Roy wrote about part of this trip in the previous post, but I want to tell you about some of the other places we visited.

We left Barcelona on one of the last days in October, it still feeling and looking like summer to us. Our plan was to make it to Andorra la Vella, the capital of Andorra, by lunch time and do a little shopping. The only problem with this plan was that shops close in the afternoon in Andorra just like in Spain. Andorra promotes itself as “the” place to shop as it is duty-free. The only places we could find open were a few bars and restaurants. So if we couldn’t shop, we could at least eat and drink! It turned out that there was a promotion going on while we were there for the “Food Explorers Route to Andorra”.

Selected restaurants on the route featured a tapa and drink for 3 €. The place we found was featuring “Frankfurt Cruixent” and it was the best, most beautiful frankfurter either of us has ever had! Before long we were headed back to Spain.

I had read an article about a tiny town in the Catalan Pyrenees where a Barcelona artist had done modern frescoes covering nearly the entire inside of the 1,100-year-old church. I thought it would be interesting to visit. The village of Saurí is described as remote and they weren’t exaggerating. It is at the end of a road and is listed as having 16 inhabitants. We only saw one and he was working on a roof. We found a church but it was locked up and no one was around to ask. It was a bit eerie as we walked around this village and didn’t see a soul, except for the one man on the roof. Maybe next time…

Driving through the Pyrenees was slow but beautiful with new, amazing scenery around every corner. We came across a few pastures of cows where the cows were wearing bells. Here is a video where you can hear what we got to hear.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VQyRi-8VbU&w=640]

 

After spending the night in a cozy ski resort in Sort, we started for Pamplona. Today was Halloween and we found a man selling freshly roasted chestnuts in paper cones on the street of our AirBnB. A few people were dressed in costumes, but they don’t go door to door asking for treats here. A bar just steps from our door had a brass band playing that night. While there we met a couple of Irish expats who then introduced us to their friends. We don’t need to go into all the details here, but it was a fun, very late evening for all of us.

The next day was All Saint’s Day which is a more important holiday in Spain than Halloween. The tradition here is to bring flowers to your families’ graves on this day. We arrived in Logroño to crowds of people entering and leaving the cemetery. So many, that police were out directing traffic. While in Logroño we had to go sample the tapas bars on Laurel Street and see if they were still as busy as in the summer and they were.

Some of the prettiest fall foliage we saw on this drive was in the vineyards around Logroño and Laguardia. We found Laguardia to be fascinating little town. There is a big clock in the center of town that has figures that come out and dance at certain hours. A crowd gathers to watch at the appointed hour. This place is in the heart of wine country. We picked up a 4 page listing of bodegas (wineries) in the Laguardia area, but there are only so many bodegas one can visit in a day. From there, it was a short drive to Vitoria-Gastiez, today’s destination.

Vitoria-Gastiez was named the green capital of Europe in 2012 and it is surrounded by a 30 kilometer walking and  biking trail. We spent our time exploring the old part of town and the bike trails. There was a celebration of an anniversary of the Camino de Santiago going on. Many tents were set up in the old town selling food and artisan made goods. It was a very festive atmosphere.

The playing card museum in Vitoria-Gastiez that is attached to the archaeological museum was a fascinating place where we spent an afternoon. They also have covered escalators replacing some of the steep stairs in the old part of town!

We stopped in for a a short visit to Tolosa on our way to San Sebastian. This village is rumored to have a fabulous farmers market every Saturday. I purchased some medlars here because I was curious about them. They are ugly fruit but I learned a few things while researching them. Besides their insulting nicknames, they must be bletted. This is a process of letting the fruit ripen until it is brown and squishy. Sounds a bit like rotting and it must be done to make these fruits edible. They reminded me a lot of bland applesauce, which I think I would rather eat.

We arrived in San Sebastian in mid-afternoon – aka lunch time in Spain. It is on the Atlantic coast and has a beautiful beach called La Concha because of its shell shape. We had really been anticipating trying some of the pintxos here and it didn’t take long to find a restaurant with a wonderful spread. The pintxos are culinary masterpieces in miniature. You just grab a plate and choose what you want. Some places want to do the serving and then you just point to what you want.

We hiked up Mont Urgull to see the old castle and got a lovely view of the beach and bay. Rain clouds were coming and we managed to hike down and just make it  to our place before it started coming down!

In the morning we drove through the green misty mountains of the coast range and watched as the land dried out and changed as the miles went by. As we entered Catalonia there was a huge traffic backup on the other side of the highway that was one of the separatist’s protests.

When we returned to Barcelona it was finally starting to feel a little like fall. On our walk home we were attracted to the sounds of Latin music. We followed our ears and found a little bar with a couple of musicians playing Cuban music. The crowd there was really enjoying themselves – they would spontaneously stand up and start dancing. I thought “this never happens where I’m from”! It just felt like the perfect ending to our little getaway!