Spain
We arrived in Spain at Santander by ferry from Portsmouth. To our surprise it was absolutely pouring with rain. We had packed raincoats but had hoped not to have to get them out.
We had already booked a campsite just West of Pamplona so we headed there but, just because I wanted to see the famous Gugenheim in Bilbao we stopped in that city for a walk. What had seemed to be torrential rain from the car proved to be even wetter so our walk around Bilbao was quite short but it was worth it to see the giant floral west highland terrier outside.
Our stay at Etxarri-Aranatz was for two nights which allowed us to look around the area. Because of the weather we didnt go to the coast as planned but headed for the ancient town of Olite
The following day we started our trip along the Pyrenees. The driving was hard work but the scenery was fantastic and we got to visit numerous small Spanish towns and villages. We stopped first at Linas de Broto just south of the French border and then in Andorra right in the centre of the capital Andorra La Vella. From there we drove to the coast where we camped near Palafrugell. Our stay had to be 3 nights as our car decided to start leaking fuel (tax free fuel from Andorra no less) This was not a problem as we stumbled across a lovely campsite just 200 paces from a beautiful cove, so we recouped from our drive with a day on the beach and a day trip on the train to Barcelona.
With the car fixed we set off north towards France a Langadoc where we had a plan to meet a friend for her 40th birthday.
Spain in Pictures
We were greeted in Spain by very wet weather indeed
From the car it looked horrendous
But the Gugenheim was magnificent even in the rain
And the giant floral westhighland terrier...was ...words cannot express!
Olite is an ancient Navarran city with a really great castle
The castle had this beautiful garden within its walls. It was once the Queens'
En route across the pyrenees we found some beautiful old towns with narrow streets and interesting carved symbols over doors.
Our first view of the snowy peaks
We had a great walk trying to reach the snow...with a few rest stops to look at the view
We saw lots of fabulous geology
And lots of evidence of renewable energy being captured
When we eventually got to the other side of Spain we were not disappointed
so we relaxed for a few days first by the sea
and then on a train trip to Barcelona
A lovely meal in Calella before heading onwards to France
