Oktoberfest 2016

It's always a good way to end our European Summer in Homer. A week in Munich, four visits to Oktoberfest and some awesome meals at friends and out at a few of our favourite restaurants.

El Camina hacia la beuna vida.. Northern Spain 2

Rioja

Reconstruccion de Manita de Cerdo

Barcelona

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia

La Mercia Festival

City Camping, Barcelona

On the 20 Setember we had to say goodbye to Dave and Chrissie but we bundled Hanli and Andrew into Homer to drive to Haro; capital of La Rioja wine region. Wine tasting at Bodega Muga, lunch at Bodega Marques de Riscal and a visit to the best wine museum in the world at Bodega Vivanco. We had a great time in the city of Logorno at the St. Mateo wine festival. The streets were packed with revellers and marching bands and lots of stages with live entertainment. Tapas was taken to another level in Logorno, with a more local flare..Hanli wasn't sure about the" reconstructed pig's trotters".. The next day we headed East to Zaragoza, with a half day stop in Pamplona en route. Zaragoza, a surprisingly good city to visit these days, has an amazing catherdral, a moorish palace and lovely squares. Next stop, Barcelona and meeting up with Heidi. Barcelona is a great walking city but a little too touristy for the Greenfields. We had a great evening in the Gothic Quarter but  hailing a taxi in the earlly hours around there is not easy. The City Campervan parking is a few kilometres away from the action but with good Metro access. I think Hanli, Andrew and Heidi were quite happy to be in a hotel downtown. The next day we spent the morning at the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's Modernista creation that put Barcelona on the map. It is truly spectacular, especially the stained glass windows. We happened to be in town for the La Mercia Festival street parade. We tried to head off the tourist route a bit and enjoyed good live music at the Tio Carlos tapas bar. After a quick stop in Port De la Selva and a rainy night in Cadaques, we dropped the others in Figueras and began the long trek back to Munich.

El Camino hacia la buena vida.. Northern Spain 1

Bilbao

Guggenheim, Bilbao

San Sebastian

Pinxtos

Arriving in Bilbao we headed straight into town to meet Hanli and Andrew who had flown in from South Africa. Despite a rainy evening we had a great time in the old city trooping from bar to bar, eating tapas washed down with a lot of Rioja ( red ) or Albarino ( white ) wine. The streets were filled with 'marching' bands and local revellers. On Saturday we spent the morning at the Guggenheim Museum; Frank Gehry's masterpiece of architecture which put Bilbao on the map. San Sebastian, the food capital of Spain was our next stop. It's a beautiful beach city on the Atlantic coast of Spain. Our goumet group did our best to visit every tapas bar in the old city, eating Pinxtos and tasting lots of Spanish wine. It's just amazing how easy it is to split a bottle of wine between 6.

From Carcassonne

Carcassonne

Cirque de Garvarnie, Pyrenees

St. Jean Pied de Port

Cafe Iruna, Pamplona

Getting the hang of Campervanning

Marques de Riscal,Rioja

Off to France next. We met Julie and Judy in Carcassonne for the evening and then headed to Toulouse for a lazier weekend that included laundry, admin and all the Sunday papers. Toulouse is a less touristy place, which we like. It's a university city and there are lots of expats because of the Boeing factory.
Once again we found very good wine bars and restaurants. One night we decided to go for the regional specialities, in a popular but very local restaurant. I ended up with pig's trotters and Neil got sheep's glands! Dessert is a must after that!
We returned to Carcassonne with Nick and Kerry for a few more nights after the barging. Dave and Kristina arrived from Bordeaux. Carcassonne is a must see city. It's old, walled city and castle are amazing. It's a UNESCO site. It's busy. And it's windy.
Heading out from Carcassonne, we drive into the Pyrenees and head up to Cirque de Garvarnie for a bit of walking. It's  beautifully picturesque but there's quite a lot of rain about and it's cold.
Dave and Kristina join us in Homer for a cosy dinner with Tim Minchin live at the O2 Arena to entertain us. When I cook and we eat in while traveling in Homer, Neil and I usually catch up on watching TV series on the laptop. Our travelling life doesn't lend itself to routines or much TV watching so we are years out of date when it comes to movies. But, as most of you probably know, Neil is news junkie and keeps up to date by reading a lot! If you are with him for a while he'll definately turn you onto Flipboard! Saint Jean Pied de Port is a pretty Pyrennean town on the El Camino de Santiago ( pilgrim's walk ) From here we headed over the mountains ( by car not on foot like the pilgrims ) to Pamplona in Spain. Despite the "Rain in Spain", we enjoy hanging out at Cafe Iruna like wannabe Hemingways, imagine the running of the bulls down the narrow cobbled streets and eat Rabo de Toro ( bull's tail ) washed down with a nice Rioja.
The next day it's a scenic drive through the Rioja valley with a stop at the epic Bodega Marques de Riscal for lunch at the OTT hotel designed by Frank Gehry.