I just realized that some of you may not know Jose Luis and Paloma Bracons yet. Please let me introduce them. Some of you will have heard of "Craigslist". A free website to advertise items for sale, trade or rent. While I was still in Vancouver I went to the local Craiglist site and entered "Spain" under the Vacation Rentals tab and the only apartment for rent in Spain was the one I am living in in Benicassim. After I met with Carlos Bracons (in Vancouver) to discuss the apartment and I was comfortable enough to book the apartment for a two week trial. Carlos is Jose Luis and Paloma's son. He was living and working in Vancouver at the time we met.

When I arrived in Spain I was surprised by how reserved the Spaniards are. In Canada I am use to making eye contact and saying hello or at least acknowledging another person when you walk by each other on the street. In Spain there is none of this. I was very taken aback by this and wondered if I would be able to settle into Benicassim. Jose Luis and Paloma have explained to me why most Spaniard act like this and I do understand now why most Spaniards are so reserved.

Jose Luis and Paloma have welcomed me into their family. I had been warned that I would never be invited to a home in Spain as Spaniards will go to a restaurant to entertain guests. They have invited me to Sunday lunch (the most important meal of the week) on numerous occasions and taught me how to cook traditional Spanish food and have shared so many things with me to help me settle into my life in Spain. If I had not met them I don't know if I would still be in Spain. Thank you Jose Luis and Paloma.

So onto the rest of this blog. A bit of background was needed to understand how special this trip was.

October 8 - 12

Another festival weekend. At least one per month. Friday is a holiday in the province of Valencia and Monday for all of Spain. Jose Luis and Paloma have invited me to join them in Basque country for 5 days. Their daughter Ana will be joining us. Ana lives and works as an architect in Barcelona.

We will be staying in a village called Lekunberri in the mountains near Pamplona. The Bracons family have been staying at this hotel for 30 years. Ana will arrive on Friday and we will share a room. One night on my own and then Ana and I will share a room. It is a great deal as we get breakfast and dinner (three courses) included in the room price. €66 per night with two meals is great. When Ana arrives my rate gets cut in half so a REALLY great deal.

Thursday was a long day of driving for Jose Luis. Nearly 700 KM. We left Castellon at 2:30 and were in Lekunderri at 10 PM …..just in time for dinner. We dropped off our bags and met at the dining room. Dinner was great. Soup for the first course, french fries with a fried egg (soft yolk so you can dip the fries) for the second course, and a very nice piece of grilled pork with a few pimentos (red peppers) for the third course.......and then dessert. They don't count dessert as a course go figure. (Oct 8)

Went for a walk in the mountains this morning. Beautiful. The leaves are just starting to turn colours and it only rained a few drops. When we got to the end of walk we were in an area where there were shepherds with their flocks of sheep. It sounds cliche but I saw them. There was also a herd of wild horses with really short legs and stocky little bodies. Astrurian breed is the best I can figure out. They were so cute and very timid but we stayed long enough for them to come up to us.

This afternoon was our trip to Pamplona to meet up with Ana and Paloma's sister Monserrat better known as Mon and Ramona (Mon's friend). We walked around and saw where the Running of the Bulls takes place (in July). We also had a few tapas in our wondering. It was a great day. Tomorrow is a big day so tonight is an early dinner (9:30 PM and then straight to bed). (Oct 9)

Today will be a long drive day as we are going to follow the coast all the way to Bilbo. Jose Luis will be making lots of stops along the way and we will be seeing a long stretch of the Atlantic coast of Spain.

We are going to be in the real "Basque" country. This part of Spain speaks another language and wants to separate from Spain. They don't fly the Spanish flag even though it is the law to fly it. This is where Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or ETA (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom) has their largest presence. It's strange how I expected to be treated differently as a foreigner but here I felt very welcome.

Tapas for lunch today in a restaurant that won the best new tapa a couple of years ago. Squid in it's own ink and quails eggs! Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and taste it. Guess what they were all good.

The coast line is very similar to Ireland and Scotland alternating between cliffs and green sloping fields falling into the sea. We went through the village where the fishing boat "Alakrana" is registered. That is the ship that was pirated in the Indian ocean and held for ransom for 6 weeks. (The ship has been set free and all the fishermen are safe) By the time we were near Bilbo it was dark already and we just headed for home without seeing the Guggenheim Museum. I will just have to go back. (Oct 10)

We were on the road around noon today. Jose Luis and Paloma had some shopping to do at the local butchers and cheese maker. I have had a chance to try the beef and the cheese and they were both amazing Today is a trip to San Sebastian and then a drive eastward along the coast until we get to the French border. In San Sebastian we walked along the promenade and saw the Wind Comb a very cool sculpture that is at the very end of the promenade. It poured when we got there.

More tapa's for a snack (2:00PM) before lunch (3:30PM). Again amazing tapas; definitely lived up to the reputation of this area having the best tapas in Spain. We went to a restaurant that they always go to and it was good. I had 8 prawns plancha (grilled on a hot iron plate) and it was €18 for the prawns and that was all there was: prawns (heads on) nothing else.....oh wait there was a lemon. I was supposed to suck out the head after I broke it off but I could not do it. Even closing my eyes there was no way. Ana and her Dad shared the heads! (Oct 11)

Today was the long drive home but we stopped a couple of times along the way. A very old town with a castle. There is a government run program where you can stay in the castle that has been converted into a hotel otherwise called a Parador. Not that much more expensive than a regular hotel and you can say you have stayed in a real castle.

We were not home until nearly 11:00PM on Monday night. 1,876KM return trip! WOW. What a great trip and I have to say a huge THANK YOU to Jose Luis and Paloma for including me in this great get away. They have shown me sites that that I would not have seen otherwise. When they come to Canada next I will be introducing them to all my friends and family and definitely showing them some of our treasures. Mark, can I book the cabin for a weekend?

I miss you all very much.

Tove