Ireland: Wild Atlantic Way: North

After a week in London we flew to Dublin on Thursday 13 October. We spent 2 nights in the Temple Bar area, which is all a bit too touristy for us these days.Not that we didn't enjoy the music and pub crawling! On Saturday we went out to Clane to spend the weekend with Elizabeth and Randolf.

On Monday we crossed to the West to begin the epic Wild Atlantic Way; an amazing road trip that hugs the west coast of Ireland from Derry in the North to Kinsale in the south. Ireland is only 450km from top to bottom as the crow flies but if you do every side route and loop of the WAW you will clock up 2500kms. It's one of the world's best ocean roads. Our plan was to begin in the middle, head north and then loop back for the southern piece after a weekend in Northern Ireland with Elizabeth and Randolf. We stopped for the night in Killkee, Clifden and Donegal. Everyday was pretty much the same.Driving, stopping for walking and sightseeing, grabbing lunch and ending up in a local hotel and a pub for dinner and live music.

I will share a secret with you here, the weather in Autumn is far better than in Summer. As far as is possible in Ireland, we had great weather and hardly any rain in the whole three weeks.

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.