Thursday, July 29, 2010

Spain: The top

Here is the latest installment on our Europe by Bike adventure. I am on a french keyboard, so apologies for the more frequent typos. We spent a few nights in Burgos, caught the town festival which was tasty, then made a very tough decision to go North. We had wanted to go West to Galacia, having even already got a map, but with only a few months left Germany wasn;t getting any closer.

Burgos
The North of Castile y Leon was very pretty, and hilly. We were very happy with some well placed canyons and gorges which went through, rather than over, the hills.

Handy Gorge
We then crossed over into Cantabria, and we started really seeing the green of Spain. It was so so so much greener, heaps of trees, grass growing in the empty sections  rather than dust.

The hills of Cantabria

Luckily we had been on a massive plateu, so although it was pretty tough biking up to the passes, we had some nice downhills to the coast.

Bikes on a Boat in Santander

We spent a few nights in Santander, then to Laredo for a few nights and the WORLD CUP FINAL. We had wanted to be in a big city for the final, but I reckon we couldnt have handled much more than the big party Laredo threw. Good times all round. Everyone was super stoked.


CastroUrbaniles... pretty boats and a good Kebab


One of many crowded beaches along the coast

We then cruised along the coast, which wasnt nearly flat enough, to Bilbao. The Guggenheim Museum was very very very awesome. I have always been sceptical of contemporary art, but the stuff here was amazing, it messed with you senses and looked really cool. I cant possibly do it justice by telling you about it, either go to the Museum or ask me in person so I can use my arms while talking.


The Guggenheim
From Bilbao we snuck over to Barcelona to see a friend and check out the city. It was big, fun, tasty and international.
Sagra Familia catherdral in Barcelona
So back to the bikes in Bilbao; we cruised along the coast; spent some time in San Sabastion and Irun: then went inland to Navarra for about an hour before heading to France over the Pyranees.


The Basque Coast

Well; actually the foothills of the Pyranees; but I will claim it! So now we are in France. No more really good jamon, lomo and chorizo. No more Cruzcampo, Mahou or Estrella. I will miss tapas... Spain was, and is, freaking awesome, we loved it. But if you are going to bike there, be warned it is rather mountainous.

Mountain bike path in Navarra to avoid a motorway.
I will post on France in a while. Right now I am going to call Mum and Dad. They should be out of bed....

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