We have been amazed at a few of things in Spain – the copious number of Café/Bars that serve pastries and snacks with coffee or beers. These are eaten standing up or sitting at the bar at any time during the day. But it seems that the pastries are sweet with coffee in the morning and savoury later. Also Spain is unabashed with its billboards and advertising – signs tower over towns, billboards line roads into towns really blotting the surroundings. Last quirky thing that we have found is that the bed pillow on a double bed is one long pillow that one has to grasp ones share of during the night. All good fun though.
Segovia was no different. We ate a bar tasting as many different snacks as we could (the black pudding sausages were amazing) for our dinner. We continue to enjoy the beers in this part of the world. Segovia is interesting for its 900m long aqueduct the carried water along a 250x250mm channel. But even more astounding was the construction, blocks just stacked on top of each other with no cement. Each block was exactly the right size and shape to form the pillars and arches. Because of this there was little deterioration and it looked as good as the day it was built. Morning tea at a bar consisted of coffee (the Spanish do great coffee) and frittata, an egg and potato omelette type thing that was a favourite with Mark and something we were going to see heaps more of and even better versions (more later).
Onto more old towns on our way north to the Atlantic coast. A town of Lerma was the next port of call and it had 4 monasteries, 1 convent and several churches all perched on a hill next to an old palace. The 4 spires of the palace were visible for quite some way on the way in. We took the Autovia (motorway) to Lerma and decided to stop for lunch at one of the many local restaurant/hotels that line the motorways for truckies and travellers. Again it was great to see the how the locals live and we enjoyed a new range of dishes including Rabbit stew and Garlic Soup. The waiter saw we were from NZ and was one of the few people who have known where it was and knew enough English to tell Mark that he is called Gregory also (Mark is officially Gregory Mark on his ID).
We are now on the historic trail through Rioja that will take in places that are along the St James walkway including Nevja and St Domingo (where we spend a night). We have found that if we follow the Paradors (Spanish tourist hotels) on our map we end up in interesting historical places. It is difficult to find tourist info out over here as all the tourist info places know only about the local town area and most of where we are seems to be based on Historic places dating back as far as Roman times. One thing that both Segovia and Navja had in common was a clicking sound that echoed across the town that we thought was familiar - and it was. We had encountered the another area in which storks bred and when we looked up sure enough there were nests on church spires and in the top of trees.
The walkway of St James seems to be very popular seeing numerous cyclists and trampers at the above towns. It is a route from France somewhere and goes to Santiago. A friend of Marks was doing it but we missed her by a day or so. We saw lots of people with sore blistered feet!!!
We can’t wait to get to the Atlantic where we will depart from things historic to more outdoors based programme. As we left the Rioja region with its beautiful temperate valleys covered in crops and vineyards and ventured over the hills into the Basque area, it was like going back into France. The hills covered with lush green dense forest and lakes hidden amongst the hills created some truly stunning sights. But we were headed for the coast so over hills, winding our way over switchback roads we went on route to Bermeo, a fishing port on the Atlantic coast. A common problem in any place in Spain is no suitable hotels in town (either too expensive or grotty) and Bermeo was no different. So we wandered the town before leaving and stumbled upon our first true Pinchos Bar. These are bars with small tasty morsels lined along the counter for you to choose from. They largely consist of three things, tortilla(see above), little bread filled rolls/sandwiches or fishy things. But the tortillas have now morphed into tortillas stuffed with ham and cheese or topped with bacon and mushroom or better spinach and peppers. The favourite fishy things are olives, onions and anchovies on sticks. You simply choose what you feel like and either have a beer or coffee with these. It is great.
It would be a great idea for NZ I feel. We didn’t do tapas as you didn’t know what you were ordering and you had to wait for it to be made. But pinchos are a bit of us.
We continued along the coast towards Bilbao and finally found a place in a camping ground cabin at Sofelano. It was very average and we had booked it for three nights but were relieved when we were told that there was an error and could only have it for one night. But while we were there we found beaches with surf and saw a whole new side to Spain – surf beaches, and surfies. This was a very popular beach and was not dissimilar to Raglan. Perched high up on cliffs above you climbed down to the beaches and the plants along the top of a walk we took along the cliff tops had us back home. Red and white clover, fescues and weeds we see in NZ lined the walkway. Funniest of all was coming across pohutukawas thriving on the hilltop. The highlight of the walk was the rock formations that disappeared into the Atlantic and the sight of the entrance to the Bilbao Harbour.
We again parked our car at a train station and took the train to Bilbao as parking in Spain but particularly in cities is a nightmare. Bilbao was the city that held two of the must see things of our trip – the Biscay Bridge and the Guggenheim museum. We spent three hours going through the museum being enthralled with the sculptures in the exhibition with the hightlight being the Juan Munoz’s “men”. These people he made with all the same faces but changes the body and stance to change the effect. Another guy we can’t remember had a steel construction that was also amazing especially as we could not see how they got it in and how he made it. But most of all it was the amazing architecture and surrounds that captured our imagination. Like the flower dog and spider not to mention the incredible walk bridge across the river beside the museum.
The Biscay bridge is a Unesco world Heritage sight as it is the oldest bridge of its type and only one of seven others in the world. It is a transporter bridge that goes across the river like a flying fox – suspended from wires and on pulleys that run along a guide high above the river. We took a lift up to the top (approx 17 floors up) and walked across one way and then took the transporter back.
Next stop was Atlantic coast again (with surfies) and two days respite from travel in a very pretty little fishing village called Mundaka in the heart of Basque where signs supporting independence are prevalent. Having just mastered the Spanish language or at least enough to get by, we were now confronted with this strange language full of z’s and x’s that was seemingly unpronounceable; Basque. Luckily they spoke Spanish as well.
This town was lovely as it still had the old charm that we expected to see in fishing villages and wasn’t overrun with apartments. Here the children still played in the streets and you could see the fish being filleted where they came off the boats. Once again the bars with their Pinchos are a hit. At this point I must say that Mark has totally given up on the Med in Spain as far as finding quaint fishing villages as they just don’t exist having been overrun by tourist apartments and marinas.
Segovia was no different. We ate a bar tasting as many different snacks as we could (the black pudding sausages were amazing) for our dinner. We continue to enjoy the beers in this part of the world. Segovia is interesting for its 900m long aqueduct the carried water along a 250x250mm channel. But even more astounding was the construction, blocks just stacked on top of each other with no cement. Each block was exactly the right size and shape to form the pillars and arches. Because of this there was little deterioration and it looked as good as the day it was built. Morning tea at a bar consisted of coffee (the Spanish do great coffee) and frittata, an egg and potato omelette type thing that was a favourite with Mark and something we were going to see heaps more of and even better versions (more later).
Onto more old towns on our way north to the Atlantic coast. A town of Lerma was the next port of call and it had 4 monasteries, 1 convent and several churches all perched on a hill next to an old palace. The 4 spires of the palace were visible for quite some way on the way in. We took the Autovia (motorway) to Lerma and decided to stop for lunch at one of the many local restaurant/hotels that line the motorways for truckies and travellers. Again it was great to see the how the locals live and we enjoyed a new range of dishes including Rabbit stew and Garlic Soup. The waiter saw we were from NZ and was one of the few people who have known where it was and knew enough English to tell Mark that he is called Gregory also (Mark is officially Gregory Mark on his ID).
We are now on the historic trail through Rioja that will take in places that are along the St James walkway including Nevja and St Domingo (where we spend a night). We have found that if we follow the Paradors (Spanish tourist hotels) on our map we end up in interesting historical places. It is difficult to find tourist info out over here as all the tourist info places know only about the local town area and most of where we are seems to be based on Historic places dating back as far as Roman times. One thing that both Segovia and Navja had in common was a clicking sound that echoed across the town that we thought was familiar - and it was. We had encountered the another area in which storks bred and when we looked up sure enough there were nests on church spires and in the top of trees.
The walkway of St James seems to be very popular seeing numerous cyclists and trampers at the above towns. It is a route from France somewhere and goes to Santiago. A friend of Marks was doing it but we missed her by a day or so. We saw lots of people with sore blistered feet!!!
We can’t wait to get to the Atlantic where we will depart from things historic to more outdoors based programme. As we left the Rioja region with its beautiful temperate valleys covered in crops and vineyards and ventured over the hills into the Basque area, it was like going back into France. The hills covered with lush green dense forest and lakes hidden amongst the hills created some truly stunning sights. But we were headed for the coast so over hills, winding our way over switchback roads we went on route to Bermeo, a fishing port on the Atlantic coast. A common problem in any place in Spain is no suitable hotels in town (either too expensive or grotty) and Bermeo was no different. So we wandered the town before leaving and stumbled upon our first true Pinchos Bar. These are bars with small tasty morsels lined along the counter for you to choose from. They largely consist of three things, tortilla(see above), little bread filled rolls/sandwiches or fishy things. But the tortillas have now morphed into tortillas stuffed with ham and cheese or topped with bacon and mushroom or better spinach and peppers. The favourite fishy things are olives, onions and anchovies on sticks. You simply choose what you feel like and either have a beer or coffee with these. It is great.
It would be a great idea for NZ I feel. We didn’t do tapas as you didn’t know what you were ordering and you had to wait for it to be made. But pinchos are a bit of us.
We continued along the coast towards Bilbao and finally found a place in a camping ground cabin at Sofelano. It was very average and we had booked it for three nights but were relieved when we were told that there was an error and could only have it for one night. But while we were there we found beaches with surf and saw a whole new side to Spain – surf beaches, and surfies. This was a very popular beach and was not dissimilar to Raglan. Perched high up on cliffs above you climbed down to the beaches and the plants along the top of a walk we took along the cliff tops had us back home. Red and white clover, fescues and weeds we see in NZ lined the walkway. Funniest of all was coming across pohutukawas thriving on the hilltop. The highlight of the walk was the rock formations that disappeared into the Atlantic and the sight of the entrance to the Bilbao Harbour.
We again parked our car at a train station and took the train to Bilbao as parking in Spain but particularly in cities is a nightmare. Bilbao was the city that held two of the must see things of our trip – the Biscay Bridge and the Guggenheim museum. We spent three hours going through the museum being enthralled with the sculptures in the exhibition with the hightlight being the Juan Munoz’s “men”. These people he made with all the same faces but changes the body and stance to change the effect. Another guy we can’t remember had a steel construction that was also amazing especially as we could not see how they got it in and how he made it. But most of all it was the amazing architecture and surrounds that captured our imagination. Like the flower dog and spider not to mention the incredible walk bridge across the river beside the museum.
The Biscay bridge is a Unesco world Heritage sight as it is the oldest bridge of its type and only one of seven others in the world. It is a transporter bridge that goes across the river like a flying fox – suspended from wires and on pulleys that run along a guide high above the river. We took a lift up to the top (approx 17 floors up) and walked across one way and then took the transporter back.
Next stop was Atlantic coast again (with surfies) and two days respite from travel in a very pretty little fishing village called Mundaka in the heart of Basque where signs supporting independence are prevalent. Having just mastered the Spanish language or at least enough to get by, we were now confronted with this strange language full of z’s and x’s that was seemingly unpronounceable; Basque. Luckily they spoke Spanish as well.
This town was lovely as it still had the old charm that we expected to see in fishing villages and wasn’t overrun with apartments. Here the children still played in the streets and you could see the fish being filleted where they came off the boats. Once again the bars with their Pinchos are a hit. At this point I must say that Mark has totally given up on the Med in Spain as far as finding quaint fishing villages as they just don’t exist having been overrun by tourist apartments and marinas.
1 comment:
point of interest if you didn't already Know but Mundaka is Spain's premier surf break so I hope you took lots of photo's
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