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April 2015 The inland areas of Northern Spain are a delight to the senses. We have feasted our eyes on deep river gorges, vine clad hillsides, craggy peaks, blossoming trees and spring flowers. We have feasted our taste buds with fine wines, regional cuisine and pineapple (for some reason they have been absolutely yummy lately). Unfortunately we have still feasted our ears with the sound of barking dogs at night!!
A priority destination for this trip was the Picos de Europa which we first whizzed through back in 2003 promising ourselves to return one day and this was the month to do it. We based ourselves in Potes for a few days at the ACSI campsite with views to die for. Although it was Easter and the town was busy, the campsite was relatively quiet. We were able to do a strenuous walk from the site up to a view point with a 360 panorama of the Picos and with Griffon Vultures swirling around our heads. We also enjoyed tapas and local cider in the numerous bars and cafes scattered around the atmospheric town centre.
Aside from the Picos, this region has a lot of mountains where we
managed to spend quite a bit of time walking, Geocaching and lazing about in the early spring warmth. The Montes de Leon and the Cordillera Cantabrica are hidden gems little visited by international tourists and deserved more of our time but our time is getting short as April whizzes by.
The next highlight for the month was a few days spent in the Rioja wine region between Haro and Logrono. This area is typical vineyard country with a twist in the form of the sublime architecture to be found here along with some excellent wines and delicious food. After a day sampling the delights of the traditional bodegas in Haro we then explored the region in more detail. It is hard to describe wineries such as Ysios, Marquis de Riscal and Baigorri but I hope the pictures say it all. Baigorri was also a wonderful experience with a personal tour in English with a French born guide, a delicious 5 course degustation menu accompanied by their quality wines and a place to lounge to recover. However the next day was almost as good at Vivanco Dinastica with another yummy tasting menu, a guided tour of the cave and hours
in the museum (the biggest corkscrew collection in the world!)
Could anything top this?? Well, the Pyrenees almost have. Starting in the little known Hecho valley for some birding and walking which managed to turn up a good look at an Egyptian Vulture we then headed around to the Benasque valley to spend a few glorious days amongst some higher peaks which acquired a dusting of new snow whilst we were there. This is fabulous walking country, everywhere you turn there are marked trails. Next came the Vielha valley and more fabulous views then over the Col de Portillon into the French Pyrenees for more glorious days of hiking and people watching (French mid term break meant things were a bit busier). Anzac day was spent recovering from a hideously strenuous hike around the cirque de Bethmale. We opted to go up instead of around and found ourselves climbing through steep snow drifts which was not the worst part as from the top we realised the snow was so deep we could not continue so had to find a way down via scree slopes, snow drifts and traverses across sheer drop offs – a bit scary at times but
we eventually found our way back to Izzy at the bottom several hours after leaving. The reward was to be able to watch a Lammergeir (Bearded Vulture) soaring above our heads for several minutes whilst contemplating not becoming its lunch!
During this time we also got approval to import Izzy back to Australia, so Izzy is about to become an Ozzy!
From the Pyrenees we headed into the Languedoc for a few days pootling around the Minervois and St Chinian wineries, staying at France Passion sites, one of which was well stocked with Peacocks including an all white one! Being spring the males were constantly showing off their fanned tails and spent the entire night calling out over their territory – earplugs were needed! We also saw our first Roller perched on the vines, this is a gorgeous blue bird the size of a Jay and with the eye band of a Shrike.
So, that is how April passed for us. Only one month of this sojourn left!
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