Hola chicas Y chicos! This year Ana and I decided to have our holidays in Spain. We started in Bilbao and our first sightseeing exercise was the Guggenheim in Bilbao designed by Frank Gehry...
Nice on the outside but boring abstract and postmodern art inside apart from these Jeff Koon's lollipos which added much needed colour to the grey Bilbao light.
After that Pinxtos, the Basque version of Tapas and an inspection of the offspring of one of our friends by everyone. The wee lad has two arms, two legs, one nose and is quiet in bars late so he's most definately alright!
Not to be outdone by the big city, a bodega in Rioja decided to build a Gehry place for some pompous individuals. The building is nice...
... the wine making near perfect...
... and the end product excellent. Buy Rioja! Time to head to Galicia on the West coast and to the beach. The only snag is that the water is not much warmer than Scottish waters...
... but the seafood is excellent. Scots awake, all this can be eaten!
The next stop was Santiago de Compostela, the end point of the pilgrims path. The cathedral is the finish line. Made from pink Granite, it would do Aberdeen proud.
Here some pilgrims on the place in front of the entrance.
In the evening we attended an evening concert by students from the local University. The Spanish equivalent of the Scottish ceilidh.
The next day we went to the West coast and climbed a granite hill near the fake most westerly part of Spain, Finisterre. Here is Ana on the top with a view to the John O'Groats of the great Iberian country. The only snag is that the real most Westerly part is to the North.
After that some time on the windy beach with exceptionally cold water. It is not often that a wetsuit is not enough.
The next day we went to Asturias. On the way we stopped at the beach of the cathedrals. I wish I could have bouldered there but the life guars were like the bouncers in front of the most fashionable Mancunian club and thus I was just proceeding with the self-roasting process.
We reached Llanes in the holy land that is Asturias to meet Ana's University friends. A lobster-paella was cooked by Jose with my humble assistance.
Scots wahae, awake! This can be eaten and is rather tasty and it is in Scottish waters!
Good sea cliffs near Llanes.
The cocaine of Asturias is Fabada: beans cooked with chorizo and morzilla plus some other porky fat. It is sooooooo good.
One of the best things to do in Northern Spain is to paddle down 15 km from Ariondas in a canoe. We met Ana and Peter + kids and had a go. It is such good fun and good value for money given that it is quite a distance. Here is team one...
... and here is team two.
After that Leon via the Picos de Europa with some fantastic limestone climbing potential. The Spanish dolomites. Back in Leon, Ana's town, we had to visit the embutido van during the market. The advertisement is far more sophisticated than the drab Tesco in Scotland: first some ham, then some cheeze and finally some wine from one of the leather squeeze thingies (do not wear anything white is the tip of the day!). After that buy half a chorizo.
Leon is on the camino de Santiago (translate now!) and the cathedral is the highlight of the town.
But it also has a building designed by Gaudi (on the left).
Our friends have a finca outside the city where we enjoyed sardines, summer food.
The special thing about Leon is that some tapas come free with each drink. This is what we got for EUR 4.80 (I think): two small bear, one larger beer, one wine, four bread with Manjega cheese, ham, chorizo and lomo (cow's ham). In Aberdeen the cheese alone would be £4.80 in La Tasca! Leon is a secret tip for every Iberian traveler.
A 3 h trip by bus to Mardrid, where the pope, who attended a youth fest (a kind of catholic T in the park), had to endure some proper heat.
HW
