San Lorenzo

We last dropped a line while in the Douro Valley (Portugal). What a spot. From there we took a long drive up to north Central Spain. Gijón to be precise. (http://tiny.cc/wiki_gijon)

It was a really nice, working class type city but what I have come to realize is that the population density of these towns (cities) far exceeds my expectations. What appears to be a medium size town has over 1/4 million people. Nonetheless loved the place. Stumbled on a great 5k (one way) walking path along the beach. Another 10k+ day!

From there we drove to Getxo, just north of Bilbao on the Bay of Biscay. Barry Barr's home away from home (Barry of KAVU) through his wife's family. This is a town worth reading about. It was and perhaps still is one of the most influential towns in Spain. The captains of industry built their summer homes here. (http://tiny.cc/wiki_getxo)

Getxo has a great promenade and the Vizcaya Bridge is something to behold. A different way to ferry across the water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizcaya_Bridge

While in Getxo, our good friend Gregg Ness instructed us to visit San Sebastian.
(http://tiny.cc/wiki_sanseb) What a treat. The walks, the beaches, the architecture, the food and the hot ch...urches. (Fun fact: about 1 in 10 women sunbathe topless. Not a lot of tan lines around here...haha.)

We have been bouncing from Airbnb to Hotel and back. The beds (and pillows) in Airbnbs so far in Europe, for the most part, suck unless one has been trained by NASA or North Korea. Seriously...what do people have against a bed that's a little soft? It's not like we're asking for a "princess and the pea" situation or something soooo smushy it makes your back hurt, but it would be nice not to have to switch positions every hour just to keep blood flowing to all parts of your body. Okay, sorry, end that rant.

Overall impressions of Northern Spain / Basque Country:
~ Beautiful country--green, jagged coastlines up against cloud topped mountains, clean sandy beaches, frothy waves
~ Easy to communicate (with our broken Spanish), most establishments had someone that could speak English
~ Better food than Portugal--more flavor but still a LOT of bacalau (salt cod), seafood, and very few vegetables on the menu. Didn't have a chance to go to any public "farmers" markets but given that you see vegetable gardens in practically every backyard, I have to guess they're great.
~ Nice people once you engage, but not as nice as the Portuguese just walking down the street. Just simple things like people not making eye contact, or if they do and catch you smile, they don't smile back. Only had one person engage us in a bar, but they were pretty strict with masks and most people preferred outdoor seating where it's tough to just "chat someone up."
~ A bit more expensive than Portugal across the board, but you can still get a glass of wine for 2-3 Euros and dinner for 2 with drinks for 40 Euros.
~ Not as laid back as Portugal, just little things like traffic is a bit more hectic, a few more car horns heard, but still very respectful of pedestrians and nothing like a city of the equivalent size in the U.S.

All in all, Northern Spain's combination of beaches, food, and architecture along with the Basque culture, is alluring and we'll definitely be back.

Up next: France!Read more