From the mountains to the Sea: Pyrenees and Costa Brava (Part One)
Our last few weeks in Spain we planned to spend in relaxation mode. A few days in the Pyrenees mountains followed by two full weeks at a small cove beach in Costa Brava (NE Spain, near the French border). It absolutely delivered.
Mountain Air
Our drive from Bilbao to the Pyrenees town of Sabiñánigo (it took us the full 4 days to figure out how to pronounce it Sabi-nyan-igo) took us through Pamplona. We weren’t too disappointed to miss the running of the bulls as the whole event just seems wrong in so many ways. Feathers did manage to get in some bull running though.
For our 4-day stop in the foothills of the Pyrenees, Michelle’s plan had been to find some mountain hiking in the area, walking through meadows with snow-capped mountains in the background. (Al’s plans included booking a place in a golf resort and playing golf every day we were there….) Unfortunately, Al’s lingering ‘tourist foot’ injury had other plans. We managed to find some fun nonetheless. We were mainly just happy to see the sun again after all the rain in Bilbao. (Al’s been suffering from a little known condition of over touristing. Too many hours driving in a car that is at least two sizes too small for him, and days of walking 14km every day had left him with a cramped back and a strained foot that won’t allow more than a couple k’s of walking each day. So he has been on self-enforced ‘feet up’ time. It seems to be working as he’s starting to feel better.)
We arrived to what appeared to be a post-apocalyptic scene. What had been a fully functioning resort with a hotel, golf course, tennis, pool – the full Monty – was completely deserted. I swear we saw a tumbleweed roll by at one point. The sign on the hotel said that as of March 2020 the hotel was closed indefinitely. The outdoor areas were overgrown, and the wood decks were warped and peeling. Most disturbing was that the golf course was abandoned: not a soul in sight and no evidence of the club house opening. Fortunately we were staying in an apartment and not the hotel. We set ourselves up on the balcony overlooking the golf course and looked longingly at the 18th fairway.
We couldn’t do a full day hike in the mountains but we could take a drive and try the local hot springs. We also had one of our favourite meals to date at the Vinas de Larrede.
Do you expect me to talk? No Mr Bond, I expect you to soak…
Ian Fleming would be proud of this James Bond villain’s lair.
Given the golf course was one of the main reasons ‘we’ chose this particular town, we were a little disappointed that it was apparently abandoned. But, speaking with our host she assured us the golf course was operational and would be open the next day. There may have been some comments from Al along the lines of ‘yeah right and I might run a a marathon’. However, to our shock we awoke the next morning to see someone playing golf. We had been sitting on our balcony which overlooked wide, flat fairways and it looked like a relatively easy course. Even so, given the foot injury Al opted for el Moto as his transport. One of the fun things about golf in Spain is the myriad of options available for transporting yourself and/or your clubs around the course. Not just a simple hand cart or golf buggy here – we’ve seen everything from electric hand carts to e-scooters to… a mobility scooter with room for clubs? Al couldn’t resist.
And so with the snow- capped peaks as a backdrop we headed out. By the second hole we realized we were in for a treat – some of these holes were absolutely spectacular! There was a point where we were concerned about running out of golf balls, but we managed to make it with a couple to spare.
Shottracer (c) Alan Broom
Luckily there are walking trails in the mountains everywhere you look, even directly out from our resort.
Jaca
We also visited close-by Jaca which has the ignoble title of “town which has applied the most times unsuccessfully for the Winter Olympics” (4 – shared with Montreal, who apparently learned nothing from ‘76). Other highlights were the citadel and the miniature museum. (Not a miniature museum, but a museum about miniatures – including a massive diorama of the Battle of Waterloo, replete with toy soldiers, model soldiers of all of the various regiments etc)
The moat holds a herd of deer, much to the amusement of tourists (and the chagrin of the deer)
To make up for not having time on our trip to get to the Cheese Route in the Asturias region of Spain, Michelle took herself on a short cheese tour in this region. Luckily for Al this also included some local craft beers as well.
On stopping at this cheese factory, Pedro the cheese maker removed his white rubber boots and proceeded to give Michelle a full explanation of their cheese making.
Stay tuned for Part Two, where we leave the mountains and head to the coast, and the magnificence that is Costa Brava.
