Place names getting a bit more tenuous now. Mundaka is a place of legendary quality surfing. The Picos Mountains are a ramblers wet dream. The complete lack of waves (0-1ft for the past week and a bit with no signs of anything more for another week or so) might have something to do with our venturing inland to catch some scenic drives and go for a stroll or two.
After leaving the rather splendid campsite at Mundaka we headed straight for Bilbao (spectacular drive from Mundaka to Bilbao by the way) with the intention of visiting the Guggenheim museum and exploring the old quarter. We'd planned to stay in Bilbao's Servicios del Autocaravanas (Aire) to find it wasn't open for the season yet and with lots of dubious reports of security for free-campers in and around Bilbao we decided to plough on to a campsite by Playa de Arenillas in Islares. So instead spent the rest of the day soaking up the sun on the beach.
From here we were then able to get a bus back into Bilbao for the day. Hadn't really appreciated how nice a place Bilbao is - I'd kind of assumed it would be a slightly dull port town everyone passes through en-route to their holiday destination. Turns out it's a really good place for a day out. We started at the Guggenheim which absorbed the morning and early afternoon. Just amazing.
We then wandered and found somewhere for a proper Spanish late and long (with much free wine) lunch in the old quarter. This pretty much finished us off so we grabbed the Metro to the bus station and back to the campsite.
We'd then intended to carry on but feeling a bit lazy after our grand day out in Bilbao we instead stayed an extra night in Islares and in the early afternoon got the bus to Castro Urdiales a bit further back along the coast. Only setting out to have a stroll, laze on the beach and grab a beer (in that order) we were wholeheartedly content and fulfilled with the experience.
After consulting the books we decided there wasn't really much worth doing between Islares and Santander. And we kind of skipped Santander only stopping to do a spot of shopping in a gigantic Centro Comercial. So our next stop was just outside Comillas, a few stops on west of Santander. We went via Santillana del Mar which is a pretty medieval village which has managed to keep its charm. The weird folly (El Capricho) created by Gaudi in Comillas (http://www.elcaprichodegaudi.com/comillas_en.php) was worth the trip and subsequent lunch.
As mentioned at the start we've now headed inland and are at a campsite in the Picos mountains. Today we spent walking along the Cares Gorge starting from Poncebus and heading south toward Cain for about 6km before doubling back. All the usual things come to mind: Breathtaking, awe-inspiring, mesmerizing, knackering, etc. Some pretty brave goats in these parts too.
Tomorrow we're making our way back to the Atlantic to Llanes to meet up with Lucy's folks. They've kindly booked a casa for a few nights. Excitingly it has a bath.
More photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/101454232293966616010/albums/5861909966239801281?authkey=CLm6lZ3W5K_S-wE
After leaving the rather splendid campsite at Mundaka we headed straight for Bilbao (spectacular drive from Mundaka to Bilbao by the way) with the intention of visiting the Guggenheim museum and exploring the old quarter. We'd planned to stay in Bilbao's Servicios del Autocaravanas (Aire) to find it wasn't open for the season yet and with lots of dubious reports of security for free-campers in and around Bilbao we decided to plough on to a campsite by Playa de Arenillas in Islares. So instead spent the rest of the day soaking up the sun on the beach.
From here we were then able to get a bus back into Bilbao for the day. Hadn't really appreciated how nice a place Bilbao is - I'd kind of assumed it would be a slightly dull port town everyone passes through en-route to their holiday destination. Turns out it's a really good place for a day out. We started at the Guggenheim which absorbed the morning and early afternoon. Just amazing.
We then wandered and found somewhere for a proper Spanish late and long (with much free wine) lunch in the old quarter. This pretty much finished us off so we grabbed the Metro to the bus station and back to the campsite.
We'd then intended to carry on but feeling a bit lazy after our grand day out in Bilbao we instead stayed an extra night in Islares and in the early afternoon got the bus to Castro Urdiales a bit further back along the coast. Only setting out to have a stroll, laze on the beach and grab a beer (in that order) we were wholeheartedly content and fulfilled with the experience.
After consulting the books we decided there wasn't really much worth doing between Islares and Santander. And we kind of skipped Santander only stopping to do a spot of shopping in a gigantic Centro Comercial. So our next stop was just outside Comillas, a few stops on west of Santander. We went via Santillana del Mar which is a pretty medieval village which has managed to keep its charm. The weird folly (El Capricho) created by Gaudi in Comillas (http://www.elcaprichodegaudi.com/comillas_en.php) was worth the trip and subsequent lunch.
As mentioned at the start we've now headed inland and are at a campsite in the Picos mountains. Today we spent walking along the Cares Gorge starting from Poncebus and heading south toward Cain for about 6km before doubling back. All the usual things come to mind: Breathtaking, awe-inspiring, mesmerizing, knackering, etc. Some pretty brave goats in these parts too.
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| (there's some odd statues in these parts) |
Tomorrow we're making our way back to the Atlantic to Llanes to meet up with Lucy's folks. They've kindly booked a casa for a few nights. Excitingly it has a bath.
More photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/101454232293966616010/albums/5861909966239801281?authkey=CLm6lZ3W5K_S-wE
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