We drove into the Spanish Pyrenees from France and found our first overnight stopover in the small medieval hill top town of Ainsa. A couple of friendly Brits gave us a sea shell signifying that we are pilgrims on the path of St. James. Pilgrims we are not, but having the shell in the front of the van would apparently make the authorities more tolerant of our misdemeanours. The shell seemed to pay off the very next day when we were given the once over in Sos del Rey by an official looking woman who ignored our suspect overnight camping spot.

A brief foray into Pamplona (where the closest we came to a bull was the statue in the main street) brought us to the lively coastal town of San Sebastian. We had a fantastic night out on the fiesta weekend and enjoyed some of Spain's best tapas and the local fizzy wine Txakoli, the bars were packed with people and packed with delicious "pinxos" to nibble on.

The next day took us further west along the coast passing through the small town of Lekeitio. Unfortunately we missed the annual goose tug of war contest, where the winner is decided once the goose's head has been pulled off! We are uncertain if the goose starts the contest dead or alive, perhaps a return visit next year to find out.

Next major stop was the Picos de Europas where we spent a couple of nights and did some spectacular walks, the best of which was a serious hike high into the mountains with over 1000m ascended, coming down almost in one shot on the "never ending zig-zags".

We are now heading south to central Spain in search of suckling pig.