Day 65-75: Ups and downs and everything that comes with them

Day 65-75.

Review March 2024.

Eva searches the Wilhelmsburg library for travel guides for northern Spain. When she has a quiet moment, she wants to find out what there is to see there. The quiet moment doesn't happen and the books end up back on the library shelves shortly before departure. In that sense, we went to northern Spain completely unprepared. What luck!

The Parque Natural de Somiedo surprises us with its wild beauty. We are completely blown away by the green, high mountains and deep valleys through which we chug by bus. When we then drive past a sign saying "Caution! Bears are crossing the road!" we look at each other with wide eyes. Bears??? 🐻 Wild boars are more than enough.

Our parking spot in Pola de Somiedo is probably a perfect starting point for observing bears on the slopes. Chris still goes for a run, as the animals are said to be shy of people.

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Thunderstorms are forecast for the afternoon and night, and unfortunately the next few days promise to be very rainy. We actually want to see a few worthwhile mountain lakes, but the weather is more likely to suggest romantic hours in the bus. Lore is still going through a growth spurt, a phase, or simply a difficult time, so we can hardly imagine spending the next three days in a 4 square meter space with a whining baby again.

So we decide to go back to the coast at short notice and rent an apartment in the fishing village of Cudillero.

Cudillero is said to be one of the most beautiful coastal villages in all of northern Spain and we notice this, but mainly because of the masses of tourists that flood the small town every day. And we are still in the low season AND the weather is bad.

But we still like the place very much and you can explore it from all altitudes in a very short time.

Our apartment is a small studio and we are happy to finally be able to take a few steps around the room and let Lore play on the floor.

When we arrive, we discover the small alleys and the local cheese of the region. The village certainly seems very idyllic at first glance, but behind the colorful facades, many houses are empty, some are just ruins, and "for sale" posters are hanging on the walls everywhere. It seems as if the fishing village is really just a tourist attraction. What a pity 😔

The next day is wet, as expected, but we still make a trip to Capo Vidio. The view of the sea and the rugged coastline is spectacular. After a short, heavy rain shower, we go on a mini hike, past narrow coastal paths and magnificent hydrangea bushes. What a sight!

After we have weathered the rain in our small apartment, we get back in the bus and head to the Picos de Europa mountains. The campsite is completely out of the way, so we have to stock up on food beforehand. We are given a warm welcome on the small site and discover the village of Santa Marina de Valdeón, which has five houses. The rain clouds are still hanging between the peaks, but you can tell that the mountains are pretty high.

And indeed, the next morning the clouds have moved on and we look out onto blue skies and breathtaking mountain slopes.

So now it's time to carpe diem! Seize the day and, above all, make the most of the sun. Eva puts on her climbing gear and climbs along the rocks for 3 hours. A perfect mum's break. Meanwhile, Chris is exploring a local ultra-running race and can already feel the tingling in his toes at the prospect of finally running between the mountains again.

The sun is now blazing down from the sky, so we treat ourselves to something to eat after the via ferrata. Then we head into a gorge that is apparently very well-known, because it is suddenly teeming with hikers. Apart from that, there is not much going on.

Contrary to the crowds, we don't want to walk back and forth through the gorge, so we take a small path at the end of the gorge. Even though the path is visible on our digital map, in reality it is more of an animal path and we decide to turn back relatively quickly. Jumping over streams with a sleeping baby in a carrier is something else entirely.

We really like it here, even though it rains again the next morning. Chris finally gets to go on his trail run and disappears into the mountains for 4 hours. Meanwhile, Eva goes on another little hike with Lore and sees a bear sitting on every slope. But they're just tree stumps. Phew!

If it weren't for the rain and especially the cold, we would have stayed longer, but we decided to head back to the coast towards Bilbao. We wanted to get on our surfboards one last time before we left northern Spain.

So we land in the famous surfing town of San Vicente de Barquera, on the coast of Oyambre. There are supposed to be the best conditions for surfing there all year round.

Eva tests this out the next day and the sun comes out again. Unfortunately, the high from the last surfing lesson in Portugal is over. The waves come from all directions, the current pushes you away and the surf instructor seems a little overwhelmed with 3 students. That was probably not enough.

So we hike back to the campsite and chat with our neighbours, who also come from northern Germany. We are often greeted with our "HH" license plate and people are visibly happy when we call out "Moin!" to them.

Fortunately, after the unsuccessful surfing lesson, her motivation to try again increased. Eva found a biosurfing camp online, about 30km away.

So we take down the tents again and drive to the little town of Suances to Playa de los Locos. Before we can go to the camp, Chris casts his fishing line on the cliffs and immediately catches a few small fish. At least!

When we arrive at the biosurf camp, the parking space is a bit sobering. We are more or less in the trunk of the car with the tailgate facing the street. The owner is polite, but a bit of an oddball. We aren't sure if we want to stay, but it's already late. Luckily, we can come to an arrangement with our neighbors, who also have a baby with them, and decide to stay. The price for the space is still relatively high, but at least there is breakfast. What can we say? Someone (Eva) has obviously been blinded by the bio-babble. The area is nice, but we quickly get annoyed by the barking dogs, the lawnmower and the lack of cell phone reception. OK.

We stay one night and take the surfing lesson, but then we leave.

The only problem is that we've already paid for two nights. So what do we do? We need a white lie. Eva babbles something about an "emergency" to the owner and explains that we're leaving tomorrow. The owner nods sympathetically, but he still doesn't want to give us the money for the second night. It's all very complicated to reverse. Yeah, yeah, right. So that we don't start a fight with the organic hippie, we decide to stay.

It wasn't as bad as it turned out the next day. The breakfast was quite good and the surfing lesson with the Italian colleague was a complete success.

We enjoy another sunny day on the beach and Chris jumps into the waves again in the afternoon. 🌊

We think we've made full use of the coast. So the surfboard can now go back on the shelf, the wetsuit can dry and the bikini can go in the drawer. Now it's time: Pyrenees, here we come.

We leave the stingy organic campsite in the drizzle and drive towards France. We're barely on the motorway and planning our first shopping stop when the car beeps and a control light flashes. Chris was tinkering with the exhaust the night before. Oh dear, what does that mean? We stop in the middle of the motorway. I wonder if we'll still get to the Pyrenees...

to be continued…🍿