Italy: the stone coast

We had coffee & croissants with Axun & Steve in the San Sebastian airport, then flew south along the white peaks of the Pyrenees, with a clear view of the pass we crossed in the clouds at the start of our walk two months ago -- what an adventure we've had! We landed in Barcelona, then flew on east over the Mediterranean to Bologna -- the start of a month in Italy that will see Jen traveling with friends for two weeks while Dave heads off to the mountains. But first we must go dip our toes in the Mediterranean sea!
The Appenine mountains run up the  spine of Italy, then curve west and crash into the sea at the Liguria (stone) coast. From Bologna we navigated the Italian train system, very grateful to end the day strolling through medieval Levanto to Ristorante La Loggia, where Nerina keeps a few rooms overlooking a shady plaza, a block from the beach.
Ah, the sea: we swam in the early morning, and sunned and drifted among the anchored fishing boats in the afternoon. Coffee and chocolate croissants by the bay, pasta, salad and wine by the plaza. To skip the crowds in the too-famous Cinque Terre towns, we got a local map and hiked the higher rougher trails. We loved the 4-hour walk from Levanto around Punta Mesco to Monterosso al Mare: magic forests opening to sea cliffs. In the evening we walked along the harbor wall to watch the sunset colors turn to stars, and the town lights ripple across the bay.

Farewell to Spain

From Llanes we moved on to Altamira to see the cave paintings, and then back to Bilbao where the archaeological museum rounded out our picture of the last 100,000 years of human cultures in northern Spain. Bilbao was as exciting as when we first landed there two months ago: pintxo (tapas) bars at night and street performers in the day, strolling families young and old -- great people-watching!
We spent our last few days in Spain with Steve and Axun and all their family and friends in Idiazabal - so fun to be back in Basque country. Rosie and Axun threw us a party at the social hall, and Steve made us cake that mirrors the map on our blog. We visited the amazing Puppet Museum in vibrant Tolosa, and we went for walks to little hilltowns, including Altzo where the largest man in Europe came from - see us by his life-sized statue.
We've been so lucky to have Steve and Axun's warm friendship, hospitality, help, and introduction to Basque culture. And Axun's great cooking!
Farewell, adios, agur to our friends and adventures all across northern Spain -- you are in our hearts forever.

Postcards from Llanes

Scenes from paradise...

Llanes

We were first drawn to Llanes because Jen's uncle Roho (Rogelio Llerandi) was born here. We've found a truly magic place. In the 800 year old core of the town we found the Llerandi family home, still painted yellow as in old photos. Parts of the medieval walls, watchtowers (for pirates!) and palaces still stand. We found a room overlooking the beach where Roho and his siblings played, where we swim twice a day and have breakfast overlooking the beach. We imagine them running through the narrow streets down to the harbor to see what the fishermen have caught.
Just inland the Cantabrian mountains rise thousands of feet above the old castles and churches, stone above stone.
In the evening we join local folks by the harbor for seafood dinners and wine, inexpensive and delicious. After dinner we hike along the bluffs to watch the sun set. Waves break all night outside our window, and gulls wake us to another day in paradise.