I have been fortunate to have two holidays in one month! I went to Berlin for a mini city break and I came back from the northern coast of Spain today. I met my dad, his friend and my dog Barney at Bilbao airport last Friday along with my mum and her friend. We stayed in a beautiful house near a small town called Gama, which lies in between Santander and Bilbao.
However, we couldn’t go into the house until the following day, so we all stayed in a tent for one night. My dad and his friend had already pitched the tent from the night before, by a small resort on the outskirts of Bilbao. The weather was lovely in the afternoon (I went for a swim in the sea) but then it turned stormy in the evening, to the extent that we all had to put jackets on and a small fan heater in the tent to warm up! We all laughed about it, since it felt like being back in Britain.
The next day was much better weather wise, and we were all stunned by the house which my dad had found online. The garden was huge so Barney ran around like the typical Springer spaniel he is, and all of the rooms were spacious and modern. There was even a masonry BBQ and a stone pizza oven in the garden!
There were some lovely resorts within driving distance of where we were staying, including Loreda, Noja and Berrida. All of them had lovely sandy beaches and the water was pleasant to swim in.
Unfortunately it was difficult to find spots for Barney, as most beaches do not allow dogs on them. Barney got to have a swim around when we walked to the harbour in Loreda, and my dad managed to find a few spots where Barney could go in.
My dad and I have toured the northern coast of Spain before, so we decided to show two places to the others, which were Santillana Del Mar and Suances. Santillana is a historic town which attracts thousands of holiday makers every year due to its picturesque buildings and its history of the Spanish Inquisition, where information about it can be found at the torture museum!
Suances is a sea side resort which is only about 5 miles north of Santillana. We had lunch in Suances and I treated myself to a rather naughty looking ice cream! It’s a popular town for night life, as my dad and I camped in Suances about four years ago and there are clubs along the sea front, which stay open until the early hours of the morning.
Overall the weather was a bit of a mixbag in Spain. There were four days when we had lovely sunshine from which I’ve managed to catch a decent tan, but we also had a lot of rain. It rained all day Wednesday, so my mum and I had a day in at the house while the others, including Barney, went fishing! It was quite funny leaving Spain this morning in the pouring rain and a thunderstorm, while the weather was nice when we landed in England.
I’ve had a relaxing week and I’ve browned off nicely- I can’t wait to make my colleagues jealous at work tomorrow! I could’ve easily stayed with my dad and his friend though, and continued touring through Spain and France with them. I’ve mentioned previously that I normally go away with my dad for a period of at least four weeks every summer, but since I’m writing up a dissertation, I decided against it.
The next month and a half means I really need to get down to business with my dissertation; I have at least 10,000 more words to go! So if I’m not blogging on a regular basis, you all know why.
Happy reading and blogging!
Many thanks,
Clare Bear
Clare Bear 