Our second trip to Spain, we wanted to revisit basque country because of the great food and beautiful nature. This time we also drove east to Valencia on the mediterranean coast. We brought the bikes and spent most of our days either hiking, cycling or kayaking.
We have breakfast at eight. The Mas des Loges is a very nice place, with modern rooms and a very nice courtyard. We have breakfast outside with fresh local products and can leave around 9. I drive the first shift, it takes about an hour on curvy roads to get to the highway. Traffic is… Continue reading 1000 km to go
Our last holiday day and we decide to chill out. Breakfast outside, although the sun is too warm already and we need a parasol. More chill out time at the pool under a parasol. Blue sky, sunny, a little wind: excellent chilling conditions. I continue on this journal and Arne reads until it is time… Continue reading Likoké
We get up a bit late, due to the excesses of the evening before. Breakfast in the datcha is a French style buffet, everything is really fresh and excellently prepared. High point is some pudding, which I top with homemade choco. A spa entry is included in our package, we are expected at 17h in… Continue reading at the spa
Having calculated that we don’t need the whole day to get from Spain to France, we have arranged for a kayak tour in the morning. We pack up all our stuff, load the bikes on the car and take off around 9 am. After some searching we find the kayak place. Unfortunately, even though we… Continue reading Illa de Buda
We had decided this would be a quiet day. We’ve had several very active ones and don’t want to overdo it. In the morning we go to the Albufera Nature Reserve, which is a huge area of rice fields with a lagoon at the center. It is a reserve because there is a lot of… Continue reading Albufera Nature Reserve
We had planned this day a couple of days earlier, so we drive to Valencia and know where to park. From the Bioparc parking we take the bikes and drive all the way around the center of town through the park that was laid in an old river bed. It is a wide park that… Continue reading Valencia
This is our unplanned gastronomical surprise. Arne has managed to secure a table at Quique Dacosta, which is about 1h30 drive from Algimia de Alfara. First we do a walk to work up an appetite: a part of the Via Verde in Denía, where the restaurant is located. This is beach land, very different from… Continue reading Quique Dacosta
Since we want a quiet day, we plan only small activities. Gemma tells us about a cave with an underground river that you can visit by boat. She also gives us the name of a guide for Sagunto castle. We ask her to call and set up a tour for this evening. The visit of… Continue reading Sagunto fortress
Today we cycle our second Via Verde. It’s a bit more difficult to organize. We plan to take the train from the end point to the start, but when we inquire at the station there is no room for the bikes. The bike places are reserved for the rest of the week. We decide to… Continue reading Via Verde – part 2
We pack up, give the local kittens a last hug and leave the B&B. Fernando has told us about a monasterio on the road to Zaragoza. Arne drives, it’s a relatively new high way and very comfortable. Also a bit boring. kittens at the B&Bwildlife at the Monasterio The road to the Monasterio del Piedra… Continue reading Monasterio de Piedra
This is our day off, all we have planned is lunch at Azurmendi. The weather at Aretxabaleta is still bad, so we drive to the coast and do some scenic driving. We see some cute fisher villages and impressive landscapes and then go to the restaurant. Food is great, the wines as well. Service is… Continue reading Azurmendi
After our bicycle adventures we feel it’s time for something else and plan a walk. Fernando recommends to do a part of the coastal walking path that goes to Compostella. At the B&B it’s raining and there’s a low cloud cover, so the local walks will not allow nice views. We prepare our sandwiches and… Continue reading to Compostella (for 13 km)
Today we do the planned bicycle trip on the Via Verde del FC. Vasco Navarro I and a part of II. We park the car in the suburbs of Vitoria-Gasteiz and start cycling. We find the start of the route by matching our position on Google Maps to the map of the Via Verde itself.… Continue reading Via Verde
we get up fashionably late and have breakfast from the buffet, with local cheese and of course smoked ham. after some advice from Fernando, we decide to take the bikes to the Embalso Ullibarri-Gamboa, which is a reservoir lake near Vitoria-Gasteiz. there’s supposed to be a bicycle path all around the lake of about 45… Continue reading Bike trip around Landa
we try to get up a bit later, to get into the Spanish time zone. breakfast is great, with homemade scones and marmalades. we pack up everything again and have some trouble fitting it into the car. we take off, first taking national roads to get to Bordeaux and then on the highway to Donostía.… Continue reading Etxebarri
This is our third time to Spain: we visited the northern Atlantic coast in 2008, Donostia and Bilbao in 2013 and now back for more. we love the nature, the food and the people and are actually repeating some of the visits we did before, though this time we will also cross to the western… Continue reading To Spain and back: day 1
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