Mountain villages of Northern Spain

After leaving the Laguna Negra we made our way to Villoslada de Cameros, La Rioja. It was a beautiful village set in the mountains. We called in at the information office to get details of local walks and we were advised to visit the waterfalls. We decided to have a wander around the village first. There wasn’t much there except stunning scenery haha. I couldn’t live there but to visit was a treat.

We got in the motorhome and headed to the car park near the falls. The car park was gorgeous with cute cows eating the grass and appreciating the heat from the sun.

It was a 5km walk from the car park to the falls…all uphill. It was a steady climb, and our fitness levels have improved with losing weight so it wasn’t too bad. The scenery distracted us from the sweat pouring down our faces from the heat haha.

We got three quarters of the way there and the trees opened up to reveal a sprawling mass of autumnal splendour. What a magnificent sight.

We stopped for water and carried on uphill. The path then veered off into the hills. We followed it, walking with one foot lower then the other due to the steep incline. We then saw a sign saying the falls were another 1.7km…downhill. Not JUST downhill but down a bloody steep hill 😣. I sat down to rest and told Kev he could go on his own down the hill 🤣. I sat drinking in the beauty of mother nature whilst he went to explore. I had no signal on my phone so if anything happened we couldn’t contact each other. This time I’d made him give me the keys to get in the motorhome. Haha, I wasn’t going to be stranded if anything happened.

After about an hour I saw this weary figure plodding uphill. He was sweating profusely and could hardly talk (maybe he should go visit the falls more often 🤔😂). Apparently the Cascadas, were near the bottom of the hill where we’d parked the motorhome 😂😂😂. Were they worth the hike? Not at all. They were piddly little things.

Our next stop over was in a place called Ayegui. It has walking trails surrounding it, the main one being the famous Camino de Santiago. It was a quiet area, €4 for 24 hours with services. Across the road is a monastery and a wine museum. If you like wine then this is worth a visit. It has a tap outside which is filled with 100 litres of red wine everyday. Walkers along the Camino way can help themselves to a FREE drink between the hours of 8am and 8pm, you just need your own drinking vessel or you can get one from the museum! We’re spending Christmas with friends in Spain and she advised me to empty our water out and fill the tank with 80 litres of wine for our Xmas breakfast 😮😜.

The area was on the outskirts of Estrella which was a 20 minute walk away. We walked down the Camino de Santiago and it lead us to a quaint little village, filled with walkers from different parts of the world.

Again, we only spent one night before heading on to our next destination, Bilbao. We had to make a stop off before Bilbao so Kev could get a game of football in at Vitoria-Gastiez. We found a huge car park near the stadium and planned on moving on after the game at 10pm. Unfortunately one of our headlights isn’t working so we ended up staying the night and moving on in the morning. We didn’t want to risk getting stopped by the police.

The Area in Bilbao was on top of the cliffs overlooking the city. €15 a night with Wi-Fi, services, shop and toilets. There’s a bus into the city at the end of the road or you can walk an hour down hill to reach the old town. We chose to walk lol.

Bilbao is a huge city, and much like any other. The outstanding feature for me was the Gugenheim Museum. The building is beautiful. I love things that are a bit different from the norm and this definitely is.

We did 25k steps walking around Bilbao. We strolled hand in hand along the waterside, then Kev put his arm around my neck and looked lovingly into my eyes and said in a half English, with a Spanish accent, “you arrre a perro con leepsteek” (a dog with lipstick!) 😮😮🤣. He laughed out loud and kissed my cheek. He thinks he’s hilarious. I think he needs to work on his charm 🤔😂.

We split up at 6pm, I got the bus back to the motorhome and he walked to the stadium. For dinner/tea (depending where you’re from haha) I made myself chicken, roast veg, roast potatoes and a peppercorn sauce. Kev gorged on a doner kebab 🐷. I hope the scales are kind to him on Monday 😁.