From Burgos, we spent the night in Valladolid, which is a working class town, that was a good stopping point for us so we could head to Segovia the next morning to pick up at Spanish residency cards. This was our second time in Segovia, so we knew the easiest parking garage to get to and how to navigate our way through this tourist town to get to the police station. This town had been our first overnight stop after arriving abroad and even the second time round, it did not disappoint. The Plaza Mayor is picturesque this time with a full blown market taking place. We got our ticket for the queue at the police station and were helped shortly afterwards by a police officer who had been there when we came in 2 months ago. The office was much quieter this time with the majority of the staff out for the August holiday. After proving that we were the same Americans who had stopped in 2 months earlier with another set of fingerprints , we were given our residency cards. On our way out of town, Katherine and I came upon a shop selling scarfs that were on sale, so we both got a scarf souvenir. We still have yet to visit the cathedral in Segovia and will need to wait until friends/family come to visit. Then, Spanish ID obtained, we headed back in the car to return to the north coast to the town of Gijon.

Heading out further west this time from Segovia, we drove through Leon, but did not stop as we have learned our kids can only handle so many Gothic churches, and we drove northward to Gijon. We stopped at the cosmopolitan city of Oviedo where Woody Allen had filmed a movie, so Nick sought to find the Woody statue and took a picture posing with Woody. Oviedo is known as the city of sculptures, so we walked around a nice park with a bunch of statues. We came across a cool playground with a zip line, so the kids enjoyed lining up with the Spaniards to swing. The city slopes down to the water. It was chilly and the city itself had a less inviting feel overall than previous cities we have visited which I think may have been driven by the weather and hilly terrain. We then drove another 30 minutes to arrive at Gijon which had a more working class feel. This town had been recommended by a New Yorker I met in San Sebastian as a quieter beach town. Our airbnb was a good 25 minute walk from the beach and action, but had a most redeeming feature which was the fastest wifi we ever had during the last 2 months. Nick and I took advantage of this with me uploading all the photos to Offexploring that I had not been able to do at any other location. We were above a traditional cideria restaurant which we enjoyed the first night eating a wonderful selection of cheeses. Despite the location being noisy, we did taken advantage of having the kids head up 1 floor to our apartment to sleep while Nick and I enjoyed a spontaneous "night out," to finish up the wine and cheese. We did hit the beach in Gijon with waves and temperatures similar to San Sebastian (but much less picturesque, touristy and "happening" in general).