Comillas

Comillas is a beautiful little coastal town with many important buildings, a bit of history, and some very nice people. We stopped there principally for the Capricho de Gaudi (see next post) but enjoyed walking around the town in the morning, waiting for the Gaudi site to open. In the course of all this, something very good happened. The nice young woman at the TI directed us to an auto repair shop nearly across the road from the Capricho (direction Bilbao), and there the nice owner/manager and his assistant changed the Grey Wanderer's engine oil and filter. It was my first experience with an independent mechanic in Europe and a very good experience. They worked methodically and carefully, like surgeons, one might say. The white tile floor (!) of the garage was so clean, as were all the tools and working areas, you could eat off it. They swept up and mopped up after every job. The assistant washed his hands after every job. The best part, other than just getting it done and letting me watch, was that they charged only 15 euros to do it. (We provided the oil and filter). Students of this blog know that we have shelled out far, far, far more at Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Goteborg and Lisbon, and even at the nice and more reasonable M-B in Galiantip. 

On the trail

Beautiful mansion

In town square

Church off the square

Tiled house

Gate to villa designed by Gaudi, with an entrance for people,
one for vehicles, and one for birds

The Grey Wanderer feels much better now

Picos de Europa

Unfortunately, we followed a guidebook recommendation and drove the Picos from west back to east, that is, from Oviedo through a gorge to a reservoir, then east to the Fuente De cable car, and back down another gorge, ending at San Vicente, where we spent another pleasant evening. Bits of Cantabria, Asturias, and Castile y Leon. The Picos are admirable crags, but half the trip, the reservoir and environs, recommended by the guidebook, could well have been skipped. The good bits are over by the cable car. At least for scenic driving. FWIW, it was Assumption Day, a national holiday, and there were lots of people out.

In the gorge, headed up to the reservoir

View from the reservoir

Ditto; no pelerins in sight this day

The attractive group to which the Fuente De cable car goes

Typical view; the Picos are not big mountains; mostly
limestone, they rise to less than 9,000 feet

San Vicente de la Barquera

We tore ourselves away from San Sebastian, again, and headed west, initially on the inland toll roads, later, well into Cantabria, along the coast. We stopped at Santillana de la Mer for me to go into the Alta Mira gift shoppe and buy a fridge magnet I had missed in 2009. We were not so happy there in 2009, cold, and worried about our ability to drive (legally) in Spain and also about where we could purchase LPG. Those matters got resolved, and our memories are pleasant, now even more pleasant. (Funny how memory works, dimming the bad, highighting the good). We continued on west, looking for an aire or a lay-by, preferably right on the beach. As one might expect, in August, the place was crawling with RVs, everyone doing just exactly what we were doing. At length, we found an aire of sorts, at the Playa de Gerra, near the beautiful town of San Vicente de la Barquera. The aire was actually a farmer's field, just across the highway from an evidently popular beach. We stayed there two nights, touring the Picos de Europa by day. The beaches along here--miles of them--are the best I have seen: fine sands, a hundreds-of-feet-deep beach area, surf just rough enough for beginner surfing.

Playa de Gerra, looking east

Looking west toward San Vicente

Beach volleyball, of course

A bit of the aire

Here we began seeing rather more of the pelerins, pilgrims
on the Santiago trail

Some 200,000 do the trail annually; twice that number in
special feast (whatever) years; only 20,000 do the much
shorter but infinitely more scenic Tour du Mont Blanc;
 I just don't understand...

Interesting beach rocks along the way

Surfing at the Playa de Gerra

Sunset

Donostia Fireworks

Each of our three nights in Donostia, after tapas, cultural performances, etc., we attended the harbor fireworks. Apparently, they do a week of fireworks here in August, inviting pyrotechnic companies from all over Spain as well as other countries. The setting and quality of the fireworks were great and the crowd appreciative. One has to assume Donostians know their fireworks. The first night we were inadvertently in the front rank of the crowd, as close to the launch site as you could get. (Later, we moved on down the beach as we learned where to catch the special event bus back to the aire). You could feel the concussion of every explosion, making it a visceral as well as visual experience. Here are several pix, plus a YouTube video at http://youtu.be/G0WjXWWpYhk

The week's schedule: we saw the groups from Italy,
Granada, and Valencia

The crowd gathers

And gathers, the Jesus statue presiding over it all

Play ball!

Great color

Most of the action was up high, some down low

The Granada group was into shapes...I missed the smiley
face

And cascades

Donostia Basque Culture

Every night we were in Donostia we went to the Basque cultural performances at the Constitucion Plaza. Of course we understood little of what was going on, in Spanish and/or Basque, but enjoyed the singing, dancing, and costumery. Often, the audience would join in singing the song that was going on on-stage, and there were more than a few symbols and statements of Basque solidarity and nationalism. Constitucion Plaza is where the bull-fights took place in the good old days. Interestingly, the balconies were rented separately from the apartments they adjoined.

Donostia Tapas

So we went tapas* in Donostia every night we were there, sampling a variety of bars and other establishments (purveyors of gelatos, churros, etc.). Initially we followed the guidebooks, then we just followed the crowds, boldly venturing into those places that seemed most popular. ("Nobody goes to the Silver Slipper anymore; it's too crowded"). We settled finally on Baztan and were regulars there for three nights. Nothing was particularly remarkable, IMHO, but the gazpacho, served in little cocktail glasses, which was exceptional. I think the tapas thing is more about the experience, socially, than the food. Costco has better tapas, and they're free. Nonetheless...

Our favorite street

Our favorite place

A typical plate for us

Typical fare; Spain probably cuts down as many trees for
toothpicks as China does for chopsticks; well, maybe not
that many

Ditto

The octopus is doubtlessly worried about when they will
start in with the toothpicks

One of the more dubious offerings; reminded me of the
french-friend potatoes-topped pizza we saw in Rome

Pouring the cidre; we did the cider, and beer, and wine, and
then finally settled on the sangria

At the churreria afterwards; note to self: one order of
churros will amply feed two; or four, or six

For a an extended video of Baztan and the street outside, go to http://youtu.be/cJ0KVv808gw

*family joke