Spain, May/June 2018. Day 25

Not a lot to report today, except that Heather thrashed me at cribbage 3 games to 0!!  We had a smooth crossing with only a bit of swell as we rounded the Brittany peninsular.  First thing this morning we were in fog but it soon cleared to leave a beautiful day much of which we spent relaxing on the sun deck.  We docked on time and are now settled with a cup of tea in the Premier Inn. Now do I need to pop next door for a pint??
All that remains is the drive home tomorrow - oh, and to dry the tent out!!
Despite the less than perfect weather we have had an amazing trip, seen some wonderful scenery, wildlife, art and culture.  We have fallen in love with Northern Spain and it's spectacular mountains and coast.  We shall be back, perhaps not in May/June and certainly not camping.  In fact I may have been cured of camping for life!!!

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Spain, May/June 2018. Day 24

Good evening dear blog, almost my final entry for this trip as I write in the middle of the Bay of Biscay en route to Portsmouth. And what an excellent penultimate day it has been.  We awoke to rain yet again at the hotel but by the time we had breakfast it had cleared up allowing us to load the car in the dry
  El Colonial is a superb family run hotel; great food, clean and comfortable room and very friendly and helpful owners.
Once packed we set out for El Castillo cave, just 10 miles away.  We soon found that Altamira yesterday was an excellent preparatory lesson for the genuine article.  We arrived nicely in time for our prebooked tour at 11.20.  Like Altamira the huge cave entrance would have been lived in as a cave shelter by palaeolithic hunter gatherers.  This entrance today is covered by a massive canopy which serves as reception and ticket office.  Our tour was in Spanish and we even understood some of it aided by a fellow American visitor who spoke better Spanish than us and translated.  The cave itself was well worth the visit with huge cathedral-like galleries and staggering stalactite and stalagmite formations.  The stars of the show though were the paintings, particularly the hand stencils for which the cave is famous. There are also bison and deer and abstract symbolic markings.  Some of these are 50,000 years old and as fresh as if they were done yesterday.  I find this absolutely mind blowing and incredibly moving. But is also fascinating to realise that these people were so similar to us: intelligent  artistic and with a well-developed social organisation.  An absolutely fabulous visit.
Afterwards we enjoyed coffee and cake in the village before an easy drive back to Bilbao on the motorway.  We arrived in perfect timing and sailed on time at 5.15.  It was, of course, beer o'clock.  A good night's sleep now.  In the morning We should pass close to Brittany.

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Spain, May/June 2018. Day 3

After and excellent and restful day on the boat, a very good dinner and one or two restoratives, we had a game of pass the pigs before retiring.  We slept well as we crossed The Bay of Biscay last night and have woken to a beautiful morning and flat calm conditions; not the fearsome Biscay big seas.  The only slight technical hitch is we are not sure if it's 7.00 or 8.00 am so it's time to head out and explore the possibility of breakfast.
Problem solved - it was 7.00 am but breakfast was being served any way.  Full fortified, it's now time to go and look for dolphins riding the bow wave.
Hurray success; first a single one and then half a dozen playing in the wake of the sip.  Magical.  And what a beautiful morning; clear blue skies and warm temperatures with a deep indigo sea with a creamy turquoise wake.  Coffee and Danish now.
During the afternoon we saw several more pods of dolphins and suddenly through the thickening haze suddenly appeared the peaks of mountains  their feet shrouded in mist.  Berthing and unloading seemed to happen quickly and we were soon on the motorway heading to our overnight stop at Santillana del Mar.  This is one of the beautiful villages of Spain and well worth its categorisation; the church and cloisters being superb.  We are interested in the town's proximity to the caves of Altimira and may stop here on the way home.  On our drive along the motorway we enjoyed the wonderful coastal views and good sightings of griffon vulture, red kite  buzzards and other unidentified raptors.  The black restarts feeding fledglings in the church cloisters were a delight. An excellent meal in a restaurant garden followed by a 10 year old Torres completed an excellent day.  Spanish measures are generous.

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