North of Spain

Arnuero

Pamplona

The Basques call Pamplona Iruña

Olite

Medieval town in Navarra.
We stayed in a posh Parador Nacional.

Santa Engracia

Mountain village in the Aragon Pyrenees
Our Posada was the house beside the church.

Mundaka

Fishing Village near Bilbao
The World Surfing Championships were cancelled.

Castelldefels

Els Nius. The house we lived in long ago

.

Bodega Termes. Where we bought our wine.

Barcelona

We stayed at a posh hotel, The Derby.
And went to a posh theatre, El Palau de la Musica.

Santillana del Mar

Medieval town in Cantabria.
It is known as the town of the three lies:
It's not holy, it's not flat and it isn't by the sea,

Villanueva de Colombres

Small village in Asturias.
The above is the view from our hotel window.

The Road to Lecina

Gorges, canyons and horrendous roads.

Vizcaya

Hermitage of St. John the Baptist

La Choca

Mountain Village in Huescan Pyrenees

Los Mallos

There are five hundred three meter wing-span Leonardos in Huesca, and we saw them all.

Alquezar

Mountain village of Moorish origins in the Huescan Pyrenees.

Donamaria

Countryside near our hotel in Navarra.

Bilbao

Jeff Koon's Puppy

The Guggenheim Museum

Deba

Near Deba, a fishing village in Vizcaya.

NORTH SPAIN - Sept 2006

This was a 'grand tour' by car of Northern Spain organised by Thomas, Birgitta, May and me. We revisted many old hunting grounds as we travelled through Catalunya, Zaragoza, Huesca, Navarra, Vizcaya, Cantabria and Asturias.

In Arnuero we came across a fabulous house which had been built too close to the shore. The place was condemned by the council and the owners lost millions.

The Parador of Olite was as we remembered it, the town a medieval treasure. Santa Engracia was odd to say the least: an Hotel in the middle of nowhere with a swimming pool and an honesty bar.

Mundaka would have been quite forgettable if it hadn't been for a rather nondescript restaurant that served us the best char grilled steak we have ever eaten. How do these Basques do it?

Castelldefels was pure nostalgia. May and I lived in Els Nius for 5 years. Over that time we must have bought quite a few litres of wine from Bodega Termes.

Barcelona was as exciting as ever, the Derby superb, the visit to the Palau a special treat. We met Ramon and Lola at Santillana and eat at the Parador. Later we met in Villanueva and watched Spain playing football on the TV.

The Hostal in Lecina was a peace itself. The owner told us that his brother had just gone to China to open a Spanish restaurant. Where, we asked. Oh, in some small village of about 8 million people, he said.

The vultures at Los Mallos were extraordinary as was the sheer Moorishness of Alquezar, built in the form of a crescent. Donamaria was as neat and as tidy as only Navarra can be. The Guggenheim was memorable and Deba invigorating. A great all round trip.