Blogs from Spain, Europe - page 8

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As you may have picked up by now with various blog entries this season, we have been moving much quicker than we normal do (or typically like). We have said many times that we are actually travelers that also enjoy sailing and find it a great way to move around to various places of interest (albeit at a slow speed!) This season we realized that we aimed for a destination farther than we should probably have planned. With overnight passages the distance is definitely doable, but we typically enjoy moving along a coast slowly so we can take in the sights and even take day trips inland when we can. This season with factoring the distance as well as the winds that seemed to be against us most of the time, it was not as relaxing ... read more

So we get to Barcelona and there is supposed to be a private taxi waiting for us - well this seems to be a recurring issue in our travels as once again we could not find a man with our name on. However, after pacing and pacing I see Fairbairn name on a really well dressed gentleman’s board. So we follow him and get into the lift and these two ladies follow us in and the gentleman with us said watch yourselves, so now I am thinking we are going to be murdered. But no, they were pickpockets and had managed to open Mike’s man bag (we will talk about that one later!) but fortunately for us the top thing in Mike’s bag was his inhaler and tablets - so all I can say is it ... read more

I cycled from the port at Santurtzi into Bilbao with two cyclists, John and Ross, that I met on the MV Salamanca It's a lovely cycle upstream along the River Nervión to the city and there is a good cycle path most of the way. We stopped for coffee near the Bizkaiko Zubia / Puente de Vizcaya. We occupied the seats at a free table on the path outside, only to be advised by a slightly put out waiter that that table actually belonged to the cafe nect door. Ooops. After coffee, myself and John crossed the river on the Bizkaiko Zubia and continued on into Bilbao. It is effectively a flying bridge. The platform suspended from tall infrastructure travels from bank to bank on what I hope are very strong metal cables. It is considered ... read more

I absolutely love that the Rosslare to Bilbao ferry now carries foot passengers and cyclists. This is my second time to use the service. The Brittany Ferry owned M.V. Salamanca is a lovely new ferry and the calm conditions allowed for seawatching. I had a much smoother crossing than The Earls did in 1607. During the 27 hour crossing I added two more species to my lifetime list (not that I keep an actual list). I enjoyed lovely views of great shearwater and corys shearwater. Both can be seen on land based seawatches in donegal, but I have never managrd to find them before. However they stayed tantalizingly just out of range for a good pboto. I've added a few of the best shots here. Dull light and heavily cropped. A pod of dolphins followed us ... read more

With only 14km today, we were happy to have a relaxing day! The “camino Portugues de la costa” meets again the “camino Portugues interior”. More pilgrims are on the same way and more stations to get coffee, tea, a sandwich or simply a stamp can be found along the way. Pilgrims get a ”pilgrim’s passport”. Two stamps per day are required, as a proof that the camino was walked. 100km for walking is finally required to get a certificate of having done the pilgrimage. Many would say, that they don't do it for the certificate, but stamps are in great demand. “Buen Camino” is the greeting in Spanish when meeting a pilgrim. All have their own motivation or reason why to walk this path. Some search for answers, others for inspiration or are about deciding something ... read more