Northern Spain and Brittany August 2003

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Spain 000Dockside at Santander, Northern Spain. We docked at Santander after 24 hours crossing from Plymouth. Santander looks fabulous when you approach - but when you get to the dock you arrive at its industrial heart - best to drive straight out of town!
Spain 004 Viaduct disappearing into sea fog, near Santander. This was the main E16 across Northern Spain, hidden by the fog that forms as cold air rolls in off the sea.
Spain 005Robs cooling off in the Rio Trubia at Tunon in Someido National Park, Asturias, Northern Spain. The day was 40 degrees plus and it was hard to keep cool, so we stopped off and chilled out in the river.
Spain 010 Horses with bells, Puerta de la Ventana mountain pass, Asturias, Northern Spain. There was a group of horses and cattle high up in the Picos, wandering around the mountainside. And one massive sleepy dog watching them, who we didnt't even notice at first. There were no people to be seen.
Spain 016Friendly old ladies, Santiago de Compostela, Northern Spain. An art installation - very funny.
Spain 017 Narrowest street in Santiago de Compostela. It had two restaurants at the far end, just behind me.
Spain 023Mad blissed-out Catholic hippies at Santiago Cathedral. They were from some strange South American/Spanish cult worshipping St. James
Spain 027 God's Eye and Botofumeiro, Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. A masonic symbol?
Spain 030Cathedral of Santiago
Spain 031 Chocolat con churros. Our favourite breakfast, probably the one thing about Spanish culture Robs liked best!
Spain 037Beach near Louro, Galicia, Northern Spain. Golden sands stretching for miles with barely a handful of people.
Spain 044 Riano, Picos De Europa. This is a sleepy town in the southern Picos, and this was the view from the local petrol station. Imagine seeing this view from your place of work every day. Riano is the town where we reported the theft of Robs' bag to the Guardia Civil.
Spain 054Road from Covadonga to Lago Enol and Lago Ercina, Picos De Europa. The road rises above cloud level to about 1500m. We got nervous as we were the only vehicles heading up as night drew in. Lots of cars were coming down.
Spain 056 Mountain goats in the road from Covadonga.
Spain 057Finally reaching Lago Enol just as the sun sets
Spain 058 Lago Ercina, Picos de Europa - we camped in the car park here overnight. There were no lights and we watched the stars come out in the jet-black sky.
Spain 059Lago Ercina
Spain 066 Bull pulling a cart in the Carneval de Geants during Gran Semana, Bilbao. This was a bizarre semi-pagan festival, with huge grotesque figures accompanied by wailing pipe bands.
Spain 071Carneval de Geants, Bilbao. These figures slowly danced along, occasionally slowly waltzing round. The figures appeared caricatures of historical characters, except for one who looked like an English tourist complete with knotted handkerchief.
Spain 075 "Puppy" and Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao. "Puppy" is by Jeff Koons and has travelled the world!. But now he lives here...
Spain 076"Puppy" and Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
Spain 081 Robs outside the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao. A spectacular building but not opressive at all, lots of visitors hanging around, sitting and chatting.
Spain 083"Maman" and Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao. Maman is a representation of sculptress Louise Bourgeois' mother - a tapestry weaver and strong feminist
Sush1 Susheela Rahman on stage in Plaza Nueva during Gran Semana, Bilbao. We had no idea we arriving during Gran Semana, and were especially chuffed that Susheela Raman was playing.
Spain 097Mundaka. This amazing beach is formed where the river meets the sea. We stayed in Mundaka while Robs passport was sorted out in Bilbao (about 30 miles away)
Spain 100 Sunset, Lac de Biscarrosse at Parentis near Bordeaux, France. The lake was sandy and warm. Strangely, there were many oil rigs out in the lake glittering in the dark.
Spain 105Dune de Pyla, Arcachon, France. This is the biggest dune in Europe at about 120m tall. Coming down, Robs was convinced that if we sat on bin bags we would HURTLE down at a million miles an hour. We actually got stuck.
Spain 106 View south, Dune de Pyla showing the forest de Gascogne.
Spain 109Storks nests, Parc Ornithologique, La Teich, France. This is a huge ornithological park in the estuary of the River Leyre. We went for a walk around the perimeter at sunset and heard the funniest clacking sound as storks on the nest greeted others flying in to roost.
Spain 110 Sunset, Parc Ornithologique, La Teich. This was the point where the mossies began to feast...
Spain 116Coypu, Parc Ornithologique, La Teich. They are encouraged, to keep the vegetation down! This one was quite bold walking across the path in front of us, less bold when confronted by an angry hissing swan.
Spain 117 Heron, Parc Ornithologique, La Teich. Viewed from a really well-placed hide from which we could see loads of birds.
Spain 120Er Lannic from Gavrinis, Gulf de Morbihan, Brittany, France. The island of Er Lannic has two half-submerged stone circles - the sea level has risen about 15 feet since they were built. The island of Gavrinis has a spectacular dolmen with unique carvings, looking out over the entrance to the Gulf.
Spain 129 Carnac, Brittany, France. Thousands of stones stretching for kilometres in perfect straight lines, over fields, through woods. What is their secret? Where is the mothership?
Spain 132Carnac. Strange animals frozen in rock.
Spain 142 Cave, Grotte De l'Apothicairerie, Belle Ile, Brittany, France. The view from the top of the cliff was fairly spectacular but this cave was special - powerful waves crashing through from either side. The water was clear and we could see the massive bedrock stretching down below the water.
Spain 147Cave, Grotte De l'Apothicairerie, Belle Ile, Brittany
Spain 150 Cave, Grotte De l'Apothicairerie, Belle Ile, Brittany
Spain 153Dolmen de Rondossec, Plouharnel near Carnac. A large mound with a well-preserved group of three passage tombs. We were just driving past and saw a small sign to this very impressive ruin. There was no-one around, no fuss.
Spain 156 Dolmen de Rondossec, Plouharnel near Carnac. The chamber on the largest tomb - big enough to stand upright.
Spain 166Sunset at Santec near Roscoff, Brittany. From the campsite I saw a beautiful sunset develop and ran to the beach. It changed in seconds, and this was its dying moments.