Figueres, Cadaques, Terrades, Ainsa, San Sebastian- 23 to 28 September

Surprisingly quick departure from Barcelona with very little traffic. Quite hazy after we left the city (not sure if fog or smog). Lovely drive to Figueres through forest covered mountains with very few towns but a few castles on the hills.

Our visit to Figueres is to see Salvador Dali’s Teatre-Museu & Joies (Catalan for jewels). Another amazing place with some really bizarre but interesting art works & jewelry. Quite different to Gaudi but also strange.

Dali jewelry

Called "The Happy Horse" - go figure?

Dali Teatre-Museu

We then drove to Cadaques, the most easterly town in Spain. A beautiful seaside town similar to the Greek Isles -all white buildings with blue shutters. Again the quaint narrow streets but with a seaside flavour. A really pretty town.

Cadaques

Tonight we are staying at Santuari de la Salut de Terrades. It was built in the 17th century as a meeting place for pilgrims with a church attached (the altar is immediately beside our room). It has views across the valley with multiple walking tracks available. The food was excellent after we negotiated the language barrier. Something a little different.

Departed in thick fog for a longish drive to Ainsa in the Spanish Pyrenees, cleared to a fine warm day. The drive was quite varied – farmland, rolling mountains covered with trees, high steep rocky mountains, deep & narrow gorges, beautiful valleys filled with trees starting to show their autumn colours, steep narrow winding roads with multiple tunnels, hilltop villages and more. A fantastic drive. We have ended up at Ainsa with a beautiful old apartment in the medieval hill top section of town. We are wedged between the church and a cliff dropping down to the river. The view from the apartment is stunning.

Autumn

View from our window

Had stewed mushrooms, pig’s cheek & a chorizo/potato/mushroom casserole for dinner – yum.

Slow start then some shopping before heading out for a walk at Gerbe – not the most exciting walk we’ve had but was OK. Then visited the Eco-museum in Ainsa dedicated to conservation of the habitat of the bearded vulture. It was in the castle & contained a great display with heaps of info plus some live specimens of injured vultures & birds of prey kept in large cages – these birds have been rescued after injury but would not survive in the wild due to their injuries. The vultures are an impressive bird. (appropriately? Had turkey chops for dinner?)

Ainsa

Ainsa (our appt behind bell tower)

Artistic plumbing for downpipe!

Departed our lovely hill top apartment & travelled through mountain passes & tunnels interspersed with farms. The autumn colours are really developing & the hillsides are looking great. Some of the country looked to have poor soil (clay & rock) but still farmed. Stopped at Olite, a beautiful town with the usual medieval part of town dominated by a beautifully restored castle. The view from the top was fantastic.

Olite Castle

Spending the next 3 nights at San Sebastian, a seaside town in the north of Spain. We are again staying in the old quarter with our room at a Pension overlooking the intersection of 2 busy streets loaded with noisy pintxo bars. Enjoyed beautiful fish soup, paella & hake in green sauce for dinner sitting at the harbour – lovely.

Today some exercise as we walked about 10km from San Sebastian to Pasaia (part of the famous pilgrimage walk - the Camino de Santiago). We started with a steep climb including many rock steps then a well formed path through the forest. The track followed the coast before dropping steeply (many more steps) into Pasaia Bay. The views were fantastic & the forest very pretty. The small village of Pasai Donibane on the opposite bank of the bay (accessible by a 2 min ferry ride) provided a beautiful spot for lunch – cod omelette, fried squid & huge anchovies.

San Sebastian to Pasaia walk

San Sebastian to Pasaia walk

San Sebastian to Pasaia walk

In the evening we headed out on a pintxo tour – the lovely Marta explained the history & current status of the tapas & pintxo scenes in Spain. San Sebastian is the pintxo capital & we enjoyed 6 pintxo dishes, a white wine, a red wine & a cider at 3 different bars. The food & drinks were both amazing & Marta kept things very entertaining & interesting. A great night.

Next day, more walking, this time the full length of Concha beach (about 2km), then up by funicular to Monte Igueldo – back to the beach for a swim (it is 28 degrees) then walk back to town for lunch. Next walk up to Sagrado Corazon de Jesus (a huge statue of Jesus on top of Monte Urgull). A nanna nap then off for dinner – pintxo bars on our own! Enjoyed some amazing treats – prawns, raw fish, anchovies, tomato salad, fried pimientos, jamon (thinly sliced & melt in the mouth), Basque sheep cheese all washed down with Cava (bubbles) & vino tinto (red wine) then all topped off with San Sebastian’s special cheese cake – we are replete! The hum of happy pintxo diners continues as I write this - loved San Sebastian.

The pintxo scene outside our Pension

Names of towns (& foods etc) can be confusing here. Around Barcelona towns often had a Spanish and a Catalan name, then around San Sebastian they have Spanish & Basque names (eg San Sebastian is Donostia in Basque). Signs can show either or both?