The Cannon Family's travel blog

I confess that when I planned this trip, I wasn’t quite sure how to spend the time between leaving the coast and getting to Madrid to fly home. León was such a pleasant surprise it raised my expectations for our final stop: Segovia.

We awoke in our hi-tech teak-and-glass hotel room and made our way down to breakfast. The hotel had my request for GF options on the booking and I was promptly presented with a plate containing multiple GF pastry products straight from the oven. Nice! After consuming many of them and several cups of Nespresso coffee, we hit the road again.

This would be the longest leg of the trip so far: nearly 3 hours across very flat, very brown land. There would be an occasional patch of green or small hill but otherwise, nothing. If you’ve ever driven from Denver to Kansas City, you will have seen similar nothingness. And there is a rise in the road and BAM the city seems to crop up out of nowhere. The cathedral is the dominant structure in a mass of sand colored buildings. It is an impressive sight.

Our hotel for this evening is actually on the outskirts of the city for a change, so we headed into the old town and found a nice cool parking garage to leave the Fiat in. As we have made our way south, the temperature had changed with the landscape. It was now very hot as well as brown. The architecture here has the moorish influence that is common in most of southern Spain. Except for one notable exception: the Alcázar de Segovia. This fortress/royal palace has turrets and styles more commonly found on French chateaus. (FWIW, this is yet another building said to have been the inspiration for Cinderella’s castle.) In addition to being a royal residence for a whole, it also housed the royal artillery collage as well as a chemistry lab devoted to the science of war. I really should have brushed up on my Spanish history to really appreciate all the royal details. One thing I did appreciate: the ceilings! This place has the most amazing ceilings! We also opted to visit the tower – a real concession for Frank given his occasional bouts of vertigo. The panoramic view was beautiful- showing all the brown in every direction.

After getting our history on, we found a cafe on the Plaza Mayer to have our now obligatory salad for lunch. Then it was time for even older history as we visited the remains of the Roman aqueduct from the first century AD. It is in amazing shape especially considering there was no mortar used in the construction. Really impressive!

And finally- the cathedral. We nearly skipped it after our experience in León but that wouldn’t be fair so off we went. This is apparently the last gothic cathedral built in Spain and is celebrating its 500th anniversary. Can’t say that the stained glass was much to write about but some of the 22 chapels (!) had magnificent ceilings. That is today’s theme.

Eventually it was time to head out of the old town to our hotel on the outskirts of town. I thought that it would be easier to make our way to the airport in the morning if we didn’t have to negotiate medieval streets at dawn. And it has a pool! Time for one more dip to celebrate the end of the holiday. We also had a lovely bottle we had purchased during our Rioja wine trip so it was a fine way to close out the trip.

Notable numbers:

• There were 150 steps to the top of the tower. Add to that the steps to the parking garage and the hills within the city and my Apple watch says we covered 24 floors, the most of the trip by far.
• Depending on downloaded music while driving to avoid using too much data means that selection can be limited. Thank goodness for the Henley Party Bus playlist we made a few years ago which offered 13 hours of music. Not all of it was to the driver’s taste, however, so I enjoyed multiple plays of songs by Saliva and Five Fingered Death Punch. 😑

Oviedo continues to taunt us with grey skies that hint at sunshine. We finish our breakfast foods and tidy up the apartment before hitting the road south to León. Instead of taking the motorway, we opt to meander through the mountains, considering a possible stop at a system of caves in the Reserva de la Biosfera de Los Argüellos. And are we glad we did!

After driving through grey and gloom to about 4000 feet above sea level, the skies cleared and we were treated to beautiful sunshine on a spectacular landscape. It took forever to do the relatively short drive not just because the twisty roads required slower speeds, but also because we kept stopping to take pictures of one beautiful scene after another. The road was a dream for Frank – or would have been if he was driving a Porsche rather than our 3-cylinder Fiat. Twists and turns up and down the mountains eventually brought us to the cave entrance where we met one of our worst nightmares: a bus load of tourists! Spanish tourists to be sure but a flag following, chattering hoards nonetheless. They had taken all the tickets for the next tour so it would be an hour before we could go underground (where it was 7 degrees year round!) and take a tour entirely in Spanish. We decided that neither our dress nor our knowledge of Spanish was up to the task so we continued our drive through the mountains until we reached León.

Here we would not be living like locals – unless they live in posh Scandinavian-style digs with teak and glass everywhere. We parked in the underground garage (using the car lift!) and got the bags sorted before exploring the city. As it is Sunday in a very Catholic country, we did not expect many things to be open. And we were correct. Cafes and bars were busy though and we found a lovely place to get some salads and a bottle of local Albariño. Yum.

Then to the main event: the cathedral. (Notice the theme here? 😂). And holy stained glass Batman! The church was AMAZING. We took 2 or three pictures before realizing that nothing we did with our iPhones could do it justice. So we admired, compared, and just reveled in the beauty and workmanship. We could have followed the audio guide but that would spoil the awe and wonder of just being there. We took multiple laps around the main part of the church to try to take in all the glass. I even bought two books to explain all the details that I can read in my own time – with professional photographs of the windows. Yay!

We figured it would be hard to top that building but decided to see if Gaudí was up to the challenge. Casa Botines is one of the few buildings designed by Antoni Gaudí outside Catalonia. We learned all about the architecture , the building challenges, the design features that provided air and light to the large, imposing edifice. Several floor housed works by Spanish artists so we w got our culture on with sketched by Goya and Dalí. All in all, the perfect answer to gothic stained glass.

Back to the hotel for some R&R before our penultimate night out in Spain. Our post hotel has a spa with a small pool, sauna and steam room so we opted for an hour or so of self care time. We had the whole place to ourselves and enjoyed every wrinkled finger and toe. Our evening meal involved huevos fritos snd patatas with different protein options. I chose chorizo; Frank chose seafood, including prawns, squid, and what we would later figure out was baby eels. 😑 He declared them delicious and I was happy to take his word for it!

Daily musings:

• For people who are not religious nor schooled in architecture, we spend a LOT of time in churches. I think that’s my fault.
• Google maps doesn’t do a very good job of describing complicated intersections like those you find in old Spanish cities. And the nasally American pronunciation of Spanish street names is appalling.

A non- driving day with no rain means we get to just hang out and enjoy Oviedo. Breakfast was light – yogurt and fruit and GF muffins – a nice change from our previous hotel breakfasts. Then we went out into some temperamental sunshine (in our freshly laundered garb!) to experience Oviedo on a Saturday morning.

The old town was wall to wall with market stalls and people drinking coffee (and the local cider!). We visited several merchants and made a few purchases before deciding that mas cafe was in order. I stood smugly in the queue watching the American family in front of me struggle with the barista’s limited English. (We’ve found that to be common outside the big cities so don’t give up on the Babel/Duolingo lessons!) I then managed the coffee order and basic chitchat in my limited Spanish and felt quite proud. My vocabulary is limited but my pronunciation was WAY better than the folks who preceded me.

We also made the pilgrimage to visit the statue of Mafalda – an Argentinian cartoon figure that has been adopted by Oviedo and is now a kind of symbol for the city. She is everywhere! (Kinda reminds me of Nancy from Nancy and Sluggo for those of a certain age and are of upbringing.)

Eventually it was time for the main event: Oviedo Cathedral. A baroque edifice with so much ornate trim and gilt you can understand why there was a reformation! We passed in the audio guide and just enjoyed the experience , including the museum which was well curated with examples of Catholic icons from Spain over the centuries. Very well done!

Then lunch! We wandered around the old town looking for any cafe where people were eating salads. (Yes, the fried food overload is real and painful!) We passed a few that might have suited before stumbling on one that had no one eating salads but lots of folks drinking wine instead of beer. Turns out, it was also a 100% GF establishment. Found my peeps! Lunch was exquisite: the Caprese salad I had was AMAZING – fresh burata with tomatoos and orange slices (?!) swimming in outstanding olive oil and pesto. Delicious GF rolls worked well with Frank’s plate of Asturian cured meats. Add a bottle of lightly oaked albariño blend and it was perfect.

We also had fantastic entertainment during the meal. It is the height wedding season and we saw no fewer than 4 couples getting married at the various churches. The one closest to our cafe even had Spanish bagpipes (gaita) playing the couple out of the church. No Flower of Scotland of course but beautiful nonetheless. (Side note: Frank’s entertainment was watching the driver of the wedding car struggle to get it started before the ceremony was over. He drove up and down the street in front of us trying to keep the engine from cutting out. 😂)

And being an excellent GF establishment, they had an excellent GF bakery. So deserts were procured for later consumption and the wandering continued until it was time to head back to the apartment for a break. We enjoyed the street art we found along the way and decided that dinner at home would be just the ticket.

And that means: grocery shopping! We picked up the makings of pasta with red sausage and a bottle of Rioja Reserva and headed home. The rest of the evening was very quiet- a necessary break from all the touristing. The pasta and wine were delicious as were the sacretorte and carrot cake from the bakery. An excellent day of living like locals.

Highlights of the day:

• Watching the wedding guests wander across cobblestones on their finery. When did strapping gold sandals become de riguer for weddings?
• Just enough sunshine to be enjoyable but not enough to make us sweat to death.
• Noticing the prevalence of graffiti in a place that is regularly referred to as the cleanest city in Spain. weird.

The mountains were a bit gloomy this morning and we prepared for more weather challenges on our trip back along the coast. After breakfast we took the time to visit the Torre del Infantado – a medieval tower in the centre of town that houses an exhibit on Beato de Liébana, an 8th century monk with a thing for the book of Revelations. The tower had great views of the town and surrounding countryside and the exhibition makes you think twice about being bad. I’m no expert on Revelations so translating the text on the four horsemen and the seven seals was alternatively difficult and frightening. The temporary exhibit on 16th century court dress was incongruous but fascinating.

History box ticked for the day, we hopped in the Fiat and headed back down the torn up road that leads back to the coast. The original plan for the day was some beach time at one of the many little sandy coves along the Asturias coast. The sun teased us along the way making it difficult to predict if we would get any beach weather at all. Our first choice turned out to be quite crowded and rocky so it wasn’t what we wanted. So it was time to test Google maps ability to find an alternative.

The randomly chosen replacement beach, Playa de Guademia, wasn’t really accessible by car so we parked in a village and started walking towards the coast. We followed signs for Bufomes de Pria – which means blowholes and not jester as Google Translate asserts- After about a kilometre, we arrived at a striking area of coast with caves along the water where strong winds and storms have created outlets for the pressure on top of the cliffs – hence the “blowhole” name. We climbed all over the rocks, ignoring the threatening sky, and marvelled at the beauty of the place. (Can’t help but make a comparison to the coastline around Stonehaven or Arbroath given the weather.)

After enjoying a good scramble, we headed back to the beach which was the purpose of the stop. And that’s when God smiled on us: the sun came out as we found my perfect place. A small sea inlet that meets a river, where a small sandy beach is surrounded by trees and hills. Absolutely gorgeous and absolute bliss – definitely my idea of heaven. (Well TBH heaven would mean that the water would be just a tad warmer but I won’t press my luck!)

I would happily have stayed all day but the rumbley tummy meant food was required. We stopped at a small cafe in the village where the toddler Spanish was put to use again. Ensalada mixta (with tomatoes, eggs, and tuna) may be my new favorite Spanish dish. After a peaceful meal, we headed back to the motorway for the final driving part of the day: the road to Oviedo.

And that’s where our convertible luck ran out. With only 30 minutes to our destination, the sky decided to drop some of its liquid and we had to put the roof up while driving for the first time. (In case you are curious, a Fiat 500 convertible roof will go up if you are doing 70 kilometers per hour but not faster. You are welcome.)

We are living like locals here with two nights in a flat. We met the owner at the parking garage and got all the paperwork done. First activity for our new destination; laundry! Packing light really works better when you don’t sweat through two outfits per day. We took WAY too long figuring out the washing machine (you try reading the online users manual in Spanish!) before our first grocery store visit.

These are always my favorite part of any trip. Not just to see what GF stuff the have, but to see what stores in different places devote shelf space to. Here it tinned tuna (nearly an entire side of an aisle) and cooking oil. What does one do with a 25 liter bottle of sunflower oil?!

Time for a quick shower and a wander into town. The main draw for Oviedo is the old city and cathedral, which we’ll do tomorrow. First it was important to get our bearings and see what the vibe of the place is. On a Friday night, the vibe seems to be large groups and families gathering at bars and cafes to drink (and smoke 😡) while the kids played in the squares around the cathedral.

Eventually it was time to eat (again?!) and we found a cafe where everything is GF. It’d not advertised anywhere on the menu but that’s their jam. The menu was eclectic – everything from tacos to felafel to the traditional Cachopo – breaded fried veal cutlet stuffed with cheese and ham. Sign me up! This was the first place we heard anyone else speaking English all day so the celiac grapevine must be alive and well.

A little more wandering and it was time to head home for one more struggle with the washing machine before trying to get some sleep. (Living like a local is much noisier when you don’t have sealed windows, AC, and soundproofing.)

Musings for today:

• It’s possible to find joy in unexpected places. Sometimes you need to remember to look.
• Eating late at night is not good for me. It’s not possible to pack enough Rennies for dinner at 10pm.
• Sunshine is not required for a good holiday but it does help.

Today we bid adios to Bilbao and head along the coast before wandering into the Picos de Europa – the large mountainous national forest that I have imagined being the Spanish equivalent of the Cairngorms or Adirondacks. The day was still grey but dry as we head west on the coast road. We were leaving Basque Country which meant no more street signs in multiple languages with lists of k’s and x’s.

We made a quick stop in Santander to see what was there. I can see where it is an appealing place for a holiday but it seemed to us very much like Bilbao with a beach so the appeal was limited. Full disclosure: we spent 90 minutes wandering the waterfront on a cloudy day so I suspect that we didn’t get the best impression.

After a stop for petrol and drinks, we resumed the trek into the mountains. And of course the only road has been torn up in half a dozen places along the 30km stretch. It was slow going as roadworks required one lane to be closed for long stretches in multiple places. The slow pace meant we had lots of time to appreciate the scenery: lush and green, with stony outcroppings jutting through the low clouds.

Finally we reached Potes, the medieval village we had hoped to use as a base for doing some hiking. We managed some walks about town but the terrain and threatening skies deterred us from venturing up any nearby hills. So we ate and wandered. We grabbed some lunch and experienced local cider: strong, flat, and sour. Box checked. Then we wandered the adorable town founded in the 15th century where two rivers meet, there are cobble stones and bridges everywhere. And adventure travellers- canoeing, climbing, and horseback riding are big here.

I confess it was a little more touristy than I had hoped- souvenir shops everywhere – but we enjoyed the environment nonetheless. The hotel was a VERY different experience from our trendy adults only hotel in Bilbao: a small local hospideria with no AC but plenty of bikers as guests. 😳 Not sure what appealed to me when I booked it but it was clean and technically a suite with a small sitting room. Of course the staff didn’t speak English so the kindergarten Spanish came in handy again.

After much exploration, we decide that a big dinner late at night wasn’t particularly appealing so we opted for the pizza place across from the hotel which advertised “Tenemos pizza para celíacos”. Sold! A few Mahou HF beers and a yummy pizza with everything was just the ticket. And we finished just in time for massive thunderstorms to roll in. The light show was spectacular and was an amazing way to cap off the day.

Memorable moments:

• Walking on old cobblestone streets is tough on the feet and requires stopping for refreshment often. Even if we only did 13k steps.
• The beach is nice but mountains and forests feed my soul in a way sun and sand never will.

Well we knew it could happen and if it did, the north coast would be the place. We awoke to a lowering sky and no sunshine in sight. But we are adaptable so we had breakfast, grabbed our rain jackets and headed out into the city.

We started with La Ribiera market, a large indoor food market similar to Pike Place in Seattle but much more modern, all gleaming steel and glass. Apparently it has been rebuilt several times after flooding – it sits right on the river. Once we had our fill of fish smells, we headed back out to the old town.

We wandered many of the same streets in old town that we had traipsed before but the daytime vibe was very different. More shops open along with the bars (!) and people everywhere smoking cigarettes. So. Many. Smokers. We really were not prepared for the prevalence of it in Bilbao. Maybe it’s the concentration of the urban setting but for us it was a tad overwhelming.

Eventually it was time for some culture so off to the cathedral we go. We took the audio guide that came with our ticket, which we don’t usually do. And we were promptly overwhelmed by historical and architectural details that I couldn’t really process and now can’t remember. And that is why we usually don’t bother. Our ticket also included a visit to San Anton’s church where we eschewed the talking stick and just wandered the building. Much more our speed.

By now we were hungry and though it was very early for lunch, it is never the wrong time for pintxos. We headed to Ahoan, a pintxos bar on the Plaza Nuevo that has a large variety of GF options (the owner is also Celiac) so I got my first real pintxos experience. An assortment of 5 offerings on the amazing GF bread they offer here. Add a glass of txokoli and the experience was complete!

A tad more wandering after lunch led to the beginnings of a blister so quick stop at the hotel for a plaster and then we were off to enjoy some street art. We found a few interesting pieces but nothing like what we have in Aberdeen.

After enjoying art on the walls, it was time for art in a museum so off to the Guggenheim we go. We generally aren’t good with modern art – nearly got chucked out of a museum in Ottawa! – but we continue to try to learn. As usual we were mostly confused or underwhelmed. Except for the Barbara Kruger exhibit. We were quite sure what to make of it at first , especially the bits in Spanish and Basque, but as we spent more time in the exhibit, the impact was pretty incredible.

After our last dose of culture, it was time to get to work: cooking! We joined a mother and daughter from Portland to learn how to make pintxos (not really hard) and drink txokoli (even easier). We learned that Bilbao txokoli is not fizzy but the version from San Sebastián is. We learned tips for poaching shrimp, making mayonnaise, and other things that Mikel our Basque chef-teacher thought relevant. Unfortunately they didn’t seem to have told him about my GF status so there were a few things I had to pass on. But I did get delicious Basque cheesecake for dessert instead of the bread pudding I didn’t really want. So score one for me!

Highlights of today:

• Lots of walking! 23k steps for just over 11 miles. Very sore feet.
• A very urban experience compared to most of the trip. After Bilbao we are in much smaller places – hopefully with better weather!

Our last morning in tiny picturesque Laguardia. We had another scrumptious brekkie before heading north again. Today’s destination: San Sebastián- a name that brought smiles to everyone we mentioned it to. Apparently all of Spain loves the beach there so we must investigate.

The drive to the coast was beautiful- the scenery was much greener than we had previously seen and there were LOTS of mountains. Our little Fiat struggled to get over some of the hills but we managed. Eventually even the road builders must have gotten tired cuz they switched to tunnels – I swear we passed through at least a dozen. And that’s probably how many time my ears popped!

We arrived in town about noon, parked the car, and commenced touristing. The old town is lovely with shops and pintxos bars. We toddled about picking up some souvenirs and necessities (Frank really needed a hat to protect his scalp while driving. Do NOT say thinning hair! 😂) We got a little culture visiting the Church of Santa Maria before deciding it was time to eat.

We stopped for pintxos and a glass of txacoli – the slightly effervescent white wine that is like vino verde no matter what the Basque folks tell you. Since so many pintxos are bread based, I opted for the tomato salad: a large bowl of tomatoes, greens, burrata, and tuna. Absolutely yummy!

Then we decided that it would be a shame to visit a beach town without spending time on the beach. Our swimwear was in the car so back to the parking garage where we proceeded to change behind the Fiat in the garage. Yup, it’s exactly what you are thinking. Then off to the famous playa la concha for an hour or so of splashing about in the beautiful water. A lovely ice cream (in a GF cone!) to top off the afternoon and we were back out on the road to Bilbao where we would be spending two nights.

More hills and grey clouds greeted us on the drive and we arrived in the very large city with very overcast skies. We got checked in to our very funky adult-only hotel – which provided condoms in the room in a packet marked “Let the games begin!” 😳 This was 180 degrees from the quaint Spanish hotel with the four poster bed that we just left.

But we adapt. A quick showers to get rid of the sand and a change out of our swimwear, and we were off to explore. Our hotel is right on the Nervión River across from the old town. The neighborhood behind us did not look like a place where tourists went so we crossed the river to find somewhere to eat. Our choice was suboptimal: unfizzy tzakoli and over salty paella but we made do. Then more wandering past mostly closed shops and busy bars before calling it a day

Highlights of the day:

• Noticing the Basque language everywhere now that I know it’s a thing. Every sign is written in both Basque and Spanish. (Hint: Basque is the one with the Xs and Ks)
• Watching kiddies play on the beach. I don’t care who you are, you have to love the joy of small children digging in the sand and jumping in the water.