| Nothern Spain 10:18 - Jan 22 with 10174 views | LoftusR |
Its that time of year again when I'm looking at holidays. With the success last year with Vietnam info (thanks HanoiR) I thought I would try again.
This year we are looking closer to home. The plan is to drive over to either southern France or northern Spain. At the moment I am thinking of taking the ferry into Bilbao or Santander.
From there I have no real clue. Any advice on towns, beaches or villages that are a must do?? Any good hotels, apartments or Airbnb you would recommend? Any info on local rock climbing activity would also be great?
We are a family of five plus the bloody dog that apparently now has to come on holiday as well!! |  | | |  |
| Nothern Spain on 10:37 - Jan 23 with 2973 views | dannyblue |
I love the region. Drive around stay in a few places and check out:
Bayonne - ham and chocolate (and bayonettes)
Biarritz - surfing and casino
Saint Jean de Luz - beautiful light
Hendaye - the great cross of Hendaye subject of intrigue and alchemy (look up Fulcanelli). Big family friendly beach where you can go kite boarding.
Climb Larrun - a couple hours easy walk up and from the top you can see the entire bay of biscay for miles and miles. Watch out for the serpent that guards its treasure and look out for old runes in the rocks.
Sare - caves
Zugarramurdi - cave system and home of 17th century witch trials that implicated thousands. Nice little witch museum in the sleepy village.
Mundaka - just a quiet little seaside village that happened to charm me.
Donostia / San Sebastian - thriving and bustling. Pinxos.
Follow Charlemagne and Hemingway's footsteps over the pyrenees from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Pamplona through the pass of Roncesvalles while reading the song of Roland (and the Sun also Rises)
Pamplona bull fighting
If you go further east I recommend the Cirque de Gavarnie - a stunning bit of the Pyrenees, or the gorges d'holzerte which seem like the land that time forgot (and nobody goes there). Must be some good climbing there.
Look out for festivals. Every village has one in the summer and you'll see traditional dress and grilled sardines and endless cider.
Eat gateau basque, bacalau, confit de canard.
Drink Madiran (my favourite wine), cider and armagnac. If you're a bit further north east in Gascony try some Flock. If you further west in galicia drink whites from the baixas
If you're into strange history:
Look out for evidence of the cagots in street names and low doors on the sides of churches. A fascinating story of a marginalised underclass (like the untouchables) that lived for centuries around the Pyrennees and whose descendants are still teased in school playgrounds today.
Look up the pilgrimage to compostella and contemplate whether it is in fact a pagan march to the setting sun, or to pay homage to Priscillian rather than Saint James.
Read about the aquelarre of Zugarramurdi where young girls boiled babies and kissed the devil under his tail.
Read about Basque folklore of Sugaar the serpent and the flame, and Mari, and the laminak and the basajaunak and spot the lauburu (like a swastika) everywhere. |  | | |
| Nothern Spain on 11:31 - Jan 23 with 2940 views | karl |
Used to sell loads of shellfish into Asturias region and went there for a trip to see customer etc. food was great and climate in October was perfect for me but fortunately no rain and we were told that was unusual.
We stayed in a small town called Avilles and it was a cracking little place with a relaxed atmosphere.
There was a small airport pretty close by that we flew in on easyjet to but i can't remember its name now.
Went to Vigo as well and agree about it not being a very attractive place but was amazed at the scale of the mussel farming and the fish market was great but that was very much on the business side of things for me and not really touristy stuff |  | | |
| Nothern Spain on 12:20 - Jan 23 with 2918 views | TheChef |
Still Spain but slightly off topic - we're going to Valencia for a long weekend in March, any tips for what to see/do from anyone who's been there before? |  |
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| Nothern Spain on 12:38 - Jan 23 with 2909 views | aston_hoop |
| Nothern Spain on 12:20 - Jan 23 by TheChef |
Still Spain but slightly off topic - we're going to Valencia for a long weekend in March, any tips for what to see/do from anyone who's been there before? |
Which weekend are you going? Valencia's big annual celebration - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falles is on between 15th-19th this year. I went last year, it was strangely mad and brilliant. |  |
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| Nothern Spain on 12:52 - Jan 23 with 2894 views | hopphoops |
| Nothern Spain on 12:20 - Jan 23 by TheChef |
Still Spain but slightly off topic - we're going to Valencia for a long weekend in March, any tips for what to see/do from anyone who's been there before? |
Another fine city. The old market is brilliant.
"Farton" sponge fingers are good but "horchata" milky drink is bleurghh IMHO.
The holy grail is in a niche in the cathedral (according to the sign at least). Worth knowing if you were thinking of wasting time looking elsewhere for it. |  |
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| Nothern Spain on 13:01 - Jan 23 with 2884 views | TheChef |
| Nothern Spain on 12:38 - Jan 23 by aston_hoop |
Which weekend are you going? Valencia's big annual celebration - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falles is on between 15th-19th this year. I went last year, it was strangely mad and brilliant. |
Ah didn't know that - we are going the weekend before. Oh well! | |
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| Nothern Spain on 18:01 - Jan 23 with 2843 views | SonofNorfolt |
If Valencia are at home go to the Mestalla it's a great ground. |  | | |
| Nothern Spain on 22:45 - Jan 23 with 2794 views | MrSheen |
I’d never heard of the Cagots before, what a fascinating mystery. It sounds a bit like the treatment of Burakumin in Japan.
We’ve still got a bottle of Floc we brought back from Condom about ten years ago. Love it on holiday, never in the mood when we got home. Armagnac makers produce it as a sideline. We visited 4 or 5 of them when we were there, and they were all well into their 70s. I wonder how much will still be made in 20 years time. |  | | |
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| Nothern Spain on 10:04 - Jan 24 with 2753 views | dannyblue |
The Cagots fascinate me. I ended up doing a masters to study their history.
The Burakumin were marginalised because of something tangible, because of the work they did. While many of the Cagots were carpenters and joiners not all were, and it’s difficult to see that work as being a source of disgust. They spoke the same language as everyone else, had the same culture, were the same religion and ethnicity. But if you had the bad luck be born a Cagot you were tainted. You couldn’t drink from a public fountain, touch food in the market, marry a non Cagot. You had to sit in a special section in the church and had to wear a symbol on your clothes, often a red duck’s foot. You were said to stink, to have contagious breath and a latent leprosy, grass withered under your feet and apples shrivelled to your touch. | | | |
| Nothern Spain on 11:26 - Jan 24 with 2728 views | karl |
| Nothern Spain on 10:04 - Jan 24 by dannyblue |
The Cagots fascinate me. I ended up doing a masters to study their history.
The Burakumin were marginalised because of something tangible, because of the work they did. While many of the Cagots were carpenters and joiners not all were, and it’s difficult to see that work as being a source of disgust. They spoke the same language as everyone else, had the same culture, were the same religion and ethnicity. But if you had the bad luck be born a Cagot you were tainted. You couldn’t drink from a public fountain, touch food in the market, marry a non Cagot. You had to sit in a special section in the church and had to wear a symbol on your clothes, often a red duck’s foot. You were said to stink, to have contagious breath and a latent leprosy, grass withered under your feet and apples shrivelled to your touch. |
Now they're made to sit in Stamford Bridge, poor souls.... | | | |
| Nothern Spain on 21:18 - Jan 24 with 2627 views | LoftusR |
Thanks for all the tips. I need to get the map out and plan a route. Any hotel or other accommodation recommendations? | | | |
| Nothern Spain on 14:08 - Jun 14 with 2396 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Nothern Spain on 15:04 - Jan 22 by CroydonCaptJack |
Yes, that makes sense Ted as the whole novel is about a cathedral being built. When I tell people it is one of the best books I have ever read they look perplexed at that but it really is a great book. |
Croydon - finished Pillars of the Earth last night. I loved parts of it - those concentrating on the building and some of the political machinations were excellent. I'd stop short of calling it a classic, though. But still, damn good.
Thanks for the tip! |  |
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| Nothern Spain on 15:49 - Jun 14 with 2327 views | wood_hoop |
wish i had not missed this post when originally first put up, I have been going to Galicia for over thirty years and having been pretty much all over Spain and quite a few of its islands can say maybe with a bit of a biased view to be one of the most beautiful and un-spoilt regions still left.
Has changed a fair bit over time but still very 'Spanish' and if ever looking for a weekend away a bit different to the usual 'piss up' spots in Iberia can't go far wrong.
Either La Coruna from LHR or Santiago from Stansted are great starting points, can get good and cheap train service between the two, about thirty minutes or so apart, and other services that will take you to Vigo and other cities.
Roads are much better now than they used to be with the auto pista system but if you like your vino why bother driving when the train service is so good.
Some good beaches in La Coruna with great bars and food places, nice compact centre to the town so easy to walk around and stumble upon places, stay away from the harbour joints, there good but much pricier now you get the cruise ships stopping there.
A region where you get a lot of Spainards who go for the whole summer so geared very much towards that market and not a 'Euro' tourist trap.
It is true a smattering of Spanish will go a long way, many more do speak English than years back but menus etc still very much in Spanish.
The weather is also a bit kinder than the east and south of Spain, still pretty warm but can be pretty green most of the year, so don't be surprised if you get a few grey days even in the summer. |  | | |
| Nothern Spain on 16:23 - Jun 14 with 2304 views | PlanetHonneywood |
Apologies, as I’m sure it’s been mentioned, but Bilbao and San Sebastián are great places. But if you want to shake your head at mankind’s tendency to commit horrors, swing by Guernica for a few hours. |  |
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| Nothern Spain on 17:47 - Jun 14 with 2265 views | SonofNorfolt |
I was in Asturias last week, taking in El Molinon in Gijon, which is not a bad place at all, especially so if you like cider and octupus, and let's face it, who doesn't? | | | |
| Nothern Spain on 04:57 - Jun 15 with 2202 views | timcocking |
I remember taking the ferry to Bilbao once. Just turned 20, decided to hitch-hike across the Pyrenees and see if i could find a job in a Ski resort. Had no money whatsoever, completely on my own, couldn't speak a word of Spanish. Took a few starving days, but made it to Andorra eventually. Got fed en route by a Nun who was insistent i was the new Jesus Christ (i've always secretly believed it). Got a job in the Arinsal ski boot locker room. I couldn't answer anybodies' questions, but i learned to say 'hi tiendas ariba' which means there's a shop upstairs or something. And, of course, dos cervezas for favour y cafe con leche. Y one Bocadillo con jamon y queso (pernil y formatge in Catalan, because the stubborn buggers don't speak Spanish).
Had to catch the chairlift to work at 6am every day whilst chronically hungover. Almost killed me. Breathtakingly beautiful up in the mountains, truly awe-inspiring. I could look out of my window at work and see France fcuking miles away. Clouds down below. Andorra, usually sunny. I'd go snowboarding after work (well, at work but don't tell them) in my board shorts and sunnies late in the season, walkman on, not a person in sight. Fantastic stuff. Snowboarding is a remarkably good and surprisingly easy sport. I'd recommend strongly to anybody under 40 or 50. Just to be up there in those mountains if you have never experienced such a thing...so beautiful. Great for the soul. Gorgeous chicas everywhere. Nice local meats and cheeses, cheap booze. Spanish schools sending the children to learn to Ski aged 5, so cute. Everybody smoking everywhere all the time, in the bank, in the hospital, on the bus. It's a fabulous life out there, really nice. And then you have Barcelona and the mediterranean just down the road. Surf on the east coast in Bilbao if you need it. Lucky bastards. We should have conquered them when we could.
The Pyrenees are extremely beautiful, and obviously the South of France is as good as it gets, but too expensive and full of stuck up tw@ts.
Then there was the Spanish table football, wow. They have players carved from metal, in the colours of Barcelona and Espanyol (or Real), with two individual feet as opposed to a square plastic base. It's a man's game, not the children's sh!t we have. The formation is 3-3-4, not 2-5-3. The carved feet means a skilful player (of which you'd better believe i'm one (i got to the final of a competition in London once and was robbed in the final, bloody unlucky)) can bend and pass the ball and stuff. My piece de resistance was being able to pass back to my 'keeper and chip the ball back over everybody's' head into the other goal. Nobody enjoyed that being done to them. The old timers would meet in the evenings and play; four seventy year olds sweating buckets, curses flying. A superb sport. I've always been amazed we don't have it in England (those crap tables we have don't count, it's like comparing a real snooker table with an argos kids table). They take that seriously over there. I want one of those tables.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwimj [Post edited 15 Jun 2019 5:26]
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| Nothern Spain on 21:04 - Jun 16 with 2031 views | Boston |
Bognors lovely at this time of the year. | |
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| Nothern Spain on 19:30 - Sep 8 with 1739 views | BrianMcCarthy |
More ‘Pillars of the Earth’ chat.
I liked the book generally, some bits didn’t hit with me at all - the prose, mostly - but it must have had an effect. I’m in the Pyrenees at the moment hiking and saw a staggering cathedral yesterday. I think it might have been mentioned in the book. Either way, reading the book helped me understand the beauty and ingenuity of the ancient building as I strode/ambled/toddled/limped towards it.
So, landed in St. Bertrand de Comminges, I stayed in a hostel which turned out to be a presbetary, which turned out to be a presbetary run by a Japanese woman who maintains that God spoke to her when she was twelve and again when she was an adult to tell her to go to the Pyrenees and serve him.
So there she was, making me Thai soup in a presbetary in the Pyrenees. I answered that I was heading West towards Lourdes, she presumed naturally that I was religious and talked to me about God for, oh, a very long time. Meanwhile, the Parisian woman who had caught my eye across the Thai soup packed it all in and went to bed.
The upshot of all the God-talk, and some of it was interesting, most likely, was that the Japanese lady turned out to be the caretaker of the cathedral and having mistaken my silence as confirmation that I was as devout as her gave me a private showing - stop it - of the entire cathedral the folllowing morning.
I may not be religious but I love visiting churches. I love the architecture, the history, the silence, the beauty, and the contradictions of the wealth of the owners and the poverty of the donors makes me sanguine.
So I’ve visited many churches, cathedrals, mission houses, whatyoumaycallims all around the world. This one is the best. The workmanship and beauty is a step or two above anything I’ve very seen.
If any of you get a chance, it’s on the border about 100km east of Lourdes.
And thanks again for the book tip, Croydon. | |
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| Nothern Spain on 19:59 - Sep 8 with 1707 views | dannyblue |
Saint-Bertrand-de-comminges
That’s definitely a good one. I became fascinated by the place and it led me into lots of stories about people like Bertrand de Got and Jean de Mauleon. The crocodile. And Saint-Just-de-Valcabrere good too. Warrants a few choice words in the Cantos of Ezra Pound, ‘the Garonne thick like paint’. And an MR James short story. I’m jealous of your private tour. | | | |
| Nothern Spain on 20:11 - Sep 8 with 1690 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
| Nothern Spain on 19:30 - Sep 8 by BrianMcCarthy |
More ‘Pillars of the Earth’ chat.
I liked the book generally, some bits didn’t hit with me at all - the prose, mostly - but it must have had an effect. I’m in the Pyrenees at the moment hiking and saw a staggering cathedral yesterday. I think it might have been mentioned in the book. Either way, reading the book helped me understand the beauty and ingenuity of the ancient building as I strode/ambled/toddled/limped towards it.
So, landed in St. Bertrand de Comminges, I stayed in a hostel which turned out to be a presbetary, which turned out to be a presbetary run by a Japanese woman who maintains that God spoke to her when she was twelve and again when she was an adult to tell her to go to the Pyrenees and serve him.
So there she was, making me Thai soup in a presbetary in the Pyrenees. I answered that I was heading West towards Lourdes, she presumed naturally that I was religious and talked to me about God for, oh, a very long time. Meanwhile, the Parisian woman who had caught my eye across the Thai soup packed it all in and went to bed.
The upshot of all the God-talk, and some of it was interesting, most likely, was that the Japanese lady turned out to be the caretaker of the cathedral and having mistaken my silence as confirmation that I was as devout as her gave me a private showing - stop it - of the entire cathedral the folllowing morning.
I may not be religious but I love visiting churches. I love the architecture, the history, the silence, the beauty, and the contradictions of the wealth of the owners and the poverty of the donors makes me sanguine.
So I’ve visited many churches, cathedrals, mission houses, whatyoumaycallims all around the world. This one is the best. The workmanship and beauty is a step or two above anything I’ve very seen.
If any of you get a chance, it’s on the border about 100km east of Lourdes.
And thanks again for the book tip, Croydon. |
During the private showing did you enter any lower chambers? |  | | |
| Nothern Spain (n/t) on 20:21 - Sep 8 with 1682 views | Faurlinho |
[Post edited 8 Sep 2019 20:24]
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| Nothern Spain on 20:39 - Sep 8 with 1664 views | PunteR |
| Nothern Spain on 19:30 - Sep 8 by BrianMcCarthy |
More ‘Pillars of the Earth’ chat.
I liked the book generally, some bits didn’t hit with me at all - the prose, mostly - but it must have had an effect. I’m in the Pyrenees at the moment hiking and saw a staggering cathedral yesterday. I think it might have been mentioned in the book. Either way, reading the book helped me understand the beauty and ingenuity of the ancient building as I strode/ambled/toddled/limped towards it.
So, landed in St. Bertrand de Comminges, I stayed in a hostel which turned out to be a presbetary, which turned out to be a presbetary run by a Japanese woman who maintains that God spoke to her when she was twelve and again when she was an adult to tell her to go to the Pyrenees and serve him.
So there she was, making me Thai soup in a presbetary in the Pyrenees. I answered that I was heading West towards Lourdes, she presumed naturally that I was religious and talked to me about God for, oh, a very long time. Meanwhile, the Parisian woman who had caught my eye across the Thai soup packed it all in and went to bed.
The upshot of all the God-talk, and some of it was interesting, most likely, was that the Japanese lady turned out to be the caretaker of the cathedral and having mistaken my silence as confirmation that I was as devout as her gave me a private showing - stop it - of the entire cathedral the folllowing morning.
I may not be religious but I love visiting churches. I love the architecture, the history, the silence, the beauty, and the contradictions of the wealth of the owners and the poverty of the donors makes me sanguine.
So I’ve visited many churches, cathedrals, mission houses, whatyoumaycallims all around the world. This one is the best. The workmanship and beauty is a step or two above anything I’ve very seen.
If any of you get a chance, it’s on the border about 100km east of Lourdes.
And thanks again for the book tip, Croydon. |
your a good man Brian, love how you just let her speak about her beliefs. Listening is underrated these days. As you've proved,you get more out of listening. [Post edited 8 Sep 2019 20:45]
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| Occasional providers of half decent House music. |
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| Nothern Spain on 21:10 - Sep 8 with 1627 views | Billy_Kershaw |
San Sebastian is great for sure.
Blibao seemed a bit more industrial and the Guggenheim was mainly modern art so may not be to everyone's taste! |  |
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