San Sebastian

Picturesque town on the Bay of Biscay, blessed with both seaside and hills. A bit like Nice with its ornate old buildings and boardwalk. Great cafes filled with tanned Basques and a lovely old town full of tapas bars and interesting shops.

Weather was on the warm side, which was a change as the cold seems to have followed us on our travels. Have I mentioned that the weather has been pretty cold since we left Dubai? UK, France and now Spain – still wearing jackets! However the sun soon came out for us in San Sebastian and stayed out, despite some chilly winds, which actually tricked us into thinking it wasn’t that hot and we all got a bit sunburnt! Even Ryker, who has never been burnt due to fastidious applications (and reapplications) of sun cream everyday in summer at home.

Finding food was no problem as the tapas bars were everywhere; Ryker was a bit tentative however finally tried and fell in love with the traditional Spanish omelette. Being vegetarian, I find I also have less choice but am managing! For the carnivores and pescatarians, the choice and the combinations are amazing.

We stayed at the NH Aranzazu hotel in the business district, which was perfectly situated, being only a five minute walk to the boardwalk, but quiet during the evenings.

There was also a great playground, which included a merry-go-round, which the Rykersaurus adored. That and chasing the pigeons that congregated nearby, watching for a dropped cracker or rusk.

Potes

The drive to Potes from San Sebastian was incredible.  We passed through the magnificent Picos de Europa (‘the Peaks of Europe), a range of mountains 20 kms inland from Northern Spain. Some were covered in snow, which was very exciting for Ryker and I who grew up in the warm climes of Australia (Jason grew up in the UK). The mountains still support shepherds, albeit a small number of them, and we managed to spot a few of them along the way herding cows and sheep.

As you can imagine, the roads were circuitous and narrow and at times we were completely dwarfed by mountainous rock. Until I got used to it, I felt very vulnerable but soon just watched in awe as we turned each corner (I wasn’t driving so was allowed this luxury!)

Potes was no exception – it was exquisite. Being outside of the ski season, Potes wasn’t too busy although it was obvious that it attracted many tourists (shops full of souvenirs) and it was also obvious why. The old town is a maze of steps and alleys, dotted with little tavernas and shops.

We stayed in a self-contained apartment, which afforded us the luxury of washing some clothes (!) and even making our own meal one night when we were too tired to go out ( a rare occurrence!).

Zamora – to be continued…