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Published: October 23rd 2013
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From San Sebastian ...
we moved along to a remote campsite in the Spanish Pyrenees to walk up to Mt Autza (approx. 1400 m); this is a so-called 'frontier walk' because you can see both French and Spanish mountain ranges from the top.
Crossing into France we stayed in the charming town St Etienne de Baigorry to walk the Iparla Ridge. Traversing through pastures filled with sheep and goats and through forest, the ridge is reached by a steep rock scramble. Once on top the views are phenomenal, taking in the Basque coast and the Pyrenees on the other side. Vultures swooped and circled above and below us, and we enjoyed the views for about an hour as we walked along the ridge before dropping down to complete a loop back to the van.
On our way further east through the Pyrenees we sampled and bought the local sheep cheese Brebis, on the 'route de frommage', and visited St Jean Pied de Port which has an intact medieval fort. For the next week we stayed in and around French alpine towns Laruns and Cauterets, hiking along the many spectacular walking tracks past lakes, interesting rock formations, glaciers and
forests. We had a great meal out for Fliq's birthday in Cauterets.
The weather deteriorated so we changed our plans of further walks in the Spanish Pyrenees and headed to the south east coast of France, the Rousillon region. Here we visited Ceret, a town renowned for hosting a group of Cubist and avant-garde artists and creatives in the 1910s including Picasso. The museum of contemporary art houses a good collection of these works which capture the clear light, green hills, vineyards and clustered white houses. After spending the night at a local vineyard we had a few relaxing hours at another Modernist retreat - Collioure. The idyllic town is set right on the Mediterranean coast and still retains a fortress and huge stone walls - hopefully the photos will do it justice!
Then into Spain and a visit to the unique Salvadore Dali Museum in Figueras. The wacky Surrealist created the museum, donating many works and producing bizarre displays, in his town of birth as a celebration of his life and career, and his wife Gala. It's an enjoyable ego-trip slightly tarnished however by the rabid tour groups photographing and videoing everything and anything on their phones.
In Barcelona over three days we visited the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Picasso Museum, the Antoni Tapies Foundation, the amazing Sagrada Familia designed by Gaudi, the Museum of Catalan Art and the Joan Miro Foundation. We walked the quintessential La Rambla and ate paella. What a fantastic city.
Heading down the coast our next stop was Valencia. A little run down but with a charming old town and one of the best food markets we've been to, Valencia draws visitors in large part due to recent investment in startling modern architecture including the futuristic space helmet shaped opera house.
In Andalusia (Southern Spain) we went to Almeria, a small Moorish town on the coast and surrounded by thriving agri-business - vast fields of crops covered in white plastic. It was nice to be by the beach, near water in such a dry part of the world. By now we were becoming accustomed to mismatched square concrete houses with flat rooves.
This part of Spain was formerly ruled by Muslims, the height of their power being the 14th century - many towns and cities have built over these remnants. Our next stop was the extraordinary La
Alhambra in Granada, the best preserved Moorish palace of this period. The site is made up of gardens, palaces and military buildings. The highlight of the visit was the Nasrid Palace with its stuccoed walls, carved wood ceilings and ceramic tile decorations in many concentrated and complex geometric and floral patterns.
We travelled to Alhama de Granada to spend a night with Chris' friend Ben (Lambo) and his wife Karen. To our delight it's a town where every drink from a bar is accompanied by a free plate of tapas.
Further west lies a cluster of 'white towns' which we drove between on our way to Ronda, the largest of these towns with some interesting Moorish buildings plus a huge bridge spanning the 100 m chasm which splits the town. Keen to do some walking we hiked the next day in the Grazalema National Park, surprisingly green.
Now we find ourselves on an under-developed part of the Spanish Coast called Costa de la Luz, near the hippy town of Los Canos de Meca. We've been swimming in the Atlantic and enjoying the quiet, sandy beaches. Interestingly the Battle of Trafalgar of 1805 was fought just off the
coast here.
This will probably be our last blog so to give an idea of where we are headed next, we are off to Seville, Cordoba, Madrid, the Rioja region, Bilbao and finally Santander to catch the ferry.
Hope you've enjoyed these blogs! Adios.
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