Dragonstone to Bilbao

Tuesday morning it was sadly time to leave San sebastian behind and head to Bilbao. On the way we stopped off at San Juan Gaztelugatxe, a stunning spot and more recently popular for being the location for Dragonstone in Games of Thrones. It's a bit out of the way but what a breathtaking vista, and quirky little tourist place.

Then onwards to Bilbao, where it was a bit touch and go with Willow on the windy roads for a while, but we made it to Bilbao chunder free! We checked into the Air BnB, the boys returned the rental car and then we watched Australia get booted out of the World Cup. Sad!

So then we set off to explore Bilbao, and straight to the old town, because we love old towns. Bilbao is a big industrial city, but the old town is cute like others.

Then we caught a surprisingly early dinner. You'd think ordering 3 salads and a main wouldn't be over ordering for 3 people, but yep, we'd done it again! Then back home to watch another thriller world cup match, coz that's how we do!

Wednesday morning was our last full day in Europe :( so we did some shopping at our favourite places - Desigual and Camper. The sales were on too, hooray!
Then on to our last spanish lunch, which was a place we just kind of stumbled across, but was awesome!

And so then what did we do? Back to the apartment for the world cup! It was another thriller - Sweden playing Mexico simultaneously with Germany against south Korea, with Germany shockingly ending up bottom of their group!

So one more dinner out, an early casual one, then a sad farewell to our travel buddy Luke. The rest was just boring travel... Flight to London, with about 6 hours to kill at Heathrow. Again, thank God for Peppa Pig!
Then flight to Bangkok, 24 hour stay nearby with some fried rice, pad Thai and a swim! And now at Bangkok airport for the final leg home.

So it's a wrap! Yet another amazing adventure but this time with Willow who has been a perfect little traveller. Yay! 

Good weather, great views, the best food

Our first morning in beautiful San Sebastian we had a quick breakfast of coffee, orange juice and bocodillos before heading to nearby Monte Igueldo. This steep hill on the west side thankfully has a funicular that takes you right up the top for spectacular views over all of San Sebastian. It was a stunning day for it too. It also has an amusement park up there too! So Willow enjoyed a ride on the merry go round. What a fun time!

It was approaching lunch time and Luke wanted to grab some beach action but we knew Willow was getting sleepy so Ryan and I made the 30 minute trek along the (flat!) promenade to the old town and straight back to our favourite tapas bar, A Fuego Negro. Ryan over ordered yet again, especially for just two of us, but we enjoyed a spread of wildly inventive tapas with Willow asleep under the table. I'm in love with this place.

We then went and met Luke at a bike hire shop because being the cycle nuts they are, the boys wanted to bike up a mountain the next morning to the French border. So with bikes in hand, we headed back to the apartment to watch Germany take on Sweden. Every match we've watched so far has been amazing, and it's even more exciting being in football mad Spain.

The next morning the boys successfully completed an amazing bike ride to near the French border. Contact them for further details as I wasn't there and getting Ryan to write this blog in the late stages of the trip is like blood from a stone. Instead, I was doing this...

The boys came back at about 1pm and showered before we set off back to thenold town, returned the bikes, and then oh yeah back to A Fuego Negro for the 3rd day running. We had to get Luke to experience the fried chicken and vegetable tempura we'd had the day before! Before dinner we caught another world cup match before ending up for dinner at another favourite tapas bar from 2012 called La Cuchara de San Telmo. It didn't disappoint. This time the highlights were razor clams, beef cheeks and pork shoulder.

Monday morning, another stunning day, we set off back towards the old town so that we could climb up the other hill, Monte Urgull. Ryan and I had done this last time, but this time we had a pram so needed an accessible route. Following some vague instructions we did find a long and roundabout route. We did spy a bus going up but Ryan insisted on walking. He soon regretted it as some of the hills were about a 25% gradient. But once up there, the views were again worth it. A funicular up this hill would also be appreciated though!

Once we made it back down the hill without Willows pram running away from us, we discovered a new amazing tapas place, called Atari. The pulpo (octopus) was a real highlight.

After lunch it was time for the beach! Being a Monday it wasnt quite as swarming as the weekend. I can't believe it's not even high season. ..

After the beach we went back to the apartment to watch Spain play Morocco. We couldn't get a spot in the Spanish bars as they were filled with locals, but we could hear the cheers from the windows! The game was a draw - what a thriller - as it meant Spain were through to the next round. Then a late last dinner in San sebastian. What an awesome place. 

The cave is a lie

After taking Willow to the little hotel playground for a morning play, we set off up the hill to get a cultural experience at the Cave of Altamira. I'd seen signs for it in town and was pretty excited. It was a pretty hefty hike up to the attraction especially with Willow attached to me in the carrier.








After getting the billetes for 3 of the euros, we went to the cave. We soon realised that the cave with the rock paintings was permanently closed. Another attraction which was signed was the cave of stalictites, this was also closed. We went back to the main area and just went through the museum which had a fake cave that "everybody could enjoy". Apparently it was open until the late 70s but they realised people were ruining it, so they closed it up to everyone but archaeologists.


With the days cultural experience done we walked around the old town then went for dinner at the Castello Bar to watch some more world cup. We had a lobster with rice in broth which was awesome.

I didn't expect this 

Hello lobster my old friend 

The next day we drove to San Sebastian, stopping in at Castro Urdialas. It was a beautiful town and we had lunch at Asador El Puerto. Which was another seafood rice for a change but with clams this time.

After getting to San Sebastián and getting settled into our accommodation we went to the old town for some nice eating. We got a lean to table at our old favourite, a fuego negro. We are pleased to report the food was still spectacular six years on from our first visit.

Sea and mountains of Asturias

The next morning we had a leisurely day just walking around the small picturesque town of Cudillero.

So a lazy day, catching up with Luke, we wandered around the port long enough for the sun to come out. We picked a place for a refreshing beverage and some delicious seafood tapas.

We noticed several people having cider poured from a great height, or using a special aerating contraption, which is apparently tipici de la region, and pretty funny to watch. So the rest of the afternoon we went and watched a World Cup match and relaxed on the balcony of our cute little hotel, until it was no doubt time to go out for another meal and another World Cup match!

 And so that's what we did, with the highlight definitely being a plate of grilled scallops with roe. Yuuuuuum.

Wednesday morning the boys set off early (9am haha) back to the airport to pick up our rental car, then came back to Cudillero to pick up us ladies and gear and check out. While we were waiting we saw a procession of McLaren cars doing a rally through the old windy streets which looked amazing. That wouldn't be a cheap experience!

So goodbye Cudillero, and now with wheels, we drove through the foggy green hills to a spectacular lookout at El Cabo Vidio. What a formidable coastline, especially in that weather.

Back on the road we headed along the coast and pulled in briefly to a tiny town called Tazones and the weather had thankfully turned it on. A very cute little place!

We then hit the road again and from the windy streets, Willow had a big chunder. Lucky I was in the back to try and catch half of it. Poor little thing. She sleeps well in a car and gets carsick. She's definitely my daughter. After pulling into a dirt driveway to clean her up amongst cow poo, we were back on the road. Willow thankfully felt better and we stopped in beautiful Lastres for lunch. We randomly pulled into an amazing restaurant on a balcony with a stunning view and had amazing paella. The day was saved!

Then on to our next destination, Santillana del Mar. A small very old and beautiful place, with a cobblestoned old town with stone buildings lined with balconies decorated with flowers. It's called the town of 3 lies though coz there's no saint (Santa), it's not flat (llana) and it's not by the sea (del mar). Lies, lies, lies.

After a stroll through the old town, which was not pram friendly so Willow got used to the bumpy rides, we pulled into a restaurant, appropriately called El Castillo, to watch Spain beat Iran in the World Cup. Hilariously, Luke and I spent the first 25 mins of the game thinking Spain was Iran and vice versa. Why Iran was red and Spain white still beats me!

And we followed this up by eating a ridiculous amount of food. We (over) - ordered two of their speciality platters which were tipici de la region, including cachopo, which is an enormous crumbed veal dish. Ryan stepped it up into goat gear, as coined by Luke, when he's determined to finish a large amount of food. And he almost single handedly succeeded, as he ate the vast majority of it. The waiter was quite impressed!