degree C in summer.

One of the best features of this place is the collection of Museums that exhibit the artifacts that well ...

... more time on the beach, and while I did drive through/by San Sebastian, my end goal was to find a hotel in the more mountainous areas to the south of the coast where I would spend a night or two.

After waving a quick “hello/goodbye” to San Sebastian, I continued west along the coast (with the windows rolled down in my compact rental car) to see what some of the other small coastal villages of Northern Spain had to offer. Glimpses of small beaches, large beaches ...

... the tube to head to camping Soplena. After the blow out in Ibiza we thought we'd keep it cheap and camp. The plan was to spend a few days here, then head to San Sebastien and then into France.

Camping Sopelana - DONT STAY HERE! Although the beach it is is AMAZING and beautiful, the campsite here is not. It's dirty, dirty, dirty and really ...

... DIY swimming pools by digging into the wet sand and letting water seep through. You could feel the salty moisture in the sea breeze. So nice. Could do with fewer topless girls and really hairy men though :-). I have learnt that picking a good cafe, and pay repeated visits as much as possible, is a great way to make the cities I am visiting feel like adopted home. In San Sebastian it is the cafe ...

... long, yes Lionel..all night long. Unfortunately for this pilgrim, bedtime came early at 10 pm...but that didn´t stop me from rockin´...in my bed all night- the albergue was next to the plaza where the parties were held. Even with earplugs, I did not get a wink of sleep.

... main beach and bay area, and analysed the youth culture and heavily ´surf´ oriented vibe of the younger cats around these parts. Saw a number of youngsters tucking quite candidly into the local contraband, and pondered what Spain´s stance was regarding illicit drug use. Apparently the Madrid government actually has little problem with the consumption of Marijuana, and in some cases supports it - anything to quell and calm down the fervent ´Basque´ socialism and desire for ...

... so fun!!!) When we eventually headed back to camp on the buses I was pretty much purple... so much for new clean clothes!!! 7 July 2006 - Thursday Next morning was an early shift through to Pamplona for the first running of the bulls. I was happily sitting on the bus waiting listening to our tour guide when a guy sitting on the other side of the bus started retching and vomiting into a bag... NOW... I canNOT, repeat NOT handle things like ...