Back to Spain

End of July, we were boarding the ferry which would take us all the way to Spain, very convenient if you want to reach the sun as fast as possible!

It took about 30 hours to reach Bilbao in Spain, much faster than driving through all of France and much more relaxing. It got warmer the further south we came, promising us to soon be catapulted into a true summer.

On arrival, we found out, that it was a holiday in the region, so we had to drive to the next province to find an open supermarket to stock up our fridge. We then looked for a place where we could spend the night, which we found near Beranteville, where we could go for a swim in the river. (42.686798, -2.85421)

The next day, we decided on a route on a smaller road through the mountains, from Logroño to Soria on the N-111, which promised some nice scenery. We stopped at the Venta de Piqueres for lunch, which was a sumptuous Riojan menu of 3 courses including wine for only 22,- Euros – we loved it! Next to the restaurant, we could visit a little museum on the annual cattle drive to better pastures for the winter. Mostly sheep were taken from the mountains down to lower pastures in the south during the winter month. The number of animals on these tracks was more than 10,000 every year.

Our next stop was in the Manubles valley near the village of Bijuesca. The picturesque valley had a castle above the village, which we went to explore. In the evening, people of the village were gathering in the streets, old ladies sitting together in front of their houses, others frequenting the local bar next to the church and the youth cycling around on their bikes.

The best part, was the Chorro Waterfall, which we could reach on a good path from our parking – a great place for a swim! (41.545269, -1.922502)

But the best place on this short trip from Bilbao to Jávea was the dam we found near Teruel airport. We had to take a gravel road and decent to the lake on a washed out route, but it was for sure worth it. (40.37315, -1.238127)

The place at the end of the road was used by some fishermen, so we had parked a little further up, which gave us a great view over the lake. This place gets at least 5 stars!

We reached Jávea the next day, where we will be house sitting (and looking after a lovely cat) for the next weeks. We will use this holidays from travelling to make new plans – more soon!