The Journey Home

Day 42 Wednesday 7/6/17

Our arrival into Portsmouth around 9am

A dry and sunny day all across the UK as we headed homewards. Taking a leaf from Paul and Bev's book we decided to come off the motorway for lunch to a National Trust property. We went to Denham Massey, all of 15 minutes from the M6. It was really pleasant to have a nicely cooked lunch and a stroll around the beautiful gardens.  

 

We finally arrived home just before 8pm

 

Bilbao to Edinburgh 490 miles. Total distance 4405 miles

The Ferry

Day 41 Tuesday 6/6/17

 

An early start and a relavitely easy drive out of Bilbao to the Ferry port. Checked in, boarded and found our cabin for the next 24 hours or so.

Did I not mention ferry ports were always grey? Our last views of Spain

The day brightened....

..but it windy. Some people were suffering but we were ok

Ther was some simple entertainment laid on, on the boat. Bingo, a quiz etc, but also a really good talk from the ORCA charity, and a chance to view possible wild life from the deck. Sadly it was too rough for the dolphins to come in, so we saw nothing.

 

 It was a very lazy day on the boat. Reasonably enjoyable but I am not sure I am cruise potential. A nice, if expensive dinner in the restaurant, and a good sleep in our little cabin

 

Sunny San Sebastián and Bilbao

Day 40 Mon 5/6/17 It was still grey when we woke up, but there was a promise of sunshine later.  

Early morning view from our window

We took the small twisting road up to Monte Iguelda, which had an hotel and a theme park! The road had a peage costing EUR2.20 per person whether you walked or drove! However the views were worth it!

San Sebastián

     

The promise of sun from the west

At the top we walked around the strange little theme park and then went into the Mercure hotel for a coffee. The 4 star hotel had an interesting 60’s James Bond vibe, both with the background music and the fabulous location. We had a great corner seat with fantastic views over the coast and sea west of San Sebastián.

After coffee we walked out onto the terrace and found some fantastic views over the San Sebastián bay and La Concha beach. 

By this time the sun was coming out so we drove into town with the top down and parked near the station.

We walked through the new town, found some nice gardens...

...and over to the surfing beach on the other side of the river. Lots of surfers were out trying out their skills in the waves.

Bridge over the Rio Urumea

We then wandered into the Old Town square for some late lunch...

Katy picked up a few supplies for her journey and then we went to the station and waited with her until she could checkin for her 6 hour train journey back to Barcelona. The station is close to the river....

  Kay and I returned to the car and then took the Autovia for the hour long drive to Bilbao where we checked into the Ibis Centro. After sorting out luggage for the ferry tomorrow we headed into Bilbao centre. We first walked to the Guggenheim museum, viewing it first from across the river.....

It is an amazing building... We then walked back over the river on one of several pedestrian bridges....

...to the old town and looked at the main square but it was a fairly touristic place so we we into some of the side streets and had a drink and a salad in an average little restaurant. We walked back to the hotel a different route, through a more deprived area, one of the few we have encountered in Spain. San Sebastián to Bilbao 68 miles, total trip distance 3915 miles

San Sebastián

Day 39 Sun 4/6/17  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in our room and then walked down to the beach and along the San Sebastián promenade.

Unfortunately the forecast rain kicked in so we went to the Swing Café in the Hotel Londres for a coffee ( being in London seemed appropriate as a gesture after the atrocity last night ).

Then on to the Old Town for a special tortilla at Bar Nestor, as recommended by Claire. The best we have ever tasted! 

The ambience and food were so good that we stayed for a variety of tapas and a few drinks including a humongous gin and tonic that I ordered after watch the barman prepare one with loving care for the customer next to me.

We then hit another couple of tapas bars, visited the cathedral and walked up Mount Urquell to the old fort overlooking the city with fantastic views.

We walked back to the new town looking for a café but failed to find a decent one so headed back to the old town for further tapas and drinks. A taxi home and chill in the room playing some games 

The Road to Bilbao

Day 38 Sat 3/6/17  Our host cooked a nice breakfast of omelette, toast and homemade preserves, freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee/tea at 9AM and then we set off for Bilbao. It was only 13.5C and grey weather so we had the top up and Kay wore jeans for the first time in a while. We settled in a back roads route and stumbled across a virtually abandoned village perched under a rock face, the village was called Cellorigo and the roads to it were circuitous and narrow.

11 people live there officially

Further along the road we drove into Miranda del Ebro and were fascinated by an old bridge ( which turned out to be another Carlos III creation ) so found a parking space and went out to explore.

Carlos III Bridge

We saw a couple of people wearing fairly extravagant garb and as we walked into town found many more of all colours. We had stumbled upon the town celebration of San Juan del Monte fiesta. The public holiday is on Monday but clearly the celebrations start on Saturday. It looked as though the whole town was involved, young and old, either dressed in “team” colours ( of which there were many ) or playing in one of the many Xarangas or Fanfares which played as they marched through the main streets with the teams.

 

We followed them over the Carlos III bridge, which was now closed to traffic and saw them all converge on a square in the far side of the river. Back in the bridge we saw a slightly bizarre happening where two people from the fore rescued service were in the river freeing wires and pulleys of weed before a group of people in an upstairs window pulled one of two drums from under the water to the window.  Back in the car and a stop in LeClerc for supplies during which time the heavens opened and a thunder storm developed. We felt so sorry for the fiesta celebrants in the centre of town.  As we drove away from Miranda we left the rain behind and soon had the top down. We stopped beside a river in Espejo for lunch and realised that we had strayed into Basque Country when we found that we couldn't read the signs.

Back on the road it wasn’t long before we had to put the top up as rain set in. We drove to Bilbao and arrived about a couple of hours before Katy was due to land so went to the beach. By this stage it was raining heavily and we managed to get fairly wet whilst buying a parking ticket from the machine and then going to a beach café for a coffee.

Picking up Katy from the airport was easy, the short term parking literally just across the road from Arrivals. We took the peage to San Sebastián because the weather had seriously broken down and the roads were seriously wet. We had an easy check in at the Hotel Avenida and quickly decided on a taxi to the old town because it was still raining heavily. Some great pinchos and taps in a few bars, some following advice from Claire following her trip here.

Spoots in a cream and almond sauce - fantastic! 

The best cheesecake in the world!!!!

The rain had stopped by the time we had finished, and Real Madrid had beaten Juventus in the Champions League final, so we started to walk home, but the 42 minutes walk seemed a bit daunting so got a taxi and zoomed home after a great evening.

Ciruena to San Sebastián 181 miles. Total trip 3847 miles

Rioja Alta Golf and Thunder

Day 37 Fri 2/6/17 Breakfast in the room with the blackout curtains closed to keep out the sun but the windows wide open to get a breeze, all due to the malfunctioning AC. After checking out we had a 27km drive to the golf course we were playing at today. On the way we drove through some of the White (opium) poppy fields that are grown in the region, for pharmaceuticals apparently.

  The Rioja Alta is a decent course, fairly hilly at the beginning and in good condition. Our tee time was 11:30 but we arrived early and teed off at 10:30 which was a good thing because we were called off due to lightening after 14 holes. The day had been hot and humid up until that point and we had wondered whether that was a precursor to a thunder storm. We took a shower and had a sandwich lunch at the club

and then headed off to Casa Victoria, our accommodation for the night.

This village, Ciruena, is on the Camino de Compestela a Santiago so we were staying with and eating with a group of pilgrims and walkers. Dinner was a fairly basic affair round a communal table. At our end of the table we had French, German and American fellow diners. One of the Frenchmen had walked from his home in central France to Santiago and was on his way home, 2200km in 78 days and he reckoned another month to get home, wow!!

After dinner we walked a little bit of the Camino and then dropped into the local bar for a beer and a Rioja, EUR3.30 for two drinks, an absolute bargain.

Then back to our quaint bedroom in the eaves of the house, lots of low beams to crack one’s head if one is not careful. Haro to Ciruena 15 miles. Total trip 3666 miles