As a bit of a background to our choice of destination, this is the second year that we've holidayed with my brother in law and his family and they like beaches, I like mountains and my husband just wants a rest. I also like lots of sightseeing but With a 4 year old, a 5 year old and a 14 year old between us we thought we'd keep everyone happy with a bit of mountains for me before we met up with the others and some beach for all of us after that, and minimal sightseeing so the littlies didn't get too restless in the Bongo. So, given that we had less than a fortnight available, northern Spain was the most convenient destination. We think we picked well, and will be going back again some time. As many of you know, my husband has had back problems so when we booked in February we didn't know how much sitting he would manage so we shelled out on the Plymouth to Santander crossing and planned minimal mileage in Spain. In the event, he's had an operation and normal service has now been resumed, but we've had a rough year so didn't do too much driving anyway. I'll probably do this in two or three parts because of the piccies, so bear with me!
The ferry was worth every penny - we used the swimming pool, I took Isaac to see Shrek Forever After in the cinema (extra charge for that) and there was also a kids' disco. The crossing was smooth and we had unwound (as best that parents ever can) before we arrived in Spain. There were two other Bongos in the ferry queue next to us - a burgundy one and a white one, but we didn't see them again.
Bye bye rainy Britain
and hello rainy Spain!!
Our first campsite was at Potes, in the Picos de Europa, and the drive there was about 70 miles through some really stunning scenery (and we'd driven out of the rain by then)
We had planned to stay for two nights. The weather was lovely and we made good use of the campsite's swimming pool. We took a walk into Potes which is a really lovely small town. Very busy, with both locals and tourists, but very Spanish. Although many of the locals speak some English, we had to use our limited Spanish a lot which was great, as being abroad is always greatly enhanced by the feeling that the British haven't colonised the place. Although most of the passengers on the ferry were British, we didn't encounter that many of our compatriots on our travels. There was another couple with a Bongo on the site at Potes (white Aero - they are not members of Bongo Fury but I think I persuaded them to join!!). In Potes we had lunch in a cafe and soon realised that very little food is served in that area without eggs (con huevos). Bit like the Monty Python Spam sketch!! There were five items on the lunch menu and only four were "con huevos". Whilst I like eggs I thought I'd order the item without! "Revueltos de champinon", Mushroom something, I thought. Yep!! Scrambled eggs with mushrooms!!!
