Another day, another spectacular view from Higeralde.
I took Lottie for a wander around above the farm, where they’re growing peppers and keeping bees, among other things.
Breakfast was a revelation, complete with home-made cider.
I sat on the balcony and admired the view for a while to sober up before reluctantly leaving this earthly paradise.
I parked up in town to check out the old town and Parador atop another hill. Hondarribia oozes civic pride and order – a bit like a Basque Switzerland.
After that it was an easy and relaxing 4-hour drive to Dueñas in Castilla y León. The hotel in Dueñas is comfortable and reasonably priced, but very much a pit-stop on the route south. Judging by its English-language reviews, it’s often used by Brits travelling to and from Andalusia and Portugal.
So far, the roads in Spain have been much less busy and the drivers much better behaved than in I’m used to in Italy. The scenery and weather have been lovely too – expansive plains with snow-capped mountains in the distance. It’s getting much warmer – 17C today – but still chilly at night as the sky is so clear.
The hypnotic spaghetti-western landscape of big skies is finished off by a glitter-effect asphalt surface, which only adds to the magic. All this and a good audiobook – I’m still really enjoying Lessons in Chemistry – is making this drive a breeze so far.
