From Portugal to Northern Spain

We actually wanted to drive to the Peneda Geres National Park in Porto, but unfortunately the weather was predicted to be bad. We didn't want to subject Miss Molly to getting stuck in the mud or something. So, at the last minute, we chose a small campsite in the village of Esposende on the coast as our last stop in Portugal. It was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by agricultural fields and about 300 meters from the sea. The campsite was mainly occupied by seasonal campers, but luckily, due to the not-so-great weather, there was only one other couple there besides us. The sun even came out in the afternoon, so we were able to relax by the sea, although the temperatures were quite cool... The next day, we drove to Barcelos for a large market. They had everything from fruits and vegetables, plants, live animals to clothes and shoes. The market is quite popular and usually crowded, but we were lucky because it kept raining, so we had plenty of space 😉 and I even found some fabrics 😊

After the market, we continued towards Spain. With a heavy heart, we left beautiful Portugal.... I think the sky was crying because of it.... 😇 Near Sanxexo/O Grove, we found a beautiful secluded spot for the night, right in front of a quirky rock formation. The landscape and weather were quite similar to Ireland, beautiful but with weather changes every 5 minutes..... Despite the rain and storm, we had a peaceful night there. The next day, we drove inland through Santiago de Compostela to A Coruña. We stayed for 1 night at the small campsite As Cabazas, which is located on a beautiful little beach. This area is usually a popular surfing spot, but due to the weather, it was deserted. But we were lucky because the sun came out for 2 hours, so we could relax and read on the beach.

We continued along the Galician coast to Foz. Near there, we visited Praia As Catedrais, the Cathedral Beach. Although we were once again completely random, we instinctively chose the right time to visit because it was low tide, allowing us to walk along the entire beach and through the rock formations. Despite the crowds, it was very beautiful and worth it. It didn't rain for once 😉 Afterward, we stayed at a small campsite near Foz and spent 2 days lounging, reading, and sleeping in the rain, wind, and cold temperatures. One afternoon, the sun even briefly came out, so we were able to take a long walk on the beach. It's the little things that bring happiness 😊

From Galicia, we continued to Asturias and then Cantabria. Along the way, we visited Playa de Gulpiyuri, a beach that is located behind the cliffs instead of directly on the sea, and the expansive Playa Franka. In Pechon, at Playa de Miro, we found a great sleeping spot on a small cliffside parking lot, which we only had to share with one other van. It was an incredibly beautiful place with a view of a bay. It's hard to imagine how incredibly beautiful it must be here in good weather..... We had also bought groceries for dinner, including some meat for the first time in a while, and had prepared everything. I wanted to turn on the gas stove... nothing! The past few days, we had noticed a slightly strange smell, but we didn't realize it meant the gas was running out... 🙈 So, we had to have a cold dinner and hope that everything would stay fresh overnight in the refrigerator without electricity. Since you can't refill gas bottles in Spain and France (especially not without an adapter), and the usual gas bottles there don't fit in our van's compartment and the connections aren't compatible either, we drove to a larger supermarket the next day and bought a new portable stove and small gas bottles there. We have to keep moving somehow 😬 But in hindsight, we're glad it happened in Spain, where we found an inexpensive solution. In France, both the portable stoves and gas bottles cost more than double....

After solving the 'problem', we continued to San Vicente de la Barquera, where we found a nice spot on a small parking lot right next to the beach and were even able to take a beautiful walk on the beach in some sunshine. But then it rained all night again and it wasn't going to get much better, so we moved to a nearby campsite with a heated swimming pool for the next 2 days. Besides us, there were only retirees there, so we brought the average age down (and that means something 😂). From the campsite, we could see the Picos de Europa in the hinterland, although they were mostly hidden behind the gray clouds.

Then we actually wanted to go to San Sebastian, or rather to the Zarautz beach right before, and stay there for free, but we couldn't even drive to the beach and we didn't really like it there. And since there was no parking space in San Sebastian, we spontaneously decided to continue to France on the same day. It's not far away....

As beautiful as it was in northern Spain, we were simply fed up with the gray sky, constant rain, and a maximum temperature of 13 degrees. The weather forecast for France was good, so we filled up our tank cheaply and headed to France....