The North of Spain is underrated

After our less than quiet night just outside of A Coruna, we started our long, 350km, drive towards Leon, a bit inland and the capital of a province of the same name. Driving very early on a Sunday morning is a great idea, even if the weather is terrible. The highway was literally empty. For almost 300km, we had to slow down only a couple of times for road works. Other than that, cruise control. 

When we arrived, it had just stopped raining. So they set off quickly to check out the city. It has an impressive cathedral in the center, built between the 13th and 14th Century. A total of 1800 square meters of windows let the inside of this gothic masterpiece, one of the finest in Spain, light up.

Find Carmelo

Gaudi was not only active in the south of Spain, but also here, high up in the North. He designed the Casa de Botines, a building which is it's own block, with streets on all four sides and each corner of it adorned with a little turret. 

The old part of town is filled to the brim with bars and restaurants. Today, it being a Sunday and with a public holiday tomorrow, people are out and about. Screw the weather, let's eat and drink. I like the Spanish attitude towards a pre-midday drink. And a post one. 

You guys remember Alberto? My human met him on the summit of Mulhacen a couple of month back. He just retired from being a mountain guide in the Picos of Europa National Park. He offered her to call him up when we would get up that direction.

So that's exactly what we did. The weather was meant to be rather terrible the next few days, so we didn't get our hopes up, but we wanted to at least go and say hi to Alberto, whether they could then do some hiking or not.

He invited us to come to his house and then we would see what could be done. So we left Leon in the direction of Oviedo.

Alberto and his wife Anna live in a tiny village some 10km from the city. Their house is spectacular. Not because it's large, which it is, or because it's beautiful, which it is, but because of where it is! One side of the house is pretty much all windows and there is nothing but green out that way until it hits the mountains. Amazing!

Yes, this is really the view from his house!

And of course there is a hyperactive, sweet as pie dog and a couple of adorable cats to round the whole thing of!

We were invited to park in front of the house and then had a very tasty lunch together. Alberto and my human poured over some maps and books to find something she could do the next day, even if the weather would be as poor as the forecast projected.  Alberto had some commitments for the coming day, so he could only join her for a hike the day after, weather permitting.

But first, they took a little trip to Oviedo, the cleanest city in Spain for a few years running! According to this survey, Spanish cities get dirtier the more south you go. I'll have to think on that one.

It also has the only cathedral in the country with only one bell tower, the Cathedral de San Salvador. The current structure stands on the remains of a church founded in the 8th Century and is quite a sight, even with just the one tower.

The whole city is really nice, arty and beautifully lit up at night. You can meet Woody Allen, a couple of works by Botero, namely "Culis Monumentalibus" (which I will translate freely to "Fat Ass") and "La Maternidad" as well as "The traveler".
Harder to meet, but the most famous, modern day, son of the city is Fernando Alonso, Formula One World Champion.

A specialty of the region is sidra. All over the North of Spain this special apple "wine" is produced and normally enjoyed alongside some Pintox, which is what they call Tapas up here. And that's exactly what the three of them did. 
The sidra is poured by a escanciador (the waiter) by lifting the bottle over his head with one hand while holding the glass in the other as far away as his arm will allow. 

This method is meant to inject the sidra with some bubbles and you drink the whole glass in one go. Therefore, they only ever pour a little bit at a time. Which means that they have a lot of work on their hands! 

With Alberto's help, my human had decided on the Ruta de Cares for the coming day, one of the most popular hikes in the park. It's a 11km one way route, leading through the heart of the Picos de Europa.  It was first opened in the 1920's to provide maintenance, food and supplies to the hydroelectric powerplant of Poncebos, a tiny village at one end of the path.

Words simply fail to describe the natural beauty of this area. And the photos can't do it justice, either, but that's all we've got.

Until the last half hour of the return trip, the weather was not too shabby, there were even some moments of sunshine. But then it all turned sour and it started pouring down. Oh well, it's just water, right? A lot of it, though, and it didn't really stop for the next few days.

After checking the weather again and a few messages with Alberto, it was clear that there won't be any hiking, let alone climbing in the coming days. Therefore we got on the road in the direction of Bilbao. We briefly stopped at a petrol station so my human could have a hot shower. Yes, there are showers at some petrol stations. Where do you think all the truckers wash?

We stopped way outside the city for the night but drove the rest of the way early in the morning so we would have a full day in the city. 
There we pulled up at the parking lot of a hostel, which allows a handful of campers to stay overnight. You have power, can shower in the hostel and get a, very rudimentary, breakfast for 10 bucks. Fair.

After hooking me up, Carmelo and my human walked down into the city. By far the most famous landmark is the Guggenheim Museum. Built by Frank Gehry and inaugurated in 1997 by the king of Spain himself, Juan Carlos I, the building itself is famed just as much as the artwork within.

The origins of the city lie within the Siete Calles, seven parallel streets which used to be the walled in part of the city until the early 19th Century. The streets have very imaginative names, such as Upper Street, Middle Street, Lower Street, and this is true, Lower Lower Street. 

Right next to the Siete Calles lies the Plaza Mayor, a large square square, flanked on all sides by small Pintox and wine bars. Guess where they had dinner? Correct, in all of them!

To round it all off, they watched the Champions League in what probably is the smallest Irish Pub in all of Spain. They walked past it literally three times, before they saw the door.

After breakfast, a shower and some writing the next morning, we tried to outrun the rain (didn't work) by driving across the border into France. Because we usually take the scenic route along smaller overland streets rather than the highway, and also because the French tolls are ridiculous, it kind of took us all day to get to our spot for the night. With a stop for fueling up and another one for some food shopping, that is. 

The scenic route wasn't very scenic that day, though. It just wouldn't stop raining. So it was more of a very tiring route for all of us. And with the sun going down around 5.30 now, also a partially dark one. By the time we got to our spot some 20km out of Lourdes, we were pretty much ready for bed.