Wednesday, 13 May, 2015:
DAY IX OF THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION
OF THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
Just outside of our Hotel Principe
de Asturias we found this treasure
Quaint but solid food
Pensive
The Michelin Man coming . . .
. . . and going
More touring of the ancestral homeland
Lush country
Lots of tunnels and bridges along
Spain's northern coastline
Los Picos de Europa
More of Los Picos de Europa
Instead we opted to stop here
Nice architecture . . .
. . . and a CASTLE TOWER too!
A required Sidreria,
not open
Noble buildings
An old church was found and explored
Common color in Asturias
I like the City Seal
We should be members given the
number of kilometers we are racking
up in Galicia and Asturias
We have to get to
Donostia/San Sebastian by 20:45
A required Sidreria,
OPEN!
Good locals atmosphere
complete with . . .
. . . vintage Llanes locals
Sidra bottles are always green and
without labels
Dessert anyone?
The Camino Northern Route
runs through Llanes
Laurie loves sycamore trees
Llanes' beach
Yep, we are falling in
love with Llanes
Inlet leading to the beach
we just saw
The inlet can be fiercely defended
from pirates if need be
Man made jetty
Popeye's boat
Wildflowers growing out of
the rocks surrounding the inlet
Wait, those jetty building
cement cubes look different
Thet're painted!
Laurie just had to check this out
Lots of color in Llanes
Of course Laurie liked the
one with the grapes
Sidra!
Wait, Mama Clemente opened up a
restaurant in Llanes without telling us?
Again, Laurie likes horses
Meanwhile, we pushed on to Bilbao
This town can scare you
and stop your hiccups
Wait, what does it say on the bottom
of that sign on the right?
Here we come
Overlooking the nicely rebuilt city
The old tree of the Basque government
Inside the current Basque Regional
Government House
The tree is everywhere
Nice chandelier in the main
meeting room
Outside the Museum of Peace
More Camino signs in Guernica
A belt in Republican flag colors
Workers UNITE!!!
Bombers in the sky
Preserved bombing rubble
Singed books
Devastating
Eerie bombers above a copy of
Picasso's Guernica
A mosaic copy of Picasso's Guernica
The bombing happened on a
Guernica square just like this one
On to Donostia/San Sebastian!
Our hotel in San Sebastian/Donostia
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
Donostia/ San Sebastian beach
A nice public garden
Lion love?
Did Miguel Indurain ride in this one?
Narrow Basque street
Strange new art on an
ancient church wall
St. Sebastian taking a few for the team
Three insane sauces for your Patatas:
Bravas, Diabolicas and Satanicas
The Casa Alcalde looked like a good spot
IT WAS!!!
LOTS of delicious pintxos
Yes, that IS a pigskin on the ceiling
WOW!!!
Poignant
In another bar having a post pintxos cafè
during the Real Madrid-Juventus game
He was hanging on every play,
obviously a Real Madrid fan
The just in from Donostia/San Sebastian
"Is it possible . . ."
Today's planned leg was simple and straightforward enough. No visiting of Spanish American football luminaries and stops in Santander and Bilbao before arriving in San Sebastian/Donostia for the night.
Of course, we could not possibly leave Gijón without breakfasting first. After all, it is the most important meal of the day!
de Asturias we found this treasure
Time to load up the car one more time.
Spain's northern coastline
During the first half hour of today's drive we actually talked and listened to each other for once. We agreed that Santander sounded like another big city with nothing miraculous to see so we opted to keep driving a bit farther.
We had heard a lot of good things about this sea port village from my sisters, cousin Geli and from Daniel Castañon. Thus we took a chance and got off the Autovia.
not open
number of kilometers we are racking
up in Galicia and Asturias
Donostia/San Sebastian by 20:45
A quick mention about this dual named city in Spain's Basque Country before we get there.
It is known as San Sebastian in Castilian and as Donostia in the Basque tongue.
Can't we all just get along?
OPEN!
complete with . . .
without labels
runs through Llanes
love with Llanes
we just saw
from pirates if need be
the rocks surrounding the inlet
cement cubes look different
one with the grapes
restaurant in Llanes without telling us?
We really liked Llanes and are already coming back but with the idea of staying a few nights.
and stop your hiccups
After leaving wonderful little Llanes, it happened again. Laurie and I had another meaningful discussion.
She asked about my trip to Bilbao earlier this year when we played the Santurtzi Coyotes. I told her that it was a nice town with lots of good food spots and the marvelous Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry.
She asked if the city was much different from other large Spanish cities we have visited over the years. The answer was "No."
How about the Guggenheim Museum building? It is fascinating from the outside and does look a lot like Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles that we've seen before?
We opted to skip Bilbao as well and just push on to San Sebastian/Donostia.
We opted to skip Bilbao as well and just push on to San Sebastian/Donostia.
of that sign on the right?
Guernica was the scene of the Nationalist's infamous 1937 Spanish Civil War bombing raid on Republicans aided by the German Condor Legion and some Italian bombers as well.
It was Market Day in Guernica when the bomb runs were made destroying buildings and families concentrated in the market square to buy food.
Guernica's two important strategic sites, a bridge and a weapons factory were untouched in this dastardly raid.
The tree trunk in the middle of this monument had a lot of symbolic importance to the Basque people. The region's various government officials had for centuries convened their governmental meetings under this tree in Guernica.
The symbolic importance of the city of Guernica to the psyche of the Basque people was not lost on General Franco in planning this air strike.
Government House
meeting room
Delegates, take your seats
The Museum of Peace houses many relics from the bombing.
Picasso's Guernica
Guernica square just like this one
An interesting historical stop to say the least.
We finally arrived, time for dinner and a quick look at this Basque city.
ancient church wall
Bravas, Diabolicas and Satanicas
I'm good with the Patatas Bravas, gracias!
In Basque Country they are called pintxos, not tapas.
We did not dare to ask what was stuffed in it.
during the Real Madrid-Juventus game
obviously a Real Madrid fan
The 1-1 tie (shocking) eliminated RM from the tournament and sent Juventus to the Champions League finals in Berlin against Barça.
"Is it possible . . ."
Sunset in the
San Sebastian/Donostia Harbor
Another GREAT day for us but I've had it, no more visits to cities with two names.
Next Circumnavigation Tour Stop: Toulouse, France
2 comments:
George i think it's Saint Sebastien and not Saint Jerome... And it's "Pintxos".
Donostia means "san Sebastian" btw it's not an "other name". don means saint in basque and Sebastien is Saustin. Donsaustin has been transformed with the time into Donostia. St Jean de Luz in basque is Donibane. Jean in basque being Iban.
Merci as always Olivier for your input!
It was so much fun seeing all of you!!!
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