SPAIN 2026
Friday
Today was the opposite of a “Me” day, it was a “meh” day... the towns of Oveido and Aviles were mediocre, and the weather was awful most of the day. But we ended up in the Northern seaside town of Santander and it made the day way better.
Oviedo
Our first stop of the day after packing up and eating a pastry breakfast was Oviedo, located approximately 23 km (14 mi) southeast of Avilés, which lies on the shoreline of the Bay of Biscay, the northernmost part of Spain.
Calle Gascona in Oviedo is famously known as the Bulevar de la Sidra (Cider Boulevard). This pedestrian street is packed with traditional cider houses (sidrerías), taverns, and restaurants serving authentic Asturian cuisine and regional hard cider. At least it should be, but almost all of them are closed today.
If it's raining, it's a great time to go walking around old churches in your now very squeaky shoes. Oviedo Cathedral aka The Holy Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of San Salvador of Oviedo is a Gothic style cathedral which began construction in the late 13th century with the chapter house and cloister, and continued for three centuries until the tower was completed in the mid 16th century.
We wandered through the town ensuring our shoes and socks were sufficiently damp.
One of Oviedo's lively squares
Hey Look! It's Mafalda, she was very popular in Argentina
The park was nice, with lots of ducks and birds, but their choice of statues on their pedestrian streets was questionable.
Feeling we had seen enough of Oviedo, we jumped in the car and headed north to the town of Aviles.
Aviles
Avilés is mainly an industrial city, situated in the Avilés estuary, in the Northern Central area of the Asturian coast. During the Middle Ages, it was one of the most important ports of the Biscay Bay, trading mainly with French ports.
The theater building and the cathedral were very nice, and we might have spent more time here, but everything was closed, kind of a waste of time. We piled back in our little car and headed East.
Santander
Santander is believed to have been a port since ancient times, due to its favourable location, and is documented as far back as the 11th century. Much of the old city was lost in the Great Fire of 1941. The city was then rebuilt realizing Francoist ideals of social segregation.
We stayed in a cute multi level boutique hotel called Suite Home Pinaras, located just outside the busy area, and a convenient walk to the town and beach areas. It also included breakfast, so that was a bonus.
The beach area was nice, and broken up into several sandy bays. People were out surfing and fishing, but not very many people on the beach as it had been off and on rain during the day.
We decided to take the trail to the lighthouse along the coastline, and once we were at the point of no return, that is when it started raining, really raining.
The lighthouse was built in 1839, and this spot has great sunset views. We ducked inside a little placed called El Faro Cafe for some food and to escape the rain, as soon as we do, the rain stops and the sun comes out. Just seems so strange to still see places selling all the best cigarette brands such as Lucky Strike, Winston, and Camel.
What a great way to end the day, the rain stopped, a simple but tasty dinner, and sunset views on a cliffside.
A leisurely walk back along the waterfront, them we could hang out our socks and umbrellas to dry.
Saturday
The next morning we walked up the other direction to Palacio de la Magdalena.
The Royal Palace of La Magdalena was built between 1909 and 1911 through public subscription, it was intended to house the Spanish royal family. When we got there we discovered they only allow guided tours, and we missed the 10:00 tour. Since the next one wasn't until noon, looking at the outside would have to suffice.
We walked up the hill to here, we didn't take the silly train
Finished with Santander, we loaded up the car, and moved on to the town of Bilbao.
Bilbao
Bilbao is an industrial port city in northern Spain, famous for the Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim Museum, which sparked revitalization of the city when it opened in 1997.
It's hard to describe how beautiful this giant flower dog is, that would be the Ornament we would get for the infamous travel tree. The giant dog sculpture in front of the Guggenheim Museum is titled Puppy. Created in 1992 by American artist Jeff Koons, the 43-foot-tall (12-meter) artwork is a living topiary of a West Highland White Terrier covered in tens of thousands of blooming flowers.
The Guggenheim museum is a modern art museum, with featured displays that change over the course of the year. Some exhibits have been here for a while, some are only here temporarily, and some areas are closed off for exhibits that will soon be on display.
The level of detail and amount of work that must have gone into the tapestries here were amazing.
One exhibit that we didn't go into because of the massive lineup was the infinity light room... mirrors and light strings. waiting an hour to see the lighting section at Home Depot just wasn't worth it in my opinion.
As we contemplated the message that the artist was trying to convey with each of these abstract pieces, Norine stops to examine a rather simple display. It's a chair, with a light coloured sweater hanging from one side. We both burst out laughing when I explained that it is where the security guard sits... true modern art.
The building itself, and the large pieces outside are probably the most impressive to me, especially the giant flower Puppy.
We had a very nice lunch at La Barra del Serantes before moving on to what I thought would be a very cool stop.
Gaztelugatxe is an islet on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. It is connected to the mainland by a man-made bridge, discoveries indicate a structure was on the island during the 9th century. The current structure was built in 1980 after the previous structure was destroyed in a fire. In 2016, HBO filmed scenes for season 7 of Game of Thrones at the islet. Gaztelugatxe stood in for Dragonstone, with a digitally created castle on top of the islet.
It took us a bit to find parking, a fair bit of a walk away. When we arrive at the entry gate, we are surprised (horrified) to see that they have implemented a reservation only system to go to the islet. I check online and the next available slot is 3 weeks away. The guard I ask tells me to keep refreshing the reservation screen in the app, maybe somebody will cancel. He also tells me there is nowhere to just see it from a distance.
Turns out if you just walk around the corner to the bar looking for a bathroom, there is a large patio overlooking the islet.
Very disappointed that we came all this way to see this HBO historical GoT location, and we are turned away from a national park. At least we got to see it from above, and use their bathrooms.
Time to walk back to the car, and head to our next destination.