16 to 20 Dec-25 San Sebastian to A Coruna, Bay of Biscay…northern coast of Spain

Manflu. Starts with a sniffle. Then a tickly throat. Followed by a chesty cough. And sniffles. It’s the cold you see. Given that I was a Scout and did D of E. I am woefully unprepared for the cold. 2C this morning in San Sebastian. It’s to be a theme for the rest of the trip.  So much so that have to go shopping for winter fleeces. But. Spain doesn’t cater for 6’5” blokes. The Germans on the other hand do. Which is why I like them so much. Have to stick to my summer clothing for the next month.

It. Is. Freezing.

And I feel dreadful. Full of manflu. No, no, it’s worse than that. It’s the virulent form of manflu. Severe.

Pick up hire car. To drive from San Sebastian to Vigo. All along the north coast of Spain. Via Bilbao. Santander. Gijon. A Coruna. Santiago de Compestela. Vigo.

Why Vigo? For the train to Porto. This section of the trip is just getting from A to B. With few points of interest enroute.

Bilbao better known for its ferry terminal now has the Guggenheim Museum. The outside architecture is much more interesting than the ‘art’ inside. Fairly dismal museum. Old town quite small but nothing of note.

Santander also better known for its ferry terminal has the Magdalena Palace, built in early 1900s. Former Royal Palace of King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie, granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Parts of the estate modelled on Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

Santander also famous for its cold loving mosquitoes. Some prat decided it would be an excellent idea to let off fireworks outside the hotel at 3am. Which wakes me up. Which means can’t then get back to sleep. Which is further exacerbated by the high pitched whine of a mosquito in my ear. At 3.30am. So have to get up to kill it. But it’s hide and seek time. And fail to find it. A few minutes later. Whining in my ear. Sod it. Lights on. Searching for a bit of black against the white walls. Ah. There you are you little sod. Splat. Blood squishes out on to the white wall.

Yay. Finally got it. Can rest easy now.

Ho ho ho.

It has a mate.

Which is still after blood. My blood. Now 4am. Lights on. Searching for the little blighter. This goes on another hour. Lights off. Whine. Lights on. Search. Fail to find. Lights off. Repeat.

Eventually fall asleep. At 6am.

Wake with a number of mosquito bites on my body. The itching of which will add to the general grumpiness caused by manflu. And a lack of sleep. You all know by now that Touring Taurean does not do mornings. Let alone after a few hours sleep. Grumpy little ogre this morning.

Whilst getting dressed. See a little dark speck on ceiling. Found you! Splat. Well. All I can say is there was a lot of blood in that little speck. Jeez. It’s quite remarkable how much there was. Quite startling that it’s my blood. Clean up operation required to make the ceiling white again.

In addition to the cold. The blue sky has given way to rain. This is chucking it down rain. Not mizzle. Or a slight spitting. This is full on get drenched.

It’s to be the theme for the next few days.

Between Santander and Gijon is Altimara. Home of a cave discovered in the 1910s which has 15,000 year old paleolithic artwork on the walls. The actual cave is off limits so they’ve built a fibreglass replica in the museum to show the extent of the art. Lunch is in the nearby historic town of Santillana del Mar. A nice spot full of old buildings and cobbled buildings.  Tapas for lunch. Again. There’s only so many croquettes I can eat on the trot though.

Comillas has been recommended by a friend to visit El Capricho. Ornate house designed by Gaudi in the 1880s for a wealthy merchant. The outside of which is more interesting than the relatively bare interior. At least it provides shelter from the rain for a while and a brief leg stretch.

In need of fuel at my overnight stay of Gijon am surprised to find a petrol pump attendant who does everything. Not had a petrol pump attendant since being in the Middle East.

Uneventful drive to A Coruna. Hadn’t realised how mountainous this region is and it’s a constant mix of tunnels and viaducts. Mountains to my left. Bay of Biscay to my right as I skim the coastline.

Drive over one particular mountain pass to discover snow ploughs in the thick mist which gives way to brighter weather as I drive above the cloud. Before dropping down again and end in A Coruna on the north west tip of Spain. The outskirts are grubby port areas but it redeems itself with a nice old town which is full of locals on a Friday night.

There’s a nice buzz here.