ManWomanDogVan: February 2020

So there we were parked up for the night at Somo seafront, not quite asleep yet, when around midnight there was a bang and the van went rocking. We scrambled out to investigate and found a motor bike under our bumper…apparently the guy came around the corner, dropped his bike and slid into us. Super grooves in the tarmac but luckily not a great deal of real damage (the guy got away with some bruises and the van got away with some scratches and a spilt bumper). After some deliberation we have called the police, to ensure that we get all the necessary paperwork correct. It turned out to be a bit of a process. By 3 am we had our paperwork in hand along with a request to turn up in front of a judge in Santoňa (both, us and the biker) a couple of days later. We ended up with the option of evaluating/fixing the damage at a later date and the biker ended up with a 1 year driving ban. The Spanish is quite strict regarding drinking and driving and it turned out that the biker (who was actually a really nice guy) was over the limit. Be warned!

We were up late after the eventful night and decided to take it easy. We just did some washing then headed to Santander.

Santander is quite a university town with a lovely seafront. There was some kind of a boating competition going on and we watched the people launching the boats. Did not stay for the actual competition; decided to have a siesta instead, before meeting Hamish’s friend later on the day. We had a super evening with him and after having some drinks by the sea, we ended up in a fish restaurant. I am told all the fish was yummy (I choose meatballs, as I am not great with fish). We stayed there until the evening got too chilly to sit outside.

We were due at the judge the following day, so late in the evening we headed back to Santoňa.

Having attended the hearing and collected the next round of papers, we strolled around the town for a bit then we set off to Urdōn.

We spent the night under a great big rock just off the road, at the beginning of the trail to Tresviso.

The following day, we set out quite early (9:30 am 😄) to Tresviso. It took us 3 hours of hard work to get to the village. The trail is rocky and steep all the way and while the scenery is beautiful, it is also a bit a scary if you are not great with heights. There is not much in place in terms of safety rails (i.e. none).

We bought a bit of the local chees and spicy sausage before heading down again. 2 hours later we were back at the van, completely knackered but very proud of ourselves!

The next couple of days we took it easy. Stopped at the Playa de las Catedrales, which is amazing, both at high tide and at low tide. We walked amongst the rocks at low tide; apparently thousands of people come and see this during the summer season and you need to book well in advance. There was only a few people there this time of the year. We feel very lucky!

We moved onto A Coruna then Santiago de Compostela. We really liked Santiago. Although the cathedral is currently being refurbished, we could see that it is a very beautiful building.

We spent the night in Pontevedra, where people were out in force to celebrate Valentine’s day. (Or maybe they were just out?) Late in the evening the old town centre was buzzing and there was a lovely atmosphere, including a group making music and dancing wearing the local traditional get-up. Today, in the harsh light of the day some of that charm was lost as it seems that the more modern parts of the town are mostly grey…

We have now reached Portugal, and holed up for the night in the carpark of a very friendly bar/campsite near the beach called Quinta de Brehuinha.

Feb 2020 - Part 2 Map