• Marnie Elisabeth
  • Nickels
  • Marnie Elisabeth
  • Nickels

Diapers & Detours

Our first trip as parents.
The apartment is rented out for the next three to four months and we’re back in our home on wheels. Let’s see where those wheels will take us!
Okumaya devam et
  • Hot, hot, hot!

    23 Haziran, Ispanya ☁️ 37 °C

    From Pantín we drove along the coast to San Román, the next beach. Luckily we checked our available routes beforehand and found out about the Costa Ártabra.
    We’re not sure, what it is, but it’s beautiful! Cows and horses roaming as free as possible in our western world and we’re just visitors passing through.
    With our van we drove this hilly track up and back down at the other end of it. When entering the park it was, well, warm. Something like 28° C I believe. In the park we could watch the temperatures climb up to 38° C and back down to 27° C out at sea level. I was impressed on how unimpressed the animals seemed to be.

    PS probably cool hiking area - when not that hot
    Okumaya devam et

  • Praia de San Román

    23–25 Haz, Ispanya ⛅ 26 °C

    After the nature park we drove to the next beach, San Román. There was a restaurant with a green lawn where you could stay for free.
    Unfortunately it wasn’t level and the van was slightly sloped to one site (which we do notice most while sleeping). Other than that the place was great! Beach and river just on the other site of the restaurant and trees with shade; Jaro could just play outside.
    The restaurant though - praised in some google reviews for its seafood - was bad and expensive for vegetarians. They even managed to make very pale non-delicious french fries. We gave it a try and well, ended up hungry.
    Since it was still beautiful there we stayed for two nights and did a hike from that started here!
    Okumaya devam et

  • Time for a hike!

    24 Haziran, Ispanya ☁️ 22 °C

    As we are no early birds we prepared all we could in the evening to have an easier start the next morning for our ~8 km hike with ~200 m of elevation. Goal was to get to the viewpoint Fuciño do Porco. There was one shorter way to get there which we wanted to do first, so we could just turn around and take the same route back of it was too exhausting or too hot.
    Unfortunately we missed that waypoint and startet with the longer bit to the viewpoint. It felt good to hike and it was a shady walk through the gum tree forrest. The viewpoint was fantastic! But also crowded (as there is an option to drive here). We took a break, enjoyed the views and then returned closing this hike as a loop. Unfortunately by then it was later than we’d hoped and not much shade - which is why we hiked this part as quick as possible to then cool down under the trees. The rest of the day Nick and I wanted to just relax - whereas Jaro was as fit as ever since he’d been carried the whole way. We managed to find a good balance of relaxing and play time before having dinner and going to bed. Loved it!
    Okumaya devam et

  • Market in Viveiro

    25 Haziran, Ispanya ☁️ 24 °C

    In Viveiro we finally managed to go to a market. It’s always nice to support local producers but to be honest - it can also be a bit stressful. You have to talk to people, they might ask for what you want before you’ve even decided what to have - all that in a foreign language with probably such a speed you won’t understand all of it. But it is good training! And other than we thought these vendors didn’t ask what we wanted but we’re only commenting about Jaro - how cute he is and if he is really not wearing too much (sun protection seems to be a foreign concept here).
    But we got all the produce we were looking for, had a coffee and walked through the old town. Just one more stop at the church (where a seagull pooped on me) and then back to the car to go to the next… beach!
    Okumaya devam et

  • Praia do Esteiro

    25–26 Haz, Ispanya ⛅ 21 °C

    After a tiny bit of city-feeling we went back to the next beach-parking-lot. Again, quite uneven it took us a moment to find a spot that is mostly level (and always makes Marnie nervous, cause „can’t we just park?“); but then we spend a nice afternoon. Draining grey and black water, refilling the fresh water tanks and a stroll at the beach. Unfortunately not surfable at the moment. We spend a quiet night here and made our first Turkish eggs - yuuuum!Okumaya devam et

  • Alles ok hier

    26–28 Haz, Ispanya ☁️ 26 °C

    Camping Gaviota was recommended by a friend in her Google-list with „Alles ok hier“ (all ok here). A campground that we actually really enjoyed! It seems to be family run, it’s small with shade, the beach is just across the street and the people here are really friendly!
    We stayed for two nights, went to the beach, rode our bikes to another beach and would have stayed longer of there had been surfable waves. ;)
    Okumaya devam et

  • An invitation by the sea

    26 Haziran, Ispanya ☁️ 23 °C

    We were told this was the Spanish version of the Australian twelve apostles. Well, I think I can see the similarities, but it’s also different. As Catedrais is a rock formation at the sea. Some cliffs, washed out by the ocean. While low tide is on, the beach is accessible and you can walk through arches and along those massive rocks. It is like the sea invites everyone to watch what is beneath its surface for a moment. You can finde variable seashells, crabs, underwater plants - until the tide comes back in. It definitely made us miss diving!
    All three of us were fascinated by the scenery and Jaro was playing in some left-over-sea-puddles happily. We stayed until sunset.

    PS We start to feel that high season + vacation time is starting, as campgrounds and view points get more and more crowded.
    Okumaya devam et

  • Praia do Silencio

    28 Haziran, Ispanya ☁️ 20 °C

    After leaving Camping Gaviota and this beautiful long and wide coastline, we went to the „silent beach“. A place where the bay and its cliffs mute all sounds except the waves. Magic! Crystal clear water.
    As there is only access by foot there was a bit rubbishing washed up on the beach (one of the few times on the whole trip) - so we ended up collecting a bit and bringing it up to the waste bins.
    Okumaya devam et

  • Cudillero

    28 Haziran, Ispanya 🌨 20 °C

    After the beach we had planned a second stop for the day. Cudillero an „Asturian must see“! We were told to come early as it might get full of people there on a Sunday. We weren’t there early and still got a spot to leave the car. Probably because of the weather. With sprinkling rain (normal Hamburg whether) we thought we’d go anyway. It was a 20 min walk to the marina and old town and arriving there it rained heavily. We were ill prepared and had no umbrella (which we didn’t even consider bringing at all) and left the rain jackets in the car - so with several shelter-stops and a pause at a laundry service (also just for shelter) we made our way back to the car and continued.
    Still - it’s a beautiful town with many cheese shops. ;)

    PS for musical background please choose Shakira here as it is playing back and forth in may head with her album Laundry Service.
    Okumaya devam et

  • Avilés

    29 Haziran, Ispanya ☁️ 21 °C

    Probably the biggest city we’ve visited since Porto (but by far not as big!).
    The colourful houses let the old town be pretty even with rain (we were better prepared this time). We strolled around, had lunch in a cafe where Jaro had lots of space to show off how fast he’s already crawling and then just made our way back „home“.Okumaya devam et

  • Xago

    29–30 Haz, Ispanya ☁️ 21 °C

    Around Avilés there are two beaches that are said to be the best beaches for surfing when in Asturias. Las Salinas (west) and Xago (east).
    We went to Xago as were heading east in general.
    From Avilés the road leads through a huge industrial quarter where towers for windmills are built. For kilometres this is the only thing you see - a big field as „storage“ for massive pipe-like heavy tower-parts lying around. This was a bit of a throwback in time for us, since we saw many Siemens Gamesa, Nordex and Vestas imprints on those. (Nordex was one of Marnies biggest clients when working for Siemens.)
    So after passing through this industry-district we arrived at the beach. Jaro really didn’t want to sit in his car seat anymore and made that loud and clear. So we went to check out if there are some waves and if we could possibly surf - and boy! Waves are back and huge! Unfortunately too huge and quite „unorganised“. For the rest of the day we tried to figure out where to go next and what to do, as it was still rainy (annoying when traveling with the van) and the surroundings didn’t seem to be as camper-van friendly.
    The parking lot at the beach had bad reviews and it wasn’t recommended to stay; but as the evening unfolded we decided to stay since it was nice vibe there with seemingly nice people. We spent a quiet night and found a place for us to go the next day..
    Okumaya devam et

  • Los Picos

    30 Haz – 1 Tem, Ispanya ☁️ 21 °C

    We decided - even though a swell with waves just came in - to go hiking. The Picos de Europa is a mountain range in Asturias that seems to be quite popular - and so impressive.
    We arrived in the afternoon (having breakfast, then a „short“ toilet break that gets longer when Jaro is in action-mode and the drive there takes time!) and found a nice rest area to arrive. As there are only shuttle busses going up and down to the certain areas in the mountains we found a place to stay for the night (Muñigo, P3) and walked to Covadonga. This village has a church that looks majestic with the mountain backdrop and is quite beautiful. It was comparably empty since it was already late and we enjoyed the walk in the rain.
    The next day we took the bus up to the lakes, probably the second famous and easiest hike to do here. It didn’t really feel like „our hike“ - surely we’d have done a less popular, more challenging and at least as incredible hike if we haven’t had a baby traveling with us. But we have our beautiful lovely little baby, and how cool is it, that we can introduce him to hiking and show him these mountains!? Even if there were some hundred other people doing the same hike - we enjoyed the walk and found some parts where we could find that hiking-silence, just listening to nature and what the mountains had to say.
    We made our way back to the van around lunch time and with a sleeping baby and Marnie, Nickels drove us back to the coast.
    Okumaya devam et

  • Snorkelling through the day

    7 Temmuz, Ispanya ☀️ 26 °C

    Spains north coast seemed quite alluring to snorkel - well, at least the cliffs and rocks to be a bit more specific. Most times the waves were too big and the wind to strong for a good water-surface-experience. When looking for a brunch-break on our way east Nick found this place. First we thought we wouldn’t be able to park (hight limitation), but there was a second parking lot and we found a gap to fit in right away. As we hadn't used our snorkel gear for so long it was stored away somewhere deep down in the van; but we managed to get all necessary things put and each went for a short tour by ourselves. The cliff is home to many fish and the rocks have some interesting formations (like holes you could dive through). It was surprisingly deep right away and the view was good. Still, some fish are well camouflaged and appear quite suddenly just in front of you. Unfortunately there was also a lot of visible plastic pollution coming in with the tide. Still it was nice to visit the underwater world for a moment.Okumaya devam et

  • Zarautz

    7–8 Tem, Ispanya ☀️ 25 °C

    While planning our itinerary to San Sebastian and thinking about where to split the drive, we noticed that our friends from Hamburg were staying in a reachable distance.
    Although Melina, Luc and Lu Ánh had planned otherwise they were still in Zarautz for one more night . We went to the same campground and were amazed by the beautiful view: it’s a bit higher up overlooking a Golf course and the ocean.
    Our neighbours on this campground were a couple from our last campground with their baby (same age as Jaro + Lu Ánh). So it felt a bit like a toddlers meet-up and the babies could have some „group play time“. It was very cool!
    We only stayed here shortly and were happy to meet old and new friends. ◡̈
    Okumaya devam et

  • San Sebastián

    8–9 Tem, Ispanya ☁️ 26 °C

    The city of beaches and pinxos. We left the van near the university and rode our bikes along the promenade to the city center. As some friends were just there we had some restaurants we wanted to check out and - finally - eat some real basque cheesecake.
    Although by now we spent so much time in countries with a special rhythm regarding meal times and siesta, we’re still bad at having lunch at lunch time. Always late. And we’re not good in deciding which restaurant to stop at: „oh that place looks nice! But let’s check out the other one before deciding“ is our manner. We managed to sit down and decide for one, knowingly of the closing times. Unfortunately the time we ordered the waitress told us they only have half the menu, and for sure not the vegetarian options available anymore. So we left. But we really wanted to try pinxos! They all eat them here all the time! I didn’t know what it was before reading about San Sebastián: they’re basically the San Sebastián version of „tapas“; mostly fish and seafood, but also cheese. Unfortunately the vegetarian options are quite limited in most restaurants. And even if a restaurant is open, the kitchen might be closed.
    We found some places for us to have a bite, a drink, a cheesecake and a coffee and walked around a lot.
    For dinner we looked for a vegetarian restaurant. There were some (like three, four?) and decided for one. Even though we were there when they opened, it was full already on a Wednesday night and they didn’t seem to be willing to reserve a table for the „next round“. So we had Indian for dinner.
    Afterwards we went to the beach and went for a swim in this super warm and calm bay; crystal clear water you could see through to the ground even though the you could already see the stars appearing on the night sky.

    I had quite some expectations for San Sebastián and to be honest, I think I was a tat disappointed.
    Even though there are so many tourists for a short visit, reservations for restaurants seem necessary (at least for „traditional“ vegetarian dinner) and if you’re vegetarian I’d recommend to pick some restaurants before trying to pick one in the city.
    Still: San Sebastián is a beautiful town, has nice very different beaches (one in the bay, on a bit more open) and is worth a visit.
    Okumaya devam et

  • Gezinin sonu
    3 Ağustos 2026