Blogs from Principality of Asturias, Spain, Europe - page 4

The remaining stages of our journey onwards to Gijon passed without major incident or impediment. Notable mentions go to three drunken locals (with megaphone) waking up the entire campsite in Ribadesella with three hours of sustained shouting starting at 5:30am and also a night where our accommodation options dried up and we had to pitch in a field on a 30 degree slope. So we have arrived. Gijon marks the end of our three month walk. Having carried our bags along Northern Spain’s Camino paths for over one thousand kilometres some interesting statistics (subject to a certain degree of guestimation) have emerged. Consumption: 46 kilos of pasta (we pilgrims needs our carbohydrate) 52 tortillas (bought vac-packed in the supermarket, a lunch time stalwart) 72 ‘café con leche and tostadas’ (the only proper breakfast) 57 nights under ... read more

With this final drive along the northern coast to San Sebastian we bid Spain goodbye. Our two-week tour of this most amazing country has drawn to a close. We will meet up with our French tour manager this afternoon and begin a journey to the French Riviera. This is the first overcast morning we have encountered, and it feels appropriate, for I am truly sad to leave Spain. The mountains around me are drenched in mist and the rolling hills are damp with morning moisture - it feels as if Spain is grieving our departure… Groups of overfed white sheep appear in clusters on the steep hillsides, in stark contrast to the lush green of the mountains. We had a grand sendoff last night in Olvieda, a wealthy city in the territory of Asturias, which has ... read more

See text in "English" below 16 de enero de 2008 Cuando salgo del albergue está lloviendo y todo está muy oscuro. No importa que haya alerta naranja en toda Castilla y León por viento y lluvia, yo circulo, sigo para adelante. Dejo a Joe y a los coreanos durmiendo como angelitos y me dice la chica de la recepción: "¿Pero como sales para Astorga, si está el tiempo muy mal?" -"Que sí, que sí, que voy poco a poco y llego" Me vuelve a repetir una señora que trabaja allí limpiando: "¿Pero como sales ahora con la bici, si hay alerta naranja?" -"Que sí, que sí, que poco a poco llego" Me dice el conserje:"Está el tiempo muy mal" -"Bueno, si no llego lejos me quedaré más cerca" Pero sí, estoy convencido de seguir para adelante ... read more

Here we are. After waiting for so long for this moment, it has finally arrived. The final arrangements to ship all our stuff to Spain and the packing of whatever was left in the car is done and dusted. We left Brighton on the 14 October with tears in our eyes, the saddest was to leave some good friends behind. We took the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao. We had good weather and the crossing went well, we even were lucky enough to see some dolphins. We arrived in Bilbao on the 16 and drove down to Avilès. The car was packed and arriving "home" was quite a relief. Next step, we are going to Brighton on the 29 Octobre and we are leaving to New Zealand on the 1 November from London. Salut, Apres avoir ... read more

Hola mis amigos! Krista and I just got back from our first weekend adventure. We decided we wanted to spend some time in the mountains, so we journeyed to Picos de Europa, a national park in northern Spain. It was quite a challenge getting there! We booked bus tickets from Bilbao to Ribadesella, which looks super close to where our hotel was on the map. It wasn't as close as we thought. We got to Ribadsella, and luckily a woman who also spoke English came over to us and explained that we had to take another bus to Arriondas, then another one to Cangas de Onis, where we were staying. We found out the bus to Cangas didn't come for like another two hours, so we took a cab from Arriondas to Cangas for just a ... read more